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Redneck Woman: W/DVD: Stories from My Life | 
 enlarge | Authors: Gretchen Wilson, Allen Rucker
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Category: Book
List Price: $23.99
Buy Used: $0.38
You Save: $23.61 (98%)
New (12) Used (32) Collectible (4) from $0.38
Avg. Customer Rating:  22 reviews
Sales Rank: 411651
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Har/DVD
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 224
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 8.9 x 6.2 x 1.2
ISBN: 0446580015
Dewey Decimal Number: 782.421642092
EAN: 9780446580014
ASIN: 0446580015
Publication Date: November 1, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Condition: Hardcover. Ex Public Library, Light circulation. Very nice reading condition. Dustjacket in protective Mylar Plastic. May have usual markings, stickers or pocket. Shipped promptly via USPS. Thank you for shopping with us!
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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.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 17 more reviews...
 awsome book lets you feel that its ok to be a redneck woman! November 29, 2007
I thought this book was great i was already a big fan before i read the book but now that i have also read the book it made me love and respect her even more. she is an inspriation to me gives me hope in life through her music. thanks gretchen your great!!!
 Different perspective on Southern Illinois... I love this area, and wasn't "poverty-stricken" at all. May 26, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I always appreciate someone telling "the other side of the story," as CC Girl has done in her review here.
Castlegrrl : It's unfortunate that Amazon does not provide a spell-checker as do most email programs, as even though I am a teacher I find myself making spelling errors myself. This does not detract from this review at all; in fact, having grown up half my life in Ill. I was very surprised to hear Wilson describing the area as "poverty-stricken" myself. You really should think before you attack someone else's review as we all are describing our own experiences, no more and no less. Everyone has the right to their own experience and the right to describe it.
I am very glad that CC Girl took the time to describe their experience living in this area. I admire Gretchen for finally going for her GED, as without even a high-school education, this could well have led to her outlook in the past. This does not take away from her major success(es) she has achieved, but there is always "another side to the coin." Someone's story is always only from their own experiences and perspectives, so I appreciate another's experiences in the same area or situation. I wouldn't say Wilson was "trying to make it more redneck that it is," it's just that we can only describe our own personal experiences when we write about our own life.
Thank you CC Girl for telling more of the story of this lovely area in Illinois. I love Illinois, especially southern Illinois, and spent some of the happiest years of my life out in the country at the university town of Charleston Ill.
I am glad to see, due to CC's comment, that people will not think of this area as it has been described only from a poverty-stricken, beer-drinking "redneck" point of view. There's nothing wrong with describing one's own point of view, mind you, being redneck or drinking beer, it's just a limited perspective that we all have. I welcome other people's opinions even if I don't agree with them or haven't experienced them.
I would NEVER consider CC's comment to be a "diatribe."
Shame on Castlegrrl (can't spell her own name?) for attacking another person's experiences. She acts as if she was being attacked personally. That is not what is happening here, not at all.
Thanks again, CC, for the positive words about Southern Illinois.
I have not commented on the problems that alcoholism brings, as that is another whole story, but "people that live their lives for the bar, in the bar choose that life" as CC points out, does change things a great deal.
CC has presented many important opinions here, and very clearly stated. Excellent and very welcome comment.
 Hell NO! April 23, 2007
2 out of 7 found this review helpful
This book is awful! What was Gretchen Wilson thinking...how to bilk a few more dummies out of their hard earned money? Get a life Gretchen...don't try to cheat us Rednecks. We aren't any different than you are and no one cares to buy a story about our life and how we lived in a trailor, and worked as waitresses, and tried damn hard to succeed. I am a Redneck, I work hard, and do my best...and who the hell wants to buy a book about my life? Don't waste your money on this book! Totally throwing your money down the drain!
Book March 14, 2007
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
I enjoyed immensly reading about Gretchen Wilson's life. The DVD that is included is excellent
Half Truths February 8, 2007
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
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.
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