Sliding Delta by Ed Baldwin

Sliding Delta Reviews

• 
  Ed Baldwin

  SLIDING DELTA is my best work so far. I've been researching Delta blues music for the past five years, listening to the music, reading biographies of the old masters, and visiting the Delta. First, it's a coming of age story where a college boy leaves his white bread life of privilege and becomes immersed in Delta life at the apex of the Civil Rights struggle; 1965. Already a musician, his observations of how the living bluesmen of the day performed gets into some musical detail without being encyclopedic. He sees the range of kindness and bigotry as the Jim Crow South transitioned away from segregation, despite resistance from the Klan. Stories told on the porch of the rural store where he worked fill in history of the area and provide a rich background for the music. And then there's Addie Kinder; quick witted, beautiful, talented, and flawed. Oh, what a story!
• 
  Laurie

  First I would like to thank the publisher and NetGalley for an opportunity to read this novel for a fair and honest review.
  
  I quite enjoyed this novel, with its underlying story of a young man and his adventures while learning about the Delta Blues. To hear his stories about playing the various clubs and impromptu shows, it gives you a brief glimpse into the difficult life of a musician. I was sad to reach the end of this wonderful, thoroughly researched book. It has even given me a different perspective of a music I have recently come to enjoy.
• 
  patrick Lorelli

  This is a book about a young college student who found the blues before college and now during a summer break he has decided to travel to the South to look for John Hurt, a blues musician. When I read the synopses I saw John Hurt, and Delta, so naturally I was expecting a blues book. Not to be disappointed there is music the blues, but this book is more than that. It really is about a white kid from Chicago who is upper middle class not having to struggle and going to the South to find a “Black Man” in 1965. He begins his journey expecting everything to be easy. But no sooner than his first night in Memphis does he find out that this is not the case. What he goes through some people would call street smarts, he did not have any, and he was an easy mark. When he finally makes it to a small town in Mississippi, he finds a job, and he finds growth as a person in seeing the struggles of the family that took him in. by sitting around talking to some of the older men you get a sense of what it was like back then even to be allowed to vote. They mention the young men from Philly missing that came to help to register people for voting. He goes out in the fields to help two friends he made while their pick cotton. All of these together make for a nice story and are done in a way that is hurtful, but remindful that this was just back in 1965, 51 years ago when in parts of this country white and black could not be sitting together or there would be a problem. Have we really come that far? I do know he meets John Hurt and I must say as a blues fan that would have been cool. The way the author blended the story with the times was good, and his reference to Blues music helped me like the story that much more. a very good book. I got this book from netgalley. I gave it 5 stars. Follow us at
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• 
  Darcia Helle

  I love the blues, and expected to love this book. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work for me.
  
  First, this book is far more of a coming of age story than I expected. On a whim, Doug decides to travel south on his summer break from college, on a quest to find Mississippi John Hurt and learn about the blues. For a college kid in 1965, he's fairly naive and nonpolitical. In some ways, the story feels more like it takes place in the 1950s. We spend a lot of time with Doug as he tries to figure out his life, which is often not at all related to music.
  
  My second problem came with the slow pace, which was partly a result of a lot of unnecessary detail. This seems to be one of those occasions when an author does an immense amount of research, and then feels the need to include it all. For instance, we have quite a few pages on picking cotton. Doug takes on a job picking cotton for some extra money, and we learn everything there is to know about what that entailed and what it was like. While I appreciate the author's knowledge, I didn't need all that information. In fact, I skimmed a lot of it.
  
  Much of the story lacks any sort of conflict or driving factor pushing it forward. As I mentioned, it feels much more like a sweet coming of age story, with characters that are nice but feel younger than they are supposed to be. I didn't feel the unease and tension of the mid-sixties. To the author's credit, he did address racism in the south, though it all felt too mild for me. And, maybe most of all, I didn't feel that Doug had the kind of strong obsession with the blues, or with music in general, that would have sent him across country in search of an old bluesman.
  
