PERHAPS A GIFT VOUCHER FOR MUM?: MOTHER'S DAY
Travis D. Stimeling is an Assistant Professor of music history at West Virginia University. He has published two previous books with Oxford University Press: Cosmic Cowboys and New Hicks: The Countercultural Sounds of Austin's Progressive Country Music Scene (2011; paperback ed., 2016) and The Country Music Reader (2014). He served as a Senior Editor for The Grove Dictionary of American Music, 2nd Edition.
It might seem surprising that a book on country music is now part of the scholarly 'Oxford Handbooks' series. However, the nature of this book demonstrates that it clearly belongs there. Potential readers might not know what to expect from such a title, but they will find that it provides an informative literature review summarizing the state of research for country music. In his introduction, Stimeling (West Virginia Univ.) states that more thorough research has been done about the early history of country music and that scholarly coverage of its more recent history is marginal compared to that done on rock, pop, and jazz. Stimeling has assembled essays from an impressive group of scholars not only in music but also in fields such as history and folklore. They provide thought-provoking material, much of which has insightful an interdisciplinary perspective. This book is a welcome contribution to serious research on country music. --D. Arnold, University of North Texas, Choice
