Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Award-winning author Bragg could probably write about nearly anything, in his gorgeous and evocative prose, and readers would swoon. Here he writes about musician Jerry Lee Lewis, who made women swoon but also storm the stage and rip off his clothes, and who made men riot and swear and drink. Rocker Lewis was (with Elvis and a few notable others) the naughtily provocative face of rock 'n' roll from the 1950s onward, and, in a literary almost-conversation with Bragg, Lewis reflects on his life, performances, and choices. He probably wouldn't change a thing not even his bigamously marrying his 13-year-old cousin, causing a rise and fall unequaled in American music because he was lucky enough to not only do what he loved, make music, but also make a riotous living at it. The book is a toothsome read: Lewis' reminiscences of the wild times, stories backed by others and headlines of the day, and Bragg's refusal to cosset what Lewis tells him. Fans of Lewis' music will snap this up, but those seeking an unstinting exploration of a true phenomenon of American culture will find it a fine read as well.--Kinney, Eloise Copyright 2014 Booklist

Publishers Weekly
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Bragg, writing closely with Lewis, offers this rollicking, incendiary tale of the man who kick-started rock and roll and blazed a fiery trail strewn with heartache, happiness, regret, and memorable music. Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bragg (All Over but the Shouting) sat down with Lewis over a period of two years and simply let Lewis tell his own story. From his childhood in Ferriday, La., and Natchez, Miss., Lewis chased music, discovering at age five his reason for being born when he sees the piano in his aunt's house. He couldn't sit still-"I come out jumpin', an' I been jumpin' ever since"-and he conducts us on a journey through his short-lived career at a Bible college, his discovery by Cowboy Jack Clement, his years at Sun Studio-including that now-famous, brief session with Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, and Elvis-his seven marriages, his children's deaths, his descent into drugs and alcohol, and his burning desire to play music above all else. "For Jerry Lee," writes Bragg, "fame was a thing that sometimes flogged him and sometimes let him be; he was capable, in the dark times, of losing all sight of the good in his music, of believing it was evil, until suddenly things would be just clear and he'd see it all so much better. The thing about rock and roll, he said, was that it made people crazy bad, but it more often made them happy, made them forget life for a while." As his song "Thirty-Nine and Holding"illustrates, Lewis hypnotizes with his tale, and Bragg stands back and lets him fly. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Library Journal
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An epic life deserves an epic narrative, and Pulitzer Prize winner Bragg (All Over but the Shoutin') delivers such with this major work on rock and roll pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis. Bragg conducted multiple long interviews with the musician, providing the framework for the book, which uses novelistic style and detail while richly describing Lewis's early life in Louisiana and Mississippi, his youthful musical forays, and his meteoric rise to fame in the late 1950s, by way of his own memories and recollections. Bragg chronicles recordings with Sun Records, whirlwind tours, and interactions with music legends as well as a chaotic personal life, problems with drugs and drink, and reckless behavior that early on derailed Lewis's career until a comeback and his eventual ascension to elder rock statesman who here ruminates on the blazing trail that he created. Verdict With Lewis's reminiscences and thoughts filtered and examined through Bragg's evocative writing, readers get an original look at an innovator of rock music as well as an examination of a specific time and place during a thrilling and tumultuous period in the cultural history of the late 20th century. [See Prepub Alert, 6/2/14.]-James Collins, Morristown-Morris Twp. P.L., NJ (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

An iconic rocker receives a warm, admiring biography from a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author. Lewis, born in 1935 (delivered by his father) and among the few remaining stars from the early days of rock 'n' roll, cooperated eagerlyif not always accuratelywith Bragg (The Most They Ever Had, 2011, etc.), now a professor (Writing/Univ. of Alabama). The author begins with Lewis' earliest memory about the piano, the instrument he would ride into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and throughout this account of a most raucous life, the author returns to remind us of Lewis' enormous gifts as a pianist and showman. He began playing at an early age and has not quit, arthritis and decay notwithstanding. Among his fans and friends were Elvis Presley (who coaxed Lewis into playing for hours on end) and other luminaries of the era, from Buddy Holly to Johnny Cash. Bragg gives us lots of family history (Mickey Gilley and evangelist Jimmy Swaggart are cousins) and offers a gripping account of Lewis' early struggles in the music world, when he would sneak into bars to watch and listen, playing nameless places for endless hours, then finally getting a break at Sun Records and his two biggest hits, "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On" and "Great Balls of Fire." Bragg admirably charts Lewis' yo-yo life: seven marriages (including one to a teenage first cousin), wealth and penury and wealth again, run-ins with the law (drunk and armed, he rammed his car into the gate at Elvis' Graceland), and battles with substance abuse (Lewis claims not to have been as big a drinker as rumor insists). Throughout, Bragg displays his characteristic frisky prose. When Lewis played, he writes, "the girls bit their lips and went against their raisin'." From a skilled storyteller comes this entertaining, sympathetic story of a life flaring with fire, shuddering with shakin'. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.