I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive
On Trauma, Persistence, and Dolly Parton
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Narrated by:
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Lynn Melnick
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By:
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Lynn Melnick
About this listen
A moving and essential exploration of what it takes to find your voice as a woman, a survivor, an artist, and an icon.
The first time Lynn Melnick listened to a Dolly Parton song in full, she was 14 years old, in the triage room of a Los Angeles hospital, waiting to be admitted to a drug rehab program. Already in her young life as a Jewish teen in the 1980s, she had been the victim of rape, abuse, and trauma, and her path to healing would be long. But in Parton’s words and music, she recognized a fellow survivor.
In this powerful, incisive work of social and self-exploration, Melnick blends personal essay with cultural criticism to explore Parton’s dual identities as a feminist icon and objectified sex symbol, identities that reflect the author’s own fraught history with rape culture and the arduous work of reclaiming her voice. Each chapter engages with the artistry and impact of one of Parton’s songs, as Melnick reckons with violence, misogyny, creativity, parenting, friendship, sex, love, and the consolations and cruelties of religion. Bold and inventive, I’ve Had to Think Up a Way to Survive gives us an accessible and memorable framework for understanding our times and a revelatory account of survival, persistence, and self-discovery.
©2022 Lynn Melnick (P)2022 Spiegel & Grau by Spotify AudiobooksListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“The author writes with remarkable vulnerability and candor yet ensures that the often-painful memories she relates don’t cloud her critical gaze. She moves gracefully between confessional and analytical registers, her prose both sharp and full of heart.”—The Atlantic
“A riveting blend of cultural criticism and memoir…In her quest to ‘be more Dollylike, rising again and again from the embers of expectation,’ Melnick offers a gorgeous story of survival and self-discovery.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“It is a mighty task to write generously, robustly, and imaginatively about Dolly Parton, who already exists so broadly at the intersection of many American imaginations, all of them flourishing and fluorescent. But what Lynn Melnick has managed is beyond mere tribute, and beyond biography—it is a rich, close reading of multiple lives, that sometimes find themselves touching. The narratives in this book are masterfully presented and do justice not only to the life of its central subject but also the life of its writer.”—Hanif Abdurraqib
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Down the Highway is an essential biography for Bob Dylan fans and all music enthusiasts, delivering the full, fascinating story of the life and work of this great artist. Author Howard Sounes interviewed more than 250 key people in Dylan’s circle, and gained access to previously unseen documents, to create a fresh and compelling book that takes the reader on a journey from Dylan’s childhood in a Minnesota mining town, through his rise to fame in the 1960s, to his current status as the senior figure in popular music.
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I'm a little late to the party
- By BrassHat on 06-05-17
By: Howard Sounes
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Your Song Changed My Life
- From Jimmy Page to St. Vincent, Smokey Robinson to Hozier, Thirty-Five Beloved Artists on Their Journey and the Music That Inspired It
- By: Bob Boilen
- Narrated by: Bob Boilen
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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From the beloved host and creator of NPR's All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others - published in association with NPR Music.
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Cool if you know all interviewed artists
- By Farfield on 12-05-16
By: Bob Boilen
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A Little Devil in America
- Notes in Praise of Black Performance
- By: Hanif Abdurraqib
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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“I was a devil in other countries, and I was a little devil in America, too.” Inspired by these few words, spoken by Josephine Baker at the 1963 March on Washington, MacArthur “Genius Grant” Fellow and best-selling author Hanif Abdurraqib has written a profound and lasting reflection on how Black performance is inextricably woven into the fabric of American culture. Filled with sharp insight, humor, and heart, A Little Devil in America exalts the Black performance that unfolds in specific moments in time and space
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Magical
- By Mary A. Ardoin on 05-11-21
By: Hanif Abdurraqib
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Turn Around Bright Eyes
- A Karaoke Love Story
- By: Rob Sheffield
- Narrated by: Rob Sheffield
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Turn Around Bright Eyes picks up Sheffield’s story right after Love Is a Mix Tape. He is a young widower devastated by grief, trying to build a new life in a new town after his wife’s death. As a writer for Rolling Stone, he naturally takes solace in music. But that’s when he discovers the sublime ridiculousness of karaoke, and despite the fact that he can’t carry a tune, he begins to find his voice.
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Witty (sometimes sad) love story/Soundtrack
- By Wally Tonra on 05-07-15
By: Rob Sheffield
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The Ballad of Bob Dylan
- A Portrait
- By: Daniel Mark Epstein
- Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot
- Length: 15 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
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The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a vivid, full-bodied portrait of one of the most influential artists of the 20th-century - a man widely regarded as the most important lyricist America has ever produced. Acclaimed poet and biographer Daniel Mark Epstein frames Dylan against the backdrop of four seminal concerts - all of which he attended. Beautifully written, The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a unique, eye-opening portrait of an artist who has transformed generations and continues to inspire and surprise today.
