[music]
If you've got to read a James Patterson book, you make it this one. How about that?
The hero of the book was a wife murderer. It's Dolly Parton.
And I love her and everything she does.
For like the first 300 pages, they're like, who is this woman?
But on the cover, it says Run, Rose, Run.
You hear the album and it's more like a jangly, sort of a jamboree band of mechanical bears.
[music]
Hello, everyone and welcome to Mean Book Club. This episode, we read Run, Rolls Run by Dolly Parton and James Patterson.
Yeah, so I just think dreaming of it. I, as always, am one of your hosts, Sarah Burton.
I'm Donna Scrabus. I'm Sabrina.
You might have sent some hesitation because Clara's gone. She usually goes to that.
She goes to that. Oh, you know, screw her. She's not here.
But that's fine because we've got an amazing guest.
We've got someone even better than Clara. Not a high bar.
She's gonna be pissed about that. You cannot say that she's gonna come for you, Jonathan.
She's not gonna listen.
Okay. All right. He has some combination of writer, producer, director, creator, showrunner for shows, including Saturday Night Live.
Important things with Demetri Martin. John Benjamin has a van.
Review with Forest McNeil. Comedy Bang Bang, Nathan for you, for which he won a WGA award and its personal with Amy Hogart.
He's also a stand-up comedian, actor, and this is big for this group from Pennsylvania.
Oh, please welcome Leo Allen.
Thank you. Thank you. Hi, everybody. Most importantly from Pennsylvania.
Oh, my God. What part of Pennsylvania?
The very southern easternmost part.
Chester County.
Sabrina, he's from Canitt Square. No way. Yeah, way.
Where are you from? That's where you're from.
Yeah, Sarah is from. That's how we met. That's how we hit it off.
Yeah, where you tell, give your Pennsylvania, where you guys in from Pennsylvania.
So I'm from Pittsburgh. Okay, way other side, basically a different country.
Yes, yes, yes. Different language, really.
Yeah, we say hyens. You guys say, uh, brands. Do you guys say crayons over there? Maybe water.
Water, water, yeah.
And I'm from a very small rural town outside of Pittsburgh.
Sabrina usually just says western Pennsylvania.
But in on how many of the Savannah, Sabrina, you might be able to really relate to the character of this book with kind of the rural upbringing.
I was I was thinking that I could relate to this character in so many ways.
Okay, great. I just can't wait. Not in the sad ones just to clear.
Okay, great, great.
I did realize this is an all Pennsylvania bypassed.
Well, with Clara, it's not.
It's not. It's not. There's finally gone. It is finally as it should be. Yeah. Yeah.
The finally the pure pure rectangle. It's always the keystones.
And we're all claker. Yeah.
Yes. Of course.
So why are we reading this book? As always, it's a fan rec Ashley C wrote in.
She says, please review James Patterson and Dali part novel.
It was on the New York Times bestseller list for 17 weeks. Unbelievable. I've pasted the link.
It's about a woman who moves to Nashville broke as a joke and has to make it in the music industry with some very wacky thriller aspects crammed in.
Of course, it is very loosely autobiographical.
And apparently Patterson did a good job of capturing Dali's narrative voice, which could be fun for you guys.
I, however, refuse to read Patterson because he's a hack who doesn't even write most of his own books anymore.
I know you guys have already done some Patterson, but on my knees, I beg you to read this one also.
So did not even.
No reason by this recommendation.
Okay, but Dali pardon is it allegedly a co-oper.
So hopefully she can contribute to capture in her own voice.
Also, I realized we did a different Ashley C book last week.
Absolutely.
It would be two different Ashley C's, but somehow she without reading the books just jumped ahead of the rest.
Oh, now I'm going to check. Maybe maybe that was a copy.
No, she recommended both of these.
I checked back. I'm sorry everyone that didn't get a recommendation.
Wow. So she's an added fan of you guys, but she hates reading.
Yeah, I think what won us over when I'm going to guess this maybe what is over for the other book is that she's not.
The other book is that she provided links that were proof of New York Times best seller.
Because oftentimes we get rex and we have to do the research to find out if it's a New York Times best ever and it pisses us off.
Is that all the things with us?
Right, but with Patterson, you know, it's in the past.
That's true. You do.
What was the other Patterson book you had in the week?
The president is missing by building up.
Patterson.
And then maybe something called like party house or.
Oh, children's, but it was a YA novel and it was like purple and there was a house on the crazy house.
Crazy house.
Wow. I can't believe you pulled that up.
Pretty title.
I also, that was several years ago and I have a really bad memory.
So it's insane that I did remember.
Yeah, it is.
And it was the co author book as well. That was with the YA author Gabrielle.
Sharbanay.
Oh, wow.
Now that's impressive.
Does he write on his own anymore?
Well, he doesn't seem to.
But he has, he's still, even though it seems like he always is writing with someone else.
I believe I have this in the information.
Probably the same ghost writer every time.
He still holds the New York Times record for most number one New York Times bestsellers by a single author, which is also a Guinness world record.
So even though he doesn't really write on his own anymore, he wrote enough on his own, but I guess it doesn't matter.
Wow.
He's all about the collab.
How old is he?
I'm jumping ahead, but he's in his 70s.
He made 70s.
