Aretha: From These Roots. - Review - book review

American Visions, April, 2000 by V.P. Franklin

Aretha: From These Roots by Aretha Franklin with Davis Ritz (Villard Books. 1999. $25.00, hardcover)--For those of us who lived vicariously through the trials and tribulations that punctuated Aretha Franklin's tumultuous career, this memoir puts her life in perspective. The unhappy romances, the successful and unsuccessful dieting, the unflattering fashion statements and the fear of flying are only some of the issues that the Queen of Soul candidly addresses and ultimately puts to rest. Nevertheless, this memoir is mostly about the music and what it has meant to her. The precious memories of family and friends are interspersed with personal reflections on songs, singers and the soul music that she helped define. "A Rose Is Still a Rose," and Aretha is still Aretha, and now we know why.

V.P. Franklin is distinguished professor of history at Drexel University in Philadelphia. He is the author or editor of many books, including Living Our Stories, Telling Our Truths: Autobiography and the Making of the African-American Intellectual Tradition (Oxford University Press, 1996).