Please Be With Me: A Song for My Father, Duane Allman

In her first book, Allman chronicles the life of her father Duane, the famous guitarist and founder of the Allman Brothers band. Duane, a big fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, named his daughter after a character in Lord of the Rings. Allman works to recast her father's story as "more than a tragedy; it is a true romance." He died in a motorcycle accident before she ever had the chance to get to know him. He was only 24-years-old and she was barely a toddler. In writing the narrative of her father's life, she pieces together a portrait from bits of memorabilia, letters, and interviews with musical collaborators. But it's not just about the band, Allman also tells the history of her grandparents and her mother, Donna. We see a young Duane and his brother Greg catch "the fever" for the guitar, follow the two brothers to Los Angeles in search of a record deal, and then track Duane back to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, where he begins putting together the band that made him famous. In this frequently touching book, Allman "make[s] a feast of the scraps" in presenting the story of her father's short life and readers will come away feeling more connected to the the man and his music. (Mar.)