Woody Guthrie is a rare and remarkable storyteller, I already knew that from his songs. Now, my life is enriched by having read his wide-brimmed memoir. Thanks to Bob Dylan for the recommendation in his own autobiography, Chronicles: Volume One.

In Bound For Glory, published in 1943, Woody's words leap and tumble off the page with poetic immediacy, humor, and his hometown Oklahoma dialect of the times that grabbed hold and shook me, as he captivates with a casade of tales from his youth through the beginning of his fame as THE Woody Guthrie we all know: uplifting, rock solid folksinger of his day and influencer of generations to come.

Guthrie was raised during the depression and word paints and illustates portraits of this colorful and challenging slice of life through his telling of his family life and boyhood, which was full of love, adventure, angst, and tragedy. His beloved sister Clara died from a fire in childhood. After that jarring loss, his mother went though searing emotional anguish as a parent who survived the catastrophic death of her child. Her sad story does not end well. Eventually, young Woody, (who was often inducted against his wishes by his peers to rock and fist fight because he was strong and it was a sporting spectacle to see), set out from home early. He traveled like a hobo by train, got caught in the rain, spoke Oakie, not plain, and sang his way to fame.

The narrative packs in social commentary on race relations, injustice, friendship, labor and class struggles, and takes biting jabs at the pathetic political rouse in this country. I fell in love with this the portrayal of Guthrie as an innocent wee kid, a rascally boy, and hung on to his every word as the pages spin out his evocative evolution into a young man of conviction, intelligence, talent and integrity who is jostled by life and flooded with down-to-earth humanity.

He says, "... with a song, you sing it out, and it soaks that in people's ears and they all jump up and down and sing it with you, and then when you quit singing, it's gone, and you get a job singing it again. On top of that, you can sing out what you think. You can tell tall tales of all sorts to put your idea across to the other fellow." Well, he put his ideas across to me all right, and I will always remember my dad singing out his songs. Guthrie has sort of seeped into my soul. I recommend this book. ( )

Entertaining semi-fictional autobiography about the song'n'dance man Woodie Guthrie. The stories have good humour and engaging language. Although some chapters don't really fit in the book, or are just outdated, some passages (particularly the New York skyscraper-to-street story in the penultimate chapter) are fantastic. ( )

Startling, fresh, and also quite alien--something from a completely different era, particularly when compared with most memoirs written today. Guthrie lost a sister in a fire in which his family also lost all of their possessions, his father left home when he was twelve, he was raised by a brother after his mother was institutionalized for mental problems, and after all this, Guthrie still writes compassionately about them all. Part of the weird alien nature of this book is how family members disappear casually from Guthrie's life. All of these events are narrated as if family disappearing is a matter of course, and maybe it was, for people who had lost everything, even their will to love one another, and who needed to move to wherever they could find sustenance and shelter. I listened to the book as narrated by Arlo Guthrie, and this added to my experience--the words on the page were extremely difficult to parse for me, given the dialect it is written in, and I never would have made my way through it except by listening to the audiobook. ( )

Not for me no matter what Bob says or how much he likes it. Too dated and it did not feel timeless to me. Off to other things of more interest. ( )

Lite långtråkig - faktisk - skildring av hur illa det gick för huvudpersonen (Guthrie själv?) i barnaåren. För mig börjar det intressanta när Woody blivit vuxen, börjat spela och sjunga och flackar omkring över hela USA. Parallellerna till "Vredens druvor" (som är en mycket bättre roman) är många och tydliga. Vad jag kan irritera mig lite på är Guthries övertro på sången som kraft. Så jävla troligt är det inte att ett gäng utsvultna arbetssökande hårdingar tillsammans sluter upp i en sång... och marscherar till den. Enligt Guthrie händer det.
Men et är väl min enda kritik. Det var en upplevelse att läsa. Jag önskar jag kunde läst "Hela härligheten" på orginalspråk - de flesta replikerna är skrivna (och översatta) på dialekt. ( )