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Excellent book, excellent narration
- By L chandler on 12-22-11
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Lead Me
- Finding Courage to Fight for Your Marriage, Children, and Faith
- By: Matt Hammitt, Bart Millard - Foreword
- Narrated by: Matt Hammitt
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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In Lead Me, Matt identifies the tension many men experience when trying to balance work and home life. With bracing honesty, vulnerable storytelling, and practical application, Matt challenges you to be faithful both to God's vocational call and to His call to lead your family well. Discover the extraordinary joy of actively and intentionally pursuing your wife and children. Matt reminds us that it's messy. It's difficult. And it's the most rewarding thing you can do, beyond following Christ.
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Raw reality
- By Hickupnorth on 10-27-24
By: Matt Hammitt, and others
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Johnny Cash
- The Redemption of an American Icon
- By: Greg Laurie, Marshall Terrill
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Johnny Cash: The Redemption of an American Icon dives deep into the singer’s inner demons, triumphs, and gradual return to faith. Laurie interviews Cash’s family, friends, and business associates to reveal how the singer’s true success came through finding the only Person whose star was bigger than his own.
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Best Cash biography by far
- By C. W. Walker on 08-27-19
By: Greg Laurie, and others
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Kicking and Dreaming
- A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll
- By: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson
- Narrated by: Ann Wilson, Nancy Wilson
- Length: 8 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Two sisters. Two voices. One Heart.
The mystery of "Magic Man." The wicked riff of "Barracuda." The sadness and beauty of "Alone." The raw energy of "Crazy On You." These songs, and so many more, are part of the fabric of American music. Heart, fronted by Ann and Nancy Wilson, has given fans everywhere classic, raw, and pure badass rock and roll for more than three decades. As the only sisters in rock who write their own music and play their own instruments, Ann and Nancy have always stood apart - certainly from their male counterparts but also from their female peers.
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Good Behind-The-Scenes Look At "Heart"
- By Kathy on 11-13-12
By: Ann Wilson, and others
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An Outlaw and a Lady
- A Memoir of Music, Life with Waylon, and the Faith That Brought Me Home
- By: Jessi Colter
- Narrated by: Devon O'day
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
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The daughter of a Pentecostal evangelist and a race-car driver, Jessi Colter played piano and sang in church before leaving Arizona to tour with rock n' roll pioneer Duane Eddy, whom she married. Colter became a successful recording artist, appearing on American Bandstand and befriending stars such as the the Everly Brothers and Chet Atkins while her songs were recorded by Nancy Sinatra, Dottie West, and others. Her marriage to Eddy didn't last, however, and in 1969 she married the electrifying Waylon Jennings.
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Thank you Jessi
- By Jene't on 06-28-19
By: Jessi Colter
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Tammy Wynette
- Tragic Country Queen
- By: Jimmy McDonough
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Best-selling biographer Jimmy McDonough tells the story of the small-town girl who grew up to be the woman behind the microphone, whose meteoric rise led to a decades-long career full of tragedy and triumph. Through a high-profile marriage and divorce, her dreadful battle with addiction and illness, and the struggle to compete in a rapidly evolving Nashville, Tammy Wynette turned a brave smile toward the world and churned out masterful hit songs though her life resembled the most heartbreaking among them.
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Loved It!
- By Eileen on 03-19-10
By: Jimmy McDonough
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I Am Brian Wilson
- By: Brian Wilson, Ben Greenman - contributor
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
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As a cofounding member of the Beach Boys in the 1960s, Wilson created some of the most groundbreaking and timeless popular music ever recorded. With intricate harmonies, symphonic structures, and wide-eyed lyrics that explored life's most transcendent joys and deepest sorrows, songs like "In My Room", "God Only Knows", and "Good Vibrations" forever expanded the possibilities of pop songwriting.
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Surviving the Minor Keys in Life - Love Overcomes
- By Russell on 12-01-16
By: Brian Wilson, and others
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Jenni Rivera
- The Incredible Story of a Warrior Butterfly
- By: Leila Cobo
- Narrated by: Alma Cuervo
- Length: 5 hrs
- Unabridged
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In Jenni Rivera: The Incredible Story of a Warrior Butterfly, Leila Cobo - pianist, TV host, and executive director for Latino content and programming at Billboard - brings us Jenni Rivera’s intimate and moving biography, reflecting on the party girl, the elegant woman, the great diva, the friend, the mother, and the grandmother. Discover the humble beginnings of Jenni’s life and career, as well as the emotional and sometimes turbulent moments that defined her persona and spirit.
