America Over the Water

A dear friend bought me this book as a gift some years ago and it became the single most lost and re-discovered book I own. Finally, though, I found it, again, and read it and it is such a delight. Much like her singing, Collins' prose has a direct simplicity to it that is affecting in the most delig......more

Although Alan Lomax, as the more famous one, is theoretically the selling point, you will be reading this because you (as you should) admire Shirley Collins enormously and her engaging and sympathetic autobiographic tone more than repays your admiration. The book alternates 11 chapters on her southea......more

I liked this very much. I am a fan of Shirley Collins and didn't realize until recently that she had traveled through the American south with Alan Lomax in the 1950s as his assistant. The book is based on her letters home but also includes chapters about her life, growing up in post-war Hastings, an......more

Great biography of a very interesting and understated character. Her life and philosophy of continuing folk traditions is interesting enough on its own, but paired with the account of a journey through a relatively untravelled American south in the 50s this is a great read......more

Modest, unassuming account of what must have been an incredible journey across the USA in the late 1950s, to record traditional folk music in all its guises. Plainly written, interspersed with chapters on her Hastings childhood. A good read.......more