  While this book didn't work for me, the writing is fine and I'm sure other readers will enjoy the journey.
  
  *I received an advance copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.*
• 
  Susannah

  I have read several Mr. Baldwin’s books and I have enjoyed all but one of them. It just wan’t my thing but this book?? This book is EXTRAORDINARY . I loved it. Wasn’t too sure at the start but as I got into it, the rhythm of the narrative, the vividness of the characters all totally enthralled me. His writing makes you feel like your there. Like it’s alive and you are part of it. How the author pulls his readers into the past to explain what his lead character Douglas Spencer the III is finding out about the music he has come to learn. Delta Blues becomes a fascinating subject . The understanding of how it came about, how it fluctuates depending on the instrument or the player be they dark or light is enriching to the readers minds. I like that there is nothing that really ruined the flow of the narrative even when there is something heavy coming down.. the KKK making a limited appearance for instance never changes the tone of the novel. Even the war that is still one of our nation’s constant ugly background noises, weaves in and out of the river Mr. Baldwin has created for our enlightenment. The knowledge that is wrapped up in the dialogue about not just history but about the history of music and the amazing differences of instruments that can be found to create the world of sound.
  It is sweeping in the pictures of the mind it creates but yet totally intimate in the human narrative that drives it. Beautifully written and deeply personal to the author, it made me feel like I rode along with Doug the whole time and laughed when he did, cried when he did and almost felt his pain when he got rolled in the first few chapters.. This book, to me, is one of the very best out in recent years, and I don’t say this lightly. What a great movie it would make if it were done correctly. Thanks Ed for an illuminating and lovely read!
• 
  Richard Wise

  Bought or should I say downloaded the book, it was a freebie on Gorilla Books, based on the title and cover image. To say it was worth the price would be an insult. I couldn't put it down. It reads like a coming of age memoire and I was a tiny bit disappointed when I got to the end and discovered that it was not.
  
  Should hav known. Excellent style and pace, obviously written by an experienced writer. I am also a fan of Delta Blues, spend about a month a year in New Orleans listening to music of all kinds. I really enjoyed the protagonist, a naive, middle class white boy from Chicago who goes south to meet Mississippi John Hurt and learn to pick Delta style. A bit long on exposition about racism though, Doug, the protagonist, was discovering it first hand in the mid-60s.
  
  Only Tolstoy gets 5 stars, but this is a book that is by turns serious and entertaining, fast paced with very well drawn realistic characters. If you are interested in the 60s, Delta Blues, or just looking for a good adventure, try it, you'll like it.
• 
  CassandraG

  Came across this little gem by accident. When you first check it out you'd think, it was about the guy on the cover and in a way you'd be right, but it's told by a young white guy who was studying to be a doctor, but dropped out to learn the blues for a summer and to see if he can meet one of the legendary bluesmen of the day. That is if he's still around. He has the support of his grandmother and he most definitely has an adventure to remember. It had interesting characters, quirky characters, vile characters from old school way of thinking and some really good and well meaning characters that helped him out and maybe one or two not so good ones. definitely a good read you'll like. Just give it a chance and you'll be pleasantly surprised.
• 
  Shaon Castleberry

  Mississippi is not the villain in this novel for a change. This is the story of a Chicago boy going to seek Mississippi John Hurt and learn his unique style of picking. The description of the music is such that one can actually feel it. A small story in the 30 years of a road musician and the life he makes for himself through his music. Heart felt tribute to the author's brother.
• 
  Steve Mckinney

  I received this as a goodreads giveaway. This is one of the best books I have read this year. The story of Dougs summer of 65 provides outstanding entertainment with an education in Blues music. I only wish more writers could educate an entertain in such a way. I now have a much more appreciative attitude about blues music.
• 
  Mary

  What a journey and fantastic tribute! Kept me turning the pages. Thank you Ed, for the trip! Full disclosure, I am a blues fan and I received this book as a Goodreads Giveaway.