Martha Ackmann’s latest biography, Ain’t Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Dolly Parton gives the reader a look into the life of Dolly, from birth to nearly present day.
I was raised with country music playing in the house from the time I was little, and Dolly Parton was a favourite in the house. I remember one of my favourite records at the time was one of my mom’s Dolly Parton records, and her song Coat of Many Colors was one of my favourite songs. When I saw that NetGalley was offering this book I immediately requested it because I was interested to know more about this fascinating woman. I’m happy to say that I learned a lot about her by reading it, and it didn’t change my good opinion of her.
My only problem with the book is probably more a me problem than a problem with the book. And that is, I think I’m more used to reading memoirs, where the information is told more in stories that flow pretty much in chronological order. This felt somewhat like that, but at times it also felt like just a bunch of cobbled together facts and quotes, and sometimes skipped significantly ahead, or back in time, so it didn’t always feel like it flowed well. If it were a fiction book I would say that at times it felt like there was a lot of info-dumping, but thinking about it, I expect a lot of biographies must feel that way, so I’m not holding that against this book.
I would have liked the author to have gone into greater depth about certain parts of Dolly’s life, but given Dolly’s age and the length of her career, I the book does a fair job of covering the most important points. I especially liked the information about Dolly’s long, somewhat unconventional marriage.
I quite enjoyed reading this fairly quick, and easy biography and would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Dolly Parton.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Ain’t Nobody’s Fool will be available on December 30 2025.
Life, Tea, and Everything 