num_pages: 418
description: A devastatingly original work that plunges into the emotional heart of the American psyche. Praised by Robbie Robertson of The Band as "a classic &amp; a ticket to ride," The Rose &amp; the Briar assembles an astonishing group of writers and artists: Paul Muldoon, Stanley Crouch, R. Crumb, Jon Langford of the Mekons, Sharyn McCrumb, Luc Sante, Joyce Carol Oates, Dave Marsh, and more than a dozen other novelists, essayists, performers, and critics; to explore the ineffable power of the American ballad. From "Barbara Allen" through "The Wreck of the Old 97" to contemporary ballads by Bob Dylan and Bruce Springsteen, The Rose &amp; the Briar is, as Geoffrey O'Brien hailed in the Los Angeles Times Book Review, "a book full of internal echoes and provocative coincidences," featuring "historical investigation, shamanistic trance-journey, memoir, novella and cartoon," where "names and costumes change, soldiers become cowboys, demon lovers become backwoods murderer; the voices are unmistakably distinct but they share a common ground." 25 illustrations
language: English
title: The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love, and Liberty in the American Ballad
titlecomplete: The Rose and the Briar: Death, Love, and Liberty in the American Ballad
genres: Crime, History, Criticism, Ghosts, Essays, Music, Folklore, Poetry, Nonfiction
ratings_count: 191
publisher: W. W. Norton & Company