All three women are recording artists. Dionne is a living legend with a chart making history that goes back decades. Though successful in their own right, Roseanne and Natalie are the daughters of living legends (Johny Cash and Nat King Cole). In addition, Roseanne Cash is a songwriter. And that last factoid may be why Roseanne didn't need a co-writer.
Roseanne's book is a sprawling work that travels around the world, through the interior and exteriors of the soul and is just the sort of book that you'd expect from her -- which doesn't make her feat any less amazing. It's a book that reaches out to the reader with a bravery to share the joy and the sorrow. Sharing the battles she went through to find her own sound, she'll toss out some advice her father gave her ("Screw 'em") about dealing with music executives. And that's where her book differs the most from Natalie's. Nat King Cole pops up as an aside, in passing. In fact, when Natalie's writing about her family's last name, she spends so much time on it, that it's practically a sidebar. That may be due to the fact that Nat King Cole died while his daughter was a teenager and that Natalie's shared her stories of him with the press (and on albums) many times. But it is surprising how little he shows up in the book.
But while Roseanne's attempting to make sense of her entire life and career, Natalie's focused on a specific time in her life, a recent time, when her liver was no longer functioning and she needed a transplant. Portions of the book feature the point of view of the family of the donor. And in at least one spot, that can add to some confusion. What is Natalie, for example, doing at a desk at one point -- And then you realize, Natalie's not at a desk, it's the donor's mother. Though many times the transitions are handled smoothly, that one did stick out.
And what sticks out throughout Natalie's book is the warmth from her family -- an aunt who had passed away, her sister, etc. More than anything else, the feeling of support and how it has sustained her comes across in her book.
Dionne's book is breezy and there's no other way for it to be. We're talking about an author trying to cover a long stretch of time -- she's just entered her sixth decade of living as a public figure. There are more ups and downs than could fit in a single book so she emphasizes the big ones and edits out the smaller ones.
And even as she tells her story, she never forgets the people around her. For example, pages 18 through 20 note Florence Greenberg of Scepter Records, the label that Dionne started with, the woman who told Burt Bacharach and Hal Davis to forget the song they were pitching and bring her the singer. Greenberg and her time are noted in a loving way that brings that early period to life, when anyone could try to be a music mogul if they believed strong enough.
All three women believe. Roseanne appears to believe in the process itself, Natalie in the outcome and Dionne in all that has and is unfolding. Three so very different women, share three different stories but they mesh together so well they should be sold in a boxed set.
