Rashod OllisonBesprekingen

(For Library Thing Early Reviewer copy)
A coming of age story growing up black and gay in Arkansas, Rashad Ollison tells his story in a lyrical and memorable style. The reader can identify with music that shares stories, tells secrets, and embraces blackness; the culture and identity. An excellent read!

(For an Early Reviewer copy)
The tagline, description, and even the title of the book did not match expectations as I read the book. This memoir of Ollison's had me waiting and wondering when soul music was going to come in and match the events in his life as they unfolded. I had truly wanted music to be his guide, his family, a tutor explaining why the rain fell, why a cut bled. Getting past this shortcoming, the book turned into a lesson of history, exploration and race, in Arkansas during the identity and belonging period that America went through in the Seventies, and the me-me-me, glam-it-up and show-it-off of the Eighties. The anguish Rashid Ollison felt when his father left, the tumultuous arguments with his siblings and extended family, and the rough years of childhood when looking for your own place in society, and meaning of life, are very well laid out by Ollison. His writing is above par, yet the tale was wandering at times.

It took me a while to get into this book- about 1/3 of the way through, however, I really found it engaging. The author's tone is open and honest and he gives a heartfelt account of his childhood and the events that shaped him. It also showcased the role of family- especially parents- in grooming us as we grow.½

Simply outstanding. This matter of fact memoir will speak to anyone that grew up poor and different in the south, regardless of race. Though the entire work rang true, the book really captured me about half way through. I believe this is where the author was old enough to really recollect and process the turmoil of his life. Filled with sadness and triumph, I highly recommend this book.

This book is the story of family, growing up, personal identity, and how music can connect all of those things in a person's life. It is an autobiography of an African-American boy growing up in the South in the late 20th century. Rashod tells of his family's travails and constant upheavals, the struggles they faced as a family and as individuals, and his coming to terms with his own sexuality. Music is a constant source of expression, comfort, and surrogate family support for Rashod. This is a compelling story of love, life, loss, and redemption and the power of music to bridge those life moments.½

I loved this book! It's one of those that you don't want to put down, he writes with such honesty and sometimes humor. And in the end you realize how important a father is in a young mans life and how music helped him cope. The hard worker and person that his mother had to be because her childhood wasn't that easy either. But in the end his mother was always there for him in the best way she knew how.

I received this book from LibraryThing's Early Reviewers program.

I thought this book was going to be more about music and stories about author but what it really was so much more. While the music was woven throughout the story I found Rashod's story so much more interesting. Rashod lived in the South growing up as a young, gay African American man. He had so many things that he had to deal with, an absentee dad, a single-parent mom and growing up as a gay man - and yet music seemed to save him. It seemed like the way he could connect with his family. Through his father he learned the music of the soul which never left him - actually it gave him a foundation for him to be able to identify with the world, a solace and comforting presence even when the adults around him are unable to give him comfort.

I am so thankful for getting a brief glimpse into Rashod's life.

This book was a fun read because of all the music titles that reminded me of growing up. This book was about the author's growing up with a mother who was always working and a father that wasn't there. The relationships with his sisters were like the relationships most of us have with our siblings. I liked this book a lot and would recommend it

I won this book from Goodreads. This was a fantastic read. I love anything to do with music and how it is a chronicle for our lives. I could relate to music being a lifeline for young, Rashod (Dusty). I would recommend this book to anyone that likes reading about someone who prevails beyond their struggles.

I had a hard time putting this book down. Thank you, Rashod for sharing your story.

Wow. I really enjoyed this book. I was way different from any other book that I've read in the past. I really think the author did a magnificent job and can't wait to read other stuff by them.

I enjoyed Soul Serenade but like another review I read I wanted to like it a lot more than I ended up liking it. Growing up in the 80's in rural Arkansas and eventually becoming a radio DJ because of my love for music I was intrigued and knew I had to read it right off. And it's a moving memoir that is for the most part very well written. It just wasn't what I expected from the title. "The coming of age through vinyl" that was the hook for me it just didn't land the catch. But, it is a good story, written well and you will probably like this if it's your style of book.

