Good reads with mando content?

[d18daddy]

I've read some great books on guitars(Clapton's Guitar comes to mind). Anything out there with mandolin content-fiction or non fiction?

[Bob DeVellis]

Well, Fretboard Journal springs to mind. Great stories with a substantial amount of mandolin content.

[d18daddy]

Reading the current issue now. Great stuff!

[GDAE]

What about books...I want to visit the library soon for some books to occupy a road trip...any suggestions?

[JEStanek]

Well... its one word only in the novel, but, it could be a nice read before seeing the film, Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince.

Fretboard Journal is a very worth-while and oft mandolin filled read too.

Jamie

[Mando_Lynn]

I actually started a thread a few months ago about a novel that a friend of mine wrote with LOTS of mando content. I was mailing it around to cafe members to read and send on to the next person. I lost track of it after the third person read it. Perhaps the current holder of it could let me know so I can tell them where to send it?

And if I do track it down again, would you like to be put on the list to receive it? It's called "Princess of the Everglades" by Charles Mink. You can probably find it at Amazon from a used book dealer if you would like to try it out now.

[OldSausage]

I've recently been reading "Can't You Hear Me Callin': The Life of Bill Monroe" by Richard D Smith. It's surprisingly well written, and of course contains a high proportion of mando-related content. I can also recommend Neil V Rosenberg's "Bluegrass: A History".

[OlderThanWillie]

Bob Black's book Come Hither to Go Yonder, Playing Bluegrass With Bill Monroe, is as good as it gets if you are interested in Bill Monroe. Bob played with Monroe from 1974 to 1976 and his book is filled with observations as he stood by Monroe and traveled with him.

[d18daddy]

Lynn,
If you find the book, I would like to be put on the list. Thanks!

[Fretbear]

http://www.amazon.com/Cant-You-Hear-Callin-Bluegrass/dp/0306810549/ref=pd_sim_b_2

http://www.amazon.com/What-Know-Bout-Musical-Itinerant/dp/1410767094/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247328718&sr=1-1

http://www.amazon.com/Come-Hither-Go-Yonder-BLUEGRASS/dp/025207243X/ref=pd_sim_b_1

[brunello97]

I enjoyed reading "Captain Corelli's Mandolin" by Louis de Bernieres. It thought it a classic summer beach read (Though the ending is a bit maddening.....)

I have two word for folks who panned the movie version: Penelope. Cruz.

Mick

[Cary Fagan]

I too like reading books about this music.

Gregory Spatz' novel 'Fiddler's Dream' is about a young fiddle/mandolin player. It's a pretty decent novel with some excellent scenes involving mandolin playing. I can't remember the press, Southern Methodist Univesity Press maybe.

I'm reading a wonderful nonfiction bok called "The Violin Maker" by John Marchese. It's follows a Brooklyn luthier, Sam Zygmuntowicz, building a fiddle for Eugene Drucker of the Emerson String Quartet who needs something to play instead of his Stradivarious.

If you're into guitar, "Guitar: An American Life" by Tim Brookes is quite good. It follows the building of a guitar as well, alternating with a broader history of the guitar in the U.S.

Of course there are the two histories, Robert Cantwell's "Bluegrass Breakdown: The Making of the old Southern Sound," and the somewhat more recent "Bluegrass: A History" by Neil V. Rosenberg. I enjoyed them both, and have read the Rosenberg a couple of times, though some might find them a bit academic.

"Will You Miss Me When I'm Gone?", the bio of the Carter Family by Mark Zwonitzer is very fine and highly readable. A must, I'd say.

I also have enjoyed some of the pieces in "The Oxford American Book of Great Music Writing."

One more. "The BLuegrass Reader," edited by Thomas Goldsmith. I don't have "The BIll Monroe Reader."

Not a lot of stuff directly on mandolin, but some good music writing.

[John Flynn]

Well, this recommendation is thin on mandolin content, but "Cold Mountain" is a great read. It has a minor, but impactful, sub-plot about old-time music that mostly involves the fiddle, although the mandolin is mentioned once. FWIW, I was disappointed in the movie, but I highly recommend the book.

[violmando]

Mando Lynn, I bought "Princess of the Everglades" and just got it; haven't had a chance to read it yet, but was excited to have a mandolin orchestra involved in a book...does your friend have plans to make a sequel? I'm a mystery reader and now it seems that there is a WIDE variety of sleuths....card makers, crafters, potters, etc, so why not using someone in a mando orch? Yvonne

[violmando]

Well, I found where I'd put "Princess of the Everglades"---a VERY hard to describe book, but I'd HIGHLY recommend it to anyone who's interested in the history of the 1920's era mandolin/mandolin orchestra. Lots of instruments/instrument descriptions, arrangements and celebrities of the era make their appearance in the novel, including: Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Lloyd Loar, just to name a few. VERY interesting! I'll be honest, I can't tell you how accurate it is; I'm no historian, but it is engrossing!

[mando.player]

No specific Mandolin content, but I'm reading "The Music Lesson" by Victor Wooten (Bela Fleck's bass player). It's a great read. My head tells me it's fiction, my heart tells me it non-fiction.