I'm not really sure what i was expecting when I decided to read this book about Dolly Parton and Dollywood, but whatever it was, this far surpassed and was much more serious and scholarly than I expected. Don't get me wrong, it was fun and entertaining as well. But it also gave me food for thought, plus an extensive bibliography to consult on various topics covered, not least of which are Dolly and Dollywood.

Confession: once upon a time in the far distant past, a friend and I plotted a road trip to drive from NYC to Tennessee, specifically to Dollywood with a side trip to the not too distant Chattanooga. Not sure what happened to those plans - the road trip never happened - but it's always been in the back of my mind to check out Dollywood. (Yes, we are both Dolly fans though nowhere close to being superfans. I also admire her as a businesswoman - phenomenal!) Morales here brings her version of a Dollywood road trip to enjoyable life, reanimating thoughts of doing something similar, assuming this pandemic at some point allows for such trips again. I'm enough of an optimist that I've sent my would-be road trip partner a link to the book and said: remember our plan?

What about the book? Okay, okay, here we go. Morales is English, now on the faculty at UC-Berkley, CA. In 2010, finding herself at odds with her 'new country', and not acclimating nearly as well as her partner and their daughter, Morales set her eyes on a pilgrimage to Dollywood, having been an ardent Dolly fan since childhood. Why call it a 'pilgrimage'? Morales is a classics scholar, specializing in myth and the concept of pilgrimage. Hmmm, seems a pretty good fit to me, because of course Dolly Parton like Elvis triggers fans making tracks to the locations associated with them -- Graceland for Elvis of course and Dollywood and Pigeon Forge for Dolly. Pilgrimage is a journey, one, as discussed in this book, where the journeyer learns something or embraces something important to self. I've certainly made a few pilgrimages in my time, a certain overnight train ride to Venice a la Helen MacInnes' spy thriller and a trip to Lido Beach there a la Thomas Mann's novella both come to mind. I got it and dug into my read with enthusiasm.

Morales and her family expand this pilgrimage to include Elvis, Loretta Lynn, and Nashville, starting the road trip in Memphis. Along the way they explore both the south and its history, and a slice of America. Being English, they are tourists, but not mere visitors; they are familiarizing themselves with their new country. Visit to a park and the Civil Rights Museum in Memphis lead to a discussion about racism in America and the history of the south and the Confederacy in a more academic way than you might think a book would that's describing a pilgrimage to Dollywood. Morales also does not shy away from commenting on the political conservatism, the insularity and even misogyny still evidenced by country music and its manifesters. Christianity and patriotism as espoused by Dolly do not escape scrutiny either. This is not by any means a deep analysis or criticism by the author, but merely observations and thoughts from someone who at the time of writing was essentially an outsider, an immigrant.

It was great fun, and there were even a number of photos scattered throughout of the places visisted. I found myself frequently humming or hearing in my head many of Dolly's songs (she is I believe the most successful country musician alive or dead, having written for herself and others over 1500 songs during her career. She's not done yet). This was no accident as Morales links her songs and their lyrics to many of the places visited, and in fact Dollywood is steeped in them. I also learned a couple facts I had not known: one was about Dolly's song made famous by Whtney Houston, and the other was that Dolly, one of the shrewdist and most successful businesswomen in entertainment today (and largely because she maintained control), is co-owner of the production company that brought us Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

I actually give this 3.5 stars. It bogged down a little too often into scholarly discourse and analysis to give it a higher rating, and maybe there was also a little too much discussion and insertion of Dolly's songs and lyrics. That may only bother me - I'm one of those rare lovers of vocal music who can never ever remember lyrics or even pay much attention to them or care that much about them. To me lyricas are just another instrument contributing to the total sound. So reading passages regularly including lyrics and song titles...not so thrilling.

Morales starts the book with a discussion of pilgrimage, and ends it with her own conclusion on pilgrimage: It is not that the journey is its own reward, but that the journey affects how you experience the destination.

NOTE: Just as I finished this review, my digital subscription to The New Yorker chimed with an article alert – on Dolly Parton! https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2020/10/19/the-united-states-of-dolly-parton.