I bought this book at aintnograveIt was a great book, and I would highly recommend it.

This book is really touching, and it's amazing the life lessons that I was challenged with in reading it. It's very inspirational, and I loved the author's style of utilizing hundreds of interviews to make one,sweet story. The author made me often feel like I was actually there at these events. Sometimes I would catch myself getting a Kleenex, and other times I found myself chuckling out loud while reading. The photos were great. The music was precious. It made me long for a simpler time. The bo [...]

This book was amazing. It had lots of really cool music history, Appalachian stories, and 290 vintage mountain photos. The coolest feature of the book was that it came with a CD containing old Appalachian church music and an old-church style sermon being preached on it. I enjoy reading nonfiction, but it takes a whole lot to impress me. This book was wonderful! Very few books keep my attention for long spans of time, but this one certainly did just that. I found myself not wanting to stop readin [...]

Ain't No Grave: The Life & Legacy of Brother Claude Ely is a fun-read. I enjoyed reading it a lot. When I first picked up the book to read it, I was hoping it would keep my attention and perhaps entertain my current state of boredom. Instead, I was delighted to find it not only entertained me but it also captivated me. My wife bought the book at aintnograve because she likes American roots music and its history. This book certainly fits into that category, but it also was very raw and dealt [...]

This book was an interesting biography of an important figure in Appalachian--and American--culture of the mid 20th-century. Some of the pictures of minor people mentioned or interviewed in only one paragraph seemed a trifle unnecessary, but that's a judgment call. I was disappointed in the chapter discussing Ely's influence on early rock-n-roll and country artists--the editing suddenly got much worse, with paragraphs that repeated information clumsily, misplaced commas, missing words, etc. It a [...]

Interesting look at this particular legend in music and religion. Not the most concise or well-written book (as the author concedes that he's not a writer by trade), it surprised me as more of a transcribed oral history project than a traditional biography. I found myself skimming after awhile, but I'm still glad to have context and backstory for this artist I've come to appreciate.

Discovered this book and Bro Claude Ely on NPR -- of course. I really want to listen to the accompanying cd. May 5 2011.