Product Description

Born in rural Illinois and raised by a single mom, Gretchen Wilsons formal education concluded in the eighth grade when she started tending bar at Big Os, a rough and tumble joint. By the time she was 15, she was managing the place with the help of a loaded 12-gauge to keep folks in line. But her voice provided the most firepower. Discovered while singing with a house band in Nashville, Wilson soon joined the ranks of the Muzik Mafia and the rest is history. Her debut album Here for the Party was certified quadruple platinum and established her as the top-selling debut artist of the year for any genre. And her signature knack for storytelling and connecting with an audience made her a superstar. Co-written by acclaimed New York Times bestselling author Allen Rucker, Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life will recount this All-American success story as Gretchen shares her childhood memories, the road to the top, inspirations (Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn, Merle Haggard), fashion preferences (Wal-Mart over Victorias Secret), connoisseurship (beer over champagne), and much more in an open, honest, and hilarious memoir that will enchant new and old fans alike.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #411722 in Books
• Published on: 2006-11-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 224 pages

About the Author
Gretchen Wilson lives with her daughter in Nashville, TN.

Customer Reviews

Filling in the blanks.
If you are a country music fan and a redneck woman like I am, you learn bits and pieces about Gretchen Wilson through some her autobiographical songs and her website. However, this book fills in the blanks and answers the questions you have about Gretchen Wilson, her life and her rise to stardom.

If you are not redneck woman or country music fan, then you need to read this book just to learn about another sub-culture of America that is often misundersood or ignored. It will be an eye opener for you.

Half Truths
This book borders a little too much on half truths to be non-fiction. Although I believe it is a well written book, for entertainment value, readers should regard it as entertainment only. I have lived my entire life in the exact territory of Southern Illinois that she describes so poorly. In reality, Pocahontas/Pierron is only a short 10-15 minute drive from a VERY AFFLUENT Highland, IL. It disturbed me that she described this very well maintained piece of country as a poor/destitude area with no economic prospects outside of farming or tending bars! My hometown of Carlyle (not CARLISLE, as is it is often spelled throughout this book) is a stones throw away from all of the towns she describes. Pocahontas/Pierron is a short drive from three college towns; Greenville is home to Greenville College, Lebanon home to McKendree College and Edwardsville home to Southern Illinois University. Opportunity is endless in this neck of the woods, most if not all of my friends are working professionals and YES they still live in the area. Yes, I believe she had a rough way to go, but that is simply not the case for most of the people in this area. I would venture as far to say that there are more over-priveleged children in the area than under, you can make that judgement just by driving through the parking lots of Highland High School/Bond County (Greenville) High School/Carlyle High School. These kids are not driving 76' Ford pick ups they are driving 2000 era model vehicles. Highland High is home to a national award winning cheerleading squad (several years running) not to be stereotypical but that usually is not something you find in the ramshackled,trailor ridden "white trash" (as she so elequontly describes it) neighborhood that she portrays. Yes, Pocahontas/Pierron are small towns with not a lot going for them other than a few bars, however it is not like they are a million miles from nowhere. Plenty of opportunity was out there for herself, her mother and her family outside of farm labor and bartending. There are several factories that pay very good wages in Highland and Breese (another town about 15-20 miles south of Pocahontas). Arrow Group Industries in Breese has been providing an extremely good living for many people in that area as their pay is well above the mininum with extremely good benefits, a short drive to the west in Highland will find you at Basler another well paying job that has provided for many families over the years, both of these employers would have been excellent sources of income for Gretchen's Mother, or even Gretchen herself when she came of age however they made a choice to work in the bar scene. Granted both are factories and require a good hard working ethic, however had she finished high school she probably could have landed herself an even better office job in the area and with a little more work and a college degree her opportunities would have been abundent. Did I forget to mention the very well paying state/federal jobs at the 3 prisons within an hour of this area in each direction. These are not jobs that everyone wants however in times of desperation when you have apparently been limited to eating nothing but Possum for three days (another story I find impossible to believe, a good hunter can kill a couple deer in this area and feed a family for a year) these are jobs that are easily obtainable if you have a little initiative. I drink, I have even spent a couple years of my life serving drinks (while I was raising a child and working my tail off in a factory) however it has been my experience that people that live their lives for the bar, in the bar choose that life.....they refused the opportunities that were right there in front of them to make life better. Gretchen is a great entertainer, but that is just it....her story is entertainment and a far cry from most of the lives people live in this neck of Southern Illinois.

One star review, because there is no option for negative stars.
This book is a load of crap. Gretchen isn't a redneck, no one from her hometown says "yee-haw", or "hey y'all" for that matter. It isn't far enough south.

Gretchen has taken her supposed hometown and run it through the ringer. She clearly knows nothing of the area, and can't accurately describe said hometown. It in fact does have a grocery store! It's been there for quite some time...decades even.

If you're looking for an accurate representation of "redneck" life, you're probably going to get it in this book, just know that it never happened in Pocahontas.