Who is the titular Phantom? Is it truly Robert Johnson, or, à la Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, is it actually Mack McCormick? Part of my mind's comparison between McCormick and Robert M. Pirsig is from the travelogue nature of the work; Biography of a Phantom reminded me primarily of Robert D. Kaplan's The Ends of the Earth: From Togo to Turkmenistan, from Iran to Cambodia, a Journey to the Frontiers of Anarchy. John Troutman's preface and afterward were invaluable; I don't think there's any way one could've made sense of the book without them. It's sad. Robert Johnson was a great talent taken away unfairly, and I can see that Mack McCormick was similarly a talented researcher and writer, taken away by untreated mental illness.

The book ends abruptly, but Troutman does an excellent job of explaining why. I support the decision to go ahead and release this much. Who knows when the legal dust will settle and the sections involving Johnson's sisters will be sharable? In the meantime, I think blues fans deserve to have access to this much. I think Johnson's family, friends, and colleagues deserve to have this much of their stories heard. It's an interesting work, difficult to classify using the Dewey Decimal system. (It looks like the powers that be settled on vocal music. Why not?)

I'm always trepidatious about tackling nonfiction audiobooks. Besides the fact that you can miss out on non-textual material, appendices, and notes, you also run the risk of terrible narration. If I missed out on any additional material by listening to the audiobook rather than reading with my eyes, I couldn't tell. Adam Verner did a fine job. My only complaint is that Cairo, Illinois is properly pronounced "care-ro." Being from southeastern Illinois, I cringed every time I heard Verner say "ki-ro." (He could have at least gone with "kay-ro," like the syrup, a more acceptable mispronunciation.)

Overall I was very pleased with Biography of a Phantom and would like to thank Tantor Audio for allowing me to experience this NetGalley audiobook. Four of five stars (I really liked it).

I received an ARC of this audiobook from the publisher through NetGalley.

I didn't know what to expect here, thinking it would be interesting to read a biography of blues legend Robert Johnson.

This was more than that, though. Less too, but mostly more...

No, this was more of a memoir of the biographer of Robert Johnson, in his quest to track down and speak with people that knew Robert Johnson. Mack McCormick had an interesting journey himself, and it was the mystery of Johnson's barely documented past that made this so intriguing..

Memoir, biography, mystery, and cultural study. All of that and more...

I have so many mixed feelings about this book! Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor audio for providing me with a copy of the audio book! THere’s a lot to like and there’s also aspects that are quite uncomfortable to sit with.
This is billed a a biography of Robert Johnson, and as a “murder mystery” of sorts, but I think it’s really neither. There are facts about Robert Johnson’s life and it seems that he was murdered, but there isn’t really a search for the killer, nor an attempt to present Johnson’s life in a meaningful way.
That said, it is still a very interesting read, which achieves something different.
Primarily written decades ago by Robert Mack McCormick, this book details more about McCormick and his work as a self made sort of folk/music historian than it does about the subject matter, Robert Johnson. It is well written, and it is quite interesting to read about his methodical process of searching out this musician, and those who knew him in the interest of providing a bigger picture for all to enjoy. I did learn about Johnson’s life but I did not feel as if the book presented a very comprehensive/cohesive overview. The value in this writing I think lies in the exposition of the work of the “Blues Mafia” a group of white music aficionados of the time who deeply appreciated this music, but also seemed to be oblivious to their impact on these musicians as they essentially hunted them down to interview and publish their stories. Sections of this book presented in a thoughtful atmosphere will make excellent discussion starters on the topics of race, and who has rights to information regarding public figures, and of course music and how people experience music- the sound track of their lives particularly. One absolutely wonderful section of the book is when the author describes playing an old recording of Johnson’s among people who knew him, and the ensuing memories and discussions it evoked.
This volume is edited by Troutman who provides a very nuanced and careful foreword and afterward, which were essential and helped me to further understand this book in context. Overall, this book was very interesting, and it provided a lot of food for thought on many levels. Due to the importance of the author as a folk historian and the subject matter as a blues icon, I think it’s a must own for any serious Blues fan.