Very good memoir about growing up in Arkansas with a single Mom working two jobs trying to keep a roof over their heads. He is introduced to music by his Dad and finds out he really good at writing.

A memoir from debut author Rashod Ollison reflecting on his youthful upbringing in Arkansas. The subtitle is what drew me in: Rythm, Blues and Coming of Age Through Vinyl. A distant but loving mother who moves around frequently and a missing father.

Ollison describes the influence of music introduced by his father, vinyl before CD's, but this aspect almost disappears as the book progresses, but his narrative still stimulated my desire to read on.

Occasionally he would mention an artist that I wasn't familiar with, so I would Google the artist and/or the song to familiarize myself and to feel his appreciation for that time and mood. I myself grew up around a wide variety of music that my father introduced to me and I appreciate to this day. I went as far back as 8 track tapes.

The memoir kept my attention and a peek into the authors life of instability, loneliness and questions about his sexual identity was a wonderful read. Ollison found a purpose and love within himself, which is a positive for me.

I wanted to like this a lot more than I ended up liking it. Ollison is a good writer, but I was misled by the book's subtitle, Rhythm, Blues & Coming of Age through Vinyl. I expected a future music critic's elucidation of the power music, specifically vinyl, had to do with shaping the person he would become. To a very limited extent he does, but the primary focuses of the book are the hard times he experienced in his childhood and his family's tough times. Music did provide a bit of a buffer for him, but it seemed music was mostly a soundtrack, a background that helped take the edges off the tough times he underwent. It's almost as if some early reader indicated that this would be too unrelenting a narrative unless the music focus could be played up. I wish the two themes had been more integrated, striking a balance between music and lived experience. As a music junky, I felt shortchanged.

In this harsh but inspiring memoir, Rashod Ollison shares the pain, the rejection and the ultimate triumph of his adolescent life growing up in black urban poverty in 1980’s Arkansas. Music — the powerful, affirmative soul of Aretha Franklin, Bobby Womack and so many others, discovered on the vinyl record collection of his long-absent father, carries Rashod through the misery of a lonely adolescence and the tough love of a harsh but hard working mother. Alone but driven; confused in his sexual identity but safe in the adult mentors he is fortunate to find in church and school, Ollison documents his coming of age in the American South. Music is his cocoon and the laboratory that develops his creative life and pulls him out into the world.

Soul Serenade is written with a lyrical intensity that flows through the pain and discoveries experienced in Ollison’s early life. The music is there for Rashod — I only wish there was more of it sprinkled through the book to justify the title. A small regret but, generally, a wonderful read.

Soul Serenade: Rhythm, Blues & Coming of Age Through Vinyl appealed to me from the start. I love and collect books from people in the music business either by them or about them. Music is as great to me as books are...and I jump on an opportunity to read more about that life.

The memoir of Rashod Ollison...a music critic...someone I have never heard of before but was interested in learning about his life in Rhythm and Blues. His story is chock full of struggle and music is the release, saving grace, release that sees him through not just for him but his family as well. A coming of age story taking us back to the 80's...I don't recall all the music..I wasn't a fan of every entertainer he mentions but I was still intrigued. It is a deep read and the way that Mr. Ollison writes it is a relatable one or at least that's the feeling that comes across. This book to me is more about his childhood, his growing up years, his family...music being the escape, the outlet, the saving grace to get him through his struggles.

A good read. More about family hardships than the music as I was expecting but still a poignant read. At 225 pages you can get through it in one sitting but the emotion you feel from this book last much longer.

Thanks to the great peeps at LibraryThing and to Mr. Rashod Ollison for my win of this free book in exchange for an honest review to which I gladly and voluntarily gave.

Rashod Ollison’s “Soul Serenade” is subtitled “Rhythm, Blues & Coming of Age Through Vinyl”. It is an interesting book although its content does not match that phrase. Readers are given graphic descriptions of a dysfunctional family and of the son whose success is due to fortunate encounters with people very unlike them.

Music critic Rashod Ollison creates a vivid memoir of a childhood made difficult by poverty but also by a mostly-absent father, a harsh mother who seems to belittle her son at every opportunity, and Mama Teacake, the grandmother from hell.

