Gretchen Rocks! She inspires me in so many ways! This was a great bio on Gretchen's life. I was glad to see a lot of pictures (my favorite was naturally her on the ATV during the filiming of the redneck woman video since I'm big time into that). I cut the picture out and keep it with me at all times for inspiration. It has brought me good karma and allows me to speak my mind for some reason. :)
It goes to show that you can start at the bottom and work your way up to the top of the world by speaking your mind and doing what you love to do. I have a great deal of admiration and respect for Gretchen and hope to meet her some day to shoot the breeze about life.
It is no wonder that Redneck woman is one of my favorite karoake songs to sing and this book giving her background info helps me to understand all of the lyrics and how true they really are.
REDNECK WOMAN BOOK - GRETCHEN WILSON GREAT BOOK!!! THIS BOOK COVERS GRETCHEN'S LIFE, GROWING UP IN ILLINOIS AND IN FLORIDA (MAINLY ILLINOIS). IT COVERS HOW SHE WAS RAISED,GROWING UP IN TRAILOR PARKS, LIVING IN MOBILE HOMES AND SHE WAS BORN TO A TEENAGE MOTHER. IT BRINGS OUT THAT HER GRANDMOTHER WAS VERY,VERY SPECIAL TO HER!!! AND ALSO, HER UNCLE VERN WAS SPECIAL!!!
IT COVERS HER PERFORMING AT BIG O'S IN POCOHONUS, ILLINOIS, AND HOW SHE MOVED TO NASHVILLE AND TRYED FOR ABOUT 10 YEARS TO GET A MUSIC DEAL. THEN ONE NIGHT SHE WAS BARTENDING A NASHVILLE BAR, WHERE SHE WOULD SING, AND JOHN RICH (OF BIG AND RICH) LIKED HER SINGING AND INVITED HER TO JOIN THE MUZIK MAFIA. SHE FINALLY ACCEPTED THE INVITATION, AND JOHN RICH WAS ABLE TO GET HER A RECORD CONTRACT!!! HER FIRST HIT "REDNECK WOMAN" WAS BIG!!!!
THE REST IS HISTORY!!!
OH, IT COVERS THE BIRTH OF HER DAUGHTER GRACE WHOM SHE LOVES VERY MUCH!!! GRETCHEN MAY SEEN LIKE A PARTY ANIMAL, BUT IS A VERY RESPONSIBLE LADY AND A TRUE PROFESSIONAL!!!
ANYWAY, THIS IS A GREAT BOOK ABOUT A GREAT LADY!!! THANK YOU "REDNECK WOMAN" FOR SHARING THIS BOOK WITH US FANS - GO GIRL!!!
I RECOMMEND THIS ONE!!!!
Book review Very disappointing as the author keeps repeating what they have already said. It's old and tiring. Boring and Gretchen is not boring.awsome book lets you feel that its ok to be a redneck woman! I thought this book was great i was already a big fan before i read the book but now that i have also read the book it made me love and respect her even more. she is an inspriation to me gives me hope in life through her music. thanks gretchen your great!!!Different perspective on Southern Illinois... I love this area, and wasn't "poverty-stricken" at all. I always appreciate someone telling "the other side of the story," as CC Girl has done in her review here.
Castlegrrl : It's unfortunate that Amazon does not provide a spell-checker as do most email programs, as even though I am a teacher I find myself making spelling errors myself. This does not detract from this review at all; in fact, having grown up half my life in Ill. I was very surprised to hear Wilson describing the area as "poverty-stricken" myself. You really should think before you attack someone else's review as we all are describing our own experiences, no more and no less. Everyone has the right to their own experience and the right to describe it.
I am very glad that CC Girl took the time to describe their experience living in this area. I admire Gretchen for finally going for her GED, as without even a high-school education, this could well have led to her outlook in the past. This does not take away from her major success(es) she has achieved, but there is always "another side to the coin." Someone's story is always only from their own experiences and perspectives, so I appreciate another's experiences in the same area or situation. I wouldn't say Wilson was "trying to make it more redneck that it is," it's just that we can only describe our own personal experiences when we write about our own life.
Thank you CC Girl for telling more of the story of this lovely area in Illinois. I love Illinois, especially southern Illinois, and spent some of the happiest years of my life out in the country at the university town of Charleston Ill. I am glad to see, due to CC's comment, that people will not think of this area as it has been described only from a poverty-stricken, beer-drinking "redneck" point of view. There's nothing wrong with describing one's own point of view, mind you, being redneck or drinking beer, it's just a limited perspective that we all have. I welcome other people's opinions even if I don't agree with them or haven't experienced them.
I would NEVER consider CC's comment to be a "diatribe." Shame on Castlegrrl (can't spell her own name?) for attacking another person's experiences. She acts as if she was being attacked personally. That is not what is happening here, not at all. Thanks again, CC, for the positive words about Southern Illinois.
I have not commented on the problems that alcoholism brings, as that is another whole story, but "people that live their lives for the bar, in the bar choose that life" as CC points out, does change things a great deal. CC has presented many important opinions here, and very clearly stated. Excellent and very welcome comment.