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I love Jenny 😘
- By Margaret Martinez on 01-23-17
By: Leila Cobo
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Dirty Daddy
- The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian
- By: Bob Saget
- Narrated by: Bob Saget
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Millions of viewers know and love Bob Saget from his role as the sweetly neurotic father on the smash hit Full House, and as the charming wisecracking host of America's Funniest Home Videos. And then there are the legions of fans who can't get enough of his scatological, out-of-his-mind stand-up routines, comedy specials, and outrageously profane performances in such shows as HBO's Entourage and the hit documentary The Aristocrats.
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Meh to the 2nd Power
- By Hilary on 06-30-14
By: Bob Saget
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My Time Among the Whites
- Notes from an Unfinished Education
- By: Jennine Capo Crucet
- Narrated by: Jennine Capo Crucet
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Raised in Miami and the daughter of Cuban refugees, Crucet examines the political and personal contours of American identity and the physical places where those contours find themselves smashed: be it a rodeo town in Nebraska, a university campus in upstate New York, or Disney World in Florida. Crucet illuminates how she came to see her exclusion from aspects of the theoretical American Dream, despite her family's attempts to fit in with white American culture - beginning with their ill-fated plan to name her after the winner of the Miss America pageant.
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Empowering
- By elvia on 10-23-19
What listeners say about I've Had to Think Up a Way to Survive
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Maggie B. Sennish
- 04-29-23
Compelling, brave, poetic & scholarly
I loved listening to and reading Lynn Melnick's intimate memoir, While meticulously illuminating the poetry and history of Dolly's songs, Melnick seamlessly braids the story of the two women's lives, providing a template for considering creative ways to not only survive, but thrive. Melnick's honesty,vulnerability, intelligence and grit combined with Dolly's bold audacity to be who the hell she wants to be provide a roadmap for post traumatic growth. As a therapist I've recommended this book to colleagues and patients alike. Melnick's voice, despite her fierceness as a poet, is as mellifluous and clear to listen to as it is on the page. The takeaway: art is soul medicine.
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- doloresflores-d
- 07-23-23
Excellent narrative weaving one’s life with one’s hero
Melnick is a terrific poet. Now I know her to be a powerful narrative writer. I learned to love Dolly Parton, thanks to Melnick. I learned how important it is for me to tell myself of my own trauma, as Melnick does. I know I’ll return to this text again, and continue to learn from it.
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- Kerryann K
- 03-07-23
sensitive writing
Lynne Melnick's book came recommended to me on a booktube episode of great memoirs.
With respect to her talent as a writer/poet, this book has remarkably good, insightful writing.
However, if you came for Dolly anecdotes, they are here but served up in giant doses of trauma and the burden of trauma, the persistence of trauma. It is a drumbeat throughout the book. If you have been through similar experiences and you came here for the Dolly and didn't take the bit that lots of survival would be here too, this is not a fun listen. Lots of heartbreaking stories from her childhood that can leave you in tears and the seemingly wooden, confused way she soldiered on the way a kid does when their innocence is gone but they are still a kid and only left to grow up with the rawness of loss. I think the most commonly used word in this book is "trauma".
So, here is me saying it's a very good book by a talented writer but for me, wow, so heartbreaking. It buried me because the longed for happily ever after is of course not here. There isn't lots of happily ever after when you are arrested in what was stolen from you as a kid and how it sets the tone for all that follows.
I'm not sure what is the modern evolutionary value of having the most horrible experiences burned deeper in the brain than anything else. So yeah, brace yourself if you read this book and you just love Dolly and can't get enough of her. This may not be the listen for you. If you are a good place and can receive what Lynn Melnick is dishing out from her overflowing platter, dig in.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Austin
- 01-02-23
I will always love you
The author does a gorgeous job of weaving and personal memoir, with anecdotes about the life and music of Dolly Parton! Audiobook narrated by the author was well performed.
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- Mandy jewell
- 02-03-23
Beautiful
A beautiful account of the authors life and struggles. Such a strong voice in a world that needs it.
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- The Book Fairy
- 09-28-23
Wish There Were More of her Story in detail
Just finished this today. I like to read along with the audiobook, helps me retain and makes me feel IN the story/journey. I ADORE Dolly. Huge fan, and it was because of her that I picked this up. By the title and cover I was led to believe this way an interesting memoir in that it might uniquely and perhaps brilliantly weave Dolly’s songs with in-depth traumatic experiences the author lived and conquered through. However, most of this book is an overview of Dolly’s career with facts and backgrounds on the songs (most of which I knew extensively). The author writes about her life and experiences but rather vaguely, and not really giving a solution and victory of how she got through the trauma. There’s frequent mention of “the man who through the bookcase at me” and she talks about it but not in detail. This book doesn’t give you insight on who the author truly is. This book won’t leave you feeling connection to be at all. Rather it’s analytical toward Dolly’s music, politics and role in America today. I finished this book knowing and wishing it could’ve been much better. Great concept! Poorly executed.
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