Choice Review

Surprisingly, this is the first full-length biography of legendary country singer and race-car driver Marty Robbins (1925-82). Famous since the 1950s, he was reputedly shy in private but developed an outgoing public persona and granted many interviews. Diekman (a music-loving retired naval officer turned biographer) took special interest in Robbins while researching her well-received biography of Faron Young (Live Fast, Love Hard, 2007). For the present work, she meticulously studied many Robbins film clips and interviews, many newspaper articles, and other written material about him. Significantly, she conducted a large number of interviews with his family members and many people who had worked with and for him. The result is a well-documented, insightful chronicle that encompasses both Robbins's career as a musician and his activities as a race-car driver. It reveals a man who had a happy, successful family life and career, but always felt insecure due to the hardships of his early years. Appropriate for scholars and students of country music, and for fans of country music and of racing. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty, general readers, professionals. D. Arnold University of North Texas