And yet Ollison is able to escape, to be transported through music, the stacks of vinyl records and tapes of Motown, R&B, soul and early hip-hop.

I have no frame of reference for a childhood like his, for a family "support'' system that is more apt to kick someone when he's down or for grinding, urban poverty, yet Ollison is able to share and give insight into his coming up and coming out in the racially-charged Deep South so that I can appreciate it.

A well-written, poignant and evocative memoir.

The book is the author's memoir of his rough childhood marked by poverty and violence, and how music became his escape. While an interesting read, I found myself flipping ahead after only 20 pages and without the feeling that I missed something by doing that. I expected more focus on "rhythm, blues. . .through vinyl." Some of the language and situations may be disturbing for some readers so this book may not be for everybody, but give it a chance.

Soul Serenade is a memoir told by a voice we usually don’t hear from. Journalist and pop music critic Rashod Ollison’s memoir comes from the distressed southern neighborhoods we lament over, but seldom truly know anything about. Politicians and social commentators talk about “life in the projects,” “ghetto culture,” “urban dysfunction,” and “absent fathers” but rarely do we hear from the human beings behind these labels. And one rarely considers the possibility that there are gays and lesbians in those communities. Ollison is to be highly commended for writing this, tough, disturbing, heartfelt, and music-filled book and for making his easily stereotyped family life and background movingly real.
http://www.lambdaliterary.org/reviews/01/24/soul-serenade-rhythm-blues-coming-of...

Not what I thought it was going to be. I know this is what life i like for some people, but I found it just too violent and disturbing.

5 for 2016. I requested this book through the Early Reviewers program because, with over 1,000 LPs in my personal collection, the subtitle "...Coming of Age Through Vinyl" spoke to me on a deep level. While my family life was nothing like that of the author, growing up I, too, took comfort in the music on my turntable. Just a different type of music. I have to say that I have never heard of many of the artists whose music spoke to Mr. Ollison, but that doesn't mean I couldn't know his feelings as the music washed over him and insulated him from the world outside. This is a very powerful story of a man triumphing over amazing adversities. I can't pretend to have any idea of what it's like growing up a black male in a largely white society, nor can I relate to the women Ollison describes when he talks about his mother's family or the female neighbors he portrays--the project divas. I have to admit that for me, I see black sit com queens in the divas of Hot Springs and Little Rock. But they are vividly drawn creatures, truly the mark of a master writer. Highly recommended, and I, for one, look forward to a sequel--the college years.

Just couldn't get past the language... so I opted not to continue. I realize that that was (is) the way of life for Rashod Ollison and that's ok.

Ollison recounts his upbringing, from his earliest memories of his parents before their separation until his graduation from high school. It's a life seemingly steeped in traumatic violence, but Ollison endeavours to hide from it. This strain and constant emotional isolation leave their mark, but he avoids the fate seemingly waiting for him.

Ollison's memoir of growing up also sketches a vignette of Arkansas in the 1980s: in small towns and in Little Rock, he mentions the legacy of forced desegregation (he came after the Little Rock Nine, but felt the repercussions), racism and economic hardship, homophobia.

Through it all, holding on to music as both a connection with his dad, and a personal refuge.

The music is there, it's clearly a reference point and solace for Dusty, but it's not the focus of the narrative. To someone as immersed in music as Ollison, the linkages are unmistakable and central, but to someone for whom music is an ambient presence, how little is written explicitly and particularly about individual songs or artists or even of Ollison's impression of these might come as something of a surprise. To Ollison's credit, he presupposes the reader's understanding of the richness and meaning of his musical bedrock, rather than spending column inches on Top 5 lists, name checking, or intense analysis of individual tracks. The occasional discussion of a specific song or artist stands in for what all the music meant for him. I relate to the role music plays in his life, though at best I recognise his reference points more than I share them, and half were new to me. For all that, it feels as though the reading was richer for all that, as compared to reading of someone whose taste and cultural upbringing mirrored my own.

This is a beautifully written memoir. The characters are deep and meaningful, brought to life through the dialogue. The part that I enjoyed the most was reading about Rashod's connection to music. Great read for anyone who is a fan of Rashod Ollison or engaging memoirs.