This book told me more about banjo playing than I ever needed to know -- and that is part of what makes this a great book. The author can take the most minute details of the story and make them fascinating. I actually asked a friend who plays the banjo to show me what the author was talking about and he had described it so perfectly that I could recognize it when my friend played. And I don't play any instruments at all....

In the course of this book you not only get the life of Earl Scruggs in very human detail but also meet his influences and the founders of bluegrass music, some barely known, some legendary. Everyone comes through in very human detail and the author makes you feel like you are sitting down at the dinner table in some rural shack with the people themselves, hearing them talk and play.

The list of people who influenced Earl Scruggs is almost as long as the list of people he influenced or helped get their start in music. His amazing musical legacy is served very well by this fine book.

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Earl Scruggs and the Foggy Mountain Breakdown gives a great history of the life of Earl Scruggs and tells how he came to write Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Musicians will love it as it goes into explicit description of banjo picking and musical notes and chords. But this doesn't take away from the behind-the-scenes history offered, such as the feud between Scruggs and Bill Monroe.

If you love bluegrass, history, and music you will enjoy this book. If you are a muscian you will enjoy this book.

An entertaining, quick read. Great for fans of traditional music, with many details related to the history of bluegrass that I did not know.

For me, a life long lover of Blue Grass music, this was a treat to read. It's more than a biography of Earl Scruggs, it's a history book of Blue Grass itself.

Thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend.

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC of Earl Scruggs and Foggy Mountain Breakdown. I really enjoyed this look into the history of one of my favorite bluegrass musicians. Thomas Goldsmith did a great job exploring the birth of bluegrass music and Earl Scruggs' role in bringing this music genre to life.

What a fascinating history of an American icon. If you want to introduce someone to bluegrass, the best example of the genre is Earl Scruggs’ Foggy Mountain Breakdown. Thomas Goldsmith does a masterful job telling the story not just of this great piece of American music, but also of it’s creator, the incomparable Earl Scruggs. I was so impressed by this book that I’ll be adding it to my 12 year-old son’s homeschool curriculum this year.

I have yet to meet anyone who could truthfully say the did not like Earl Scruggs' music. While it might have a "genre", it definitely is loved by all. Thomas Goldsmith rolls out Scruggs' life to show us the risks and sacrifices he met as he follows his love of music to become a legend. A very interesting read that will make you appreciate Scruggs' music even more.

This book was just okay. It is not so much a biography of Earl Scruggs as a really close look at his two most famous works, "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" and "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." Chapter 9 focuses solely on a note by note dissection of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown." One chapter is devoted to the use of "Foggy Mountain Breakdown" in the movie Bonnie and Clyde. One chapter details "The Ballad of Jed Clampett." Since I remember next to nothing from my days of playing an instrument, I found my eyes glossing over the minute detail given to notes and changes in chords. If you study music and the history of American music, specifically, you might get more out of this book than me.