I loved the movie. The book was a little hard to read in 2020. Written in the 1970s the book has some seriously outdated ideas and was a little (a lot) cringe-worthy.

Married at 14 to an older man, 4 children by the age of 18, 8th grade education. And she went on to be one of the most successful artists in country music.

Still love Loretta Lynn, still love the movie, glad to get this book off my TBR pile. ( )

About 15 chapters too long. Movie definitely better than the book. Read the first half, and then last 2 chapters. ( )

This book is a reprint of the 1976 original autobiography of Loretta Lynn. There is additional new information at the back of the book. It also shows that there were a lot of differences between the movie (at least what I can remember of it) and what indeed occurred.

I must admit that I didn't really know anything about this artist until I watched the movie back in the 1980's. I have always love "Coal Miner's Daughter" and the movie, so I took a chance with this book. I'm so glad I did because it shows a deeper side of Loretta, her music, and her relationship with Doolittle. I can't always s get behind Loretta's outlook on marriage, but then again, I'm not an 88-year-old woman who was born before the depression and married at 13!

I love looking at the lives of the people in the hollers, how they survived, and how they Loretta dealt with them as she rose in the record industry.

I recommend this book to anyone who loves that intense country music, who wants to learn more about the industry at that time, or wants to know more about some other artists that Loretta adored...or even liked the movie!

*ARC supplied by the publisher, author, and NetGalley. Thank you. ( )

3.75 stars

Originally published in 1976, this is country music star Loretta Lynn’s autobiography.

She’s pretty old-fashioned, but of course that could also just be that she’s a product of her time. I loved her “storytelling” style – it read like chatting with a friend as she tells stories of her life. I was not as interested in the other celebrity stories, and was more interested in her home life. Some interesting celebrity tidbits, though: I didn’t know Chrystal Gayle was her sister; she and Patsy Cline were friends; she felt badly for Olivia Newton John when people were “against” her winning country music awards because she wasn’t from Nashville.

I liked the first half of the book much better, as it focused more on her home life – growing up poor, her father working in a coal mine; marrying at 14-years old... Sissy Spacek was perfect to narrate the audio! So, overall, I’m rating it good (3.5 stars) with an extra quarter star for Sissy Spacek. ( )

Book on CD narrated by Sissy Spacek
3.5***

This autobiography takes the reader from Loretta’s birth (sometime when FDR was president – she refuses to reveal how old she really is) to stardom.

I found this very interesting. She tells her story in a forthright and honest manner, relating both the good and the bad. She doesn’t apologize for her life or her choices (she married at age thirteen and was a grandmother by the time she was 29), but allows that she may not have had the education or life experience to do things differently at the time.

There were times when I winced at her ignorance but there’s no denying her talent and hard work. This memoir was first published in 1976. I had to keep reminding myself how different life was then. The audiobook I listened to was for the 30-year anniversary edition and included a forward with some additional information.

Sissy Spacek does a marvelous job narrating the audio. She was Lynn’s hand-picked choice to portray her in the movie, and has Lynn’s voice down pat. Most of the time I completely forgot it was Spacek performing it. I have never seen the movie, but having listened to Spacek’s performance on the audio, I know want to. Brava! ( )