Alice Randall – författare

An enthralling literary tour-de-force that pays tribute to Detroit''s legendary neighborhood, a mecca for jazz, sports, and politics, Black Bottom Saints is a powerful blend of fact and imagination reminiscent of E.L. Doctorow''s classic novel Ragtime and Marlon James'' Man Booker Award-winning masterpiece, A Brief History of Seven Killings.

From the Great Depression through the post-World War II years, Joseph “Ziggy” Johnson, has been the pulse of Detroit’s famous Black Bottom. A celebrated gossip columnist for the city’s African-American newspaper, the Michigan Chronicle, he is also the emcee of one of the hottest night clubs, where he’s rubbed elbows with the legendary black artists of the era, including Ethel Waters, Billy Eckstein, and Count Basie. Ziggy is also the founder and dean of the Ziggy Johnson School of Theater. But now the doyen of Black Bottom is ready to hang up his many dapper hats.  

As he lays dying in the black-owned-and-operated Kirkwood Hospital, Ziggy reflects on his life, the community that was the center of his world, and the remarkable people who helped shape it.

Inspired by the Catholic Saints Day Books, Ziggy curates his own list of Black Bottom’s venerable "52 Saints." Among them are a vulnerable Dinah Washington, a defiant Joe  Louis, and a raucous Bricktop. Randall balances the stories of these larger-than-life "Saints" with local heroes who became household names, enthralling men and women whose unstoppable ambition, love of style, and faith in community made this black Midwestern neighborhood the rival of New York City’s Harlem.

Accompanying these “tributes” are thoughtfully paired cocktails—special drinks that capture the essence of each of Ziggy’s saints—libations as strong and satisfying as Alice Randall’s wholly original view of a place and time unlike any other.

How do you define rockabilly?

Who were the original "outlaws" of Country music?

Where can you go to hear great music in Austin, Texas?

My Country Roots answers all these questions and hundreds more! It is a resource that will help you fill your mp3 player with the essential Country songs, while impressing your friends with your knowledge of the ultimate outsider art.

Containing 100 recommended playlists for downloading, this book is the best and most unique way to explore the Country music genre in a modern easy, convenient way. Each playlist walks you through the history, culture, and relevance of Country music, revealing the authenticity and raw truth that represents Country.

Whether you are a long-time lover of Country music or just discovering the genre, this book will help you not only organize your music, but explore, evaluate, and critique the music while learning about the basics of Country?what we sound like, what we believe in, where we''ve come from, and where we''re goin''. This guide also provides a behind the scenes look at some of the cities that have spawned the greatest music of the genre and films that have contributed to the mystique which defines Country.

For all you music lovers, mp3 users, or folks who are interested in discovering or rediscovering your country roots, this is a book you can''t live without!

Windsor Armstrong is a polished, Harvard educated, African American professor of Russian literature. Her son, Pushkin X, is an exceedingly famous pro-football player, an achievement that impresses his mother not at all. Even more distressing, however, is that her beloved son has just become engaged to a gorgeous white Russian émigré who also happens to be a lap dancer.

For Windsor, this is no laughing matter. Determined to get to the source of it, she embarks on a journey into her own rich past. As she moves ever closer to the secret that has cast a shadow over her life, she discovers that the half-lies she has fed her son don’t add up to the beauty of the truth.