From Publishers Weekly
This mainly pleasant memoir covers the author's life from hardscrabble West Texas childhood through success as a country and western entertainer to fulfillment as a sausage mogul voted "the number one meat spokesperson of all time." Dean has a "jillion" anecdotes about touring with the band, playing rodeos and state fairs, his recurring gig on The Daniel Boone Show, hosting and guesting a slew of 1960s variety shows and encountering a galaxy of fellow celebrities, from the hard-drinking, foul-mouthed Patsy Cline to Elvis himself, on whose advice he unwisely took some "energy" pills during a fatiguing stint in Vegas. Decorated with folksy aphorisms (one carousing associate was "so high he could go duck hunting with a rake") and sentimental lyrics from his trademark "recitation" ballads, his reminiscences are happy-go-lucky and detached, with a minimum of rancor against agents ("a necessary evil") and network suits ("they had bent me and changed me"). The book comes alive when Dean gives up the songs for the sausage, which brought him riches but also precipitated a wrenching break with his business-partner brother and led to a disillusioning betrayal by the "liars, turncoats, cutthroats" at the Sara Lee Corporation after they bought his company. Who knew that pork processing could be even crueler than showbiz? Photos. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Book Description
Jimmy Dean and his wife Donna chronicle his amazing rise-from backroad music gigs to playing The Grand Ole Opry to headlining Carnegie Hall and the London Palladium to the coast-to-coast smash of his own TV show to his Grammy Award-winning spot on the country charts to his investment in the Jimmy Dean Meat Company, which evolved into a phenomenal business success and American tradition.

This is also a candid and affectionate portrait of the legends who crossed Jimmy's path, including Patsy Cline, Elvis Presley, Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Roy Rogers, Jack Benny, George Burns, Roy Clark, Sammy Davis, Jr., Jimmy Durante, Jim Henson, John F. Kennedy, Sean Connery, and even George Bush.

The Deans also share the incredible story of the multi-million-dollar business venture that made him a household name-and the "deal from hell" with the Sara Lee company that become one of the most challenging periods of Jimmy's life.

Brimming with good will, folksy humor, nuggets of wisdom, and down-home philosophy, this is a story of a life well-lived that will charm, enthrall, and surprise Jimmy Dean's legion of fans.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Abandoned by his father and raised by his mother during the Depression, Jimmy Dean learned early the values of hard work and faith. But no one could have imagined how far those values-and the saving grace of country music-would take the poor young man from Plainview, Texas...

Now, Jimmy Dean and his wife, Donna, chronicle his amazing rise-from backroad music gigs to playing the Grand Ole Opry to headlining Carnegie Hall and the London Palladium to his own TV show to his Grammy Award win. But even after his success as a country singer, Jimmy's life was to take another turn-as his investment in the Jimmy Dean Meat Company evolved into a phenomenal business success and an American tradition.

Journeying from the Lone Star State to the nation's capital, from Nashville to New York-with plenty of adventurous detours along the way-this is a candid and affectionate portrait of the legends who crossed Jimmy's path, such as the bawdy Patsy Cline and a nervous up-and-comer named Elvis Presley. Here too are illuminating and poignant encounters with the likes of Johnny Cash, Ray Charles, Frank Sinatra, Roy Rogers, Jack Benny, George Burns, Roy Clark, Sammy Davis Jr., Jimmy Durante, Jim Henson, John F. Kennedy, George H. W. Bush, and even Sean Connery, with whom Jimmy co-starred in Diamonds Are Forever. But it's also Dean's incredible story of the multimillion-dollar venture that made him a household name, the home-grown values that made his business endure and thrive over the years-and the "deal from hell" with the Sara Lee company that became one of the most challenging periods of Jimmy's life. Brimming with goodwill, folksy humor, nuggets of wisdom, and down-home philosophy, this is a story of a life well-lived that will charm, enthrall, and surprise Jimmy Dean's legion of fans.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly