Fictional Blues - 9781625345509

Fictional BluesNarrative Self-Invention from Bessie Smith to Jack White\nAuthor(s): Kimberly Mack\nFormat: Paperback\nPublisher: University of Massachusetts Press, United States\nImprint: University of Massachusetts Press\nISBN-13: 9781625345509, 978-1625345509\nSynopsis\nThe familiar story of Delta blues musician Robert Johnson, who sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads in exchange for guitar virtuosity, and the violent stereotypes evoked by legendary blues \""bad men\"" like Stagger Lee undergird the persistent racial myths surrounding \""authentic\"" blues expression. Fictional Blues unpacks the figure of the American blues performer, moving from early singers such as Ma Rainey and Big Mama Thornton to contemporary musicians such as Amy Winehouse, Rhiannon Giddens, and Jack White to reveal that blues makers have long used their songs, performances, interviews, and writings to invent personas that resist racial, social, economic, and gendered [url] examples of fictiona.