Yeah, mid 70s board in 1947.
We're getting too deep into it.
Tell you about James Patterson.
Oh, yeah, don't get us started on Patterson.
That's funny.
Sorry.
First, let's talk about how do you guys consume, how do you read this novel?
And this is important because one way was the one way is the right answer in this case.
I absolutely.
So there is only one way to consume this novel and it is via an audio book read by a star-studded cast, including Dolly Parton herself.
Yeah, exactly.
And Kelsey about our own.
Oh, really?
Yeah.
But Dolly and Piper read what a bummer.
She read the book.
She has parts of it.
Her part she played Ruth Anna.
She read Ruth Anna parts.
Did you just read the book?
I got it out for the library.
Oh, you do.
Because I'll tell you why.
I can't.
I can't listen to audio books because it's always like when I'm doing the dishes or something and then my mind always wanders off.
And when I'm driving, I'm like, uh, I just wasn't listening for 25 minutes.
Yeah.
Well, I'm in a joke.
This really helps me.
I speed it up as fast as I can possibly consume it.
So usually at least two times speed, three times speed.
And you drift away less because you're focusing more on listening.
And that's not a joke.
It's real.
It's crazy.
I think you're missing the same amount of content though.
Right.
And you're missing 25 minute patches just over the course of only five minutes.
I feel like I consistently know as much or more about the book than anybody else who.
I'm glad you have that feeling.
Good, confident feeling.
I mean, I prefer to, I just like holding a book, but I think with this one, I, I probably shouldn't.
Given the audio.
Yeah.
Well, yeah.
I mean, I think John is on your team for that.
But at least you have the books you, we can at least do a cover review.
If you want to talk about cover.
Yeah.
We, we, we like to do a segment fanfave called judge a book by its cover.
Do you want to just kind of talk about the cover?
It's got a, it's, it's got a woman.
Head with a guitar slump over shoulder looking at a city in the distance.
I think we're going to assume his Nashville.
Does she look homeless?
She looks.
Uh, no, she looks pretty glamorous.
She's got a kind of a knit and fancy knit dress on.
But she looks rugged and, and, and real.
She'll take real people and she's just looking towards the city.
And she was towards her dreams and the text raised raised.
Oh, yeah.
Of course.
Yeah.
And then the hardcover pattern saying this is, um, um,
Dolly Parton gets first.
You notice when he collaborated with his, I mean.
Workers.
Like, is it.
Uh, their names are very small.
But understandably, Dolly Parton gets first, first mentioned.
I have to say though,
um, I'm not sure.
Um, I'm not sure if you, too, though, sure.
For a, finally, when I was listening to it in the car on my drive to Pittsburgh.
Um, James Patterson is the only author listed.
On the car speaker.
Oh, really?
Oh, and now Leo's showing us Dolly and James back of the book.
Looking very chummy.
Yeah.
And then we're going to say flowers with underwater jewel tones.
So that proves that they were together at a point.
Yeah.
You picked them up at the airport.
It's also not a, not a good photo.
Not a James, not of James.
Certainly.
It is.
It's, it's, yeah.
Yeah.
It's like a flash camera.
Circuit 1987.
It's not flutter.
But that it's all more authentic that way.
Um, okay.
So, all right.
Well, this will be good.
Maybe they'll, they'll be different perspectives.
Did, did everyone listen to parts of the album, though, the companion album?
Full album multiple times.
Okay, great, great.
I gave the whole, um, I'll listen.
For sure.
I did, too.
It was only 38 minutes long.
Wasn't that long, yeah.
I would say, lyrically, I was impressed.
But, um, I was less than thrilled once I heard the lyrics to music.
I can't ever speak of the Lerix.
Are you saying that when you, when you heard, when you read the lyrics or heard the lyrics in the book,
you thought the song was better than it was?
I guess I may be a, maybe I have like a better natural ear or something or like maybe I was composing
something is a little bit more interesting, more pleasing.
Um, yeah, because when I heard it, it was a bit let them.
I don't know.
I thought there was some bangers.
Some, some bangers.
Nakes in the grass.
Good banger.
And they walk like you go.
No!
Yeah, keep it here.
Come, so.
You will.
The snakes in the glances.
You bought that one?
I didn't feel like it went with the album.
Or rather, it didn't feel like it went with the book at all.
And I could make some connection to a lot of the songs and the book.
But blue bonnet, I really couldn't, and the last song in the album, is it lover?
Is it last?
Lever, last.
It felt like it was supposed to be in Beauty and the Beast.
It was so crazy.
I get that, I get that.
I feel like the woman up and take it like a man, that one was the one we heard over and over again in the book.
And I did think it was a slow song by the, in the book, like, before I heard it.
I thought it was going to be a much slower song than it was.
I didn't think that.
♪ Loving up and taking life and making ♪
♪ Under ♪
♪ Bada ♪
On the songs felt much more self-helping than I had imagined.
I'm reading about that.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I think I read about them and imagine them performed by sort of a female country, Elliott Smith.
And then you get to hear the album.
And it's more like a jangly, sort of a jamboree band of mechanical bears that you would see at like an old amusement park.
That was what I heard.
I don't think you're a fan of country music, John.
Oh, no, I am.
I was just a Nashville.
I certainly heard country music playing as I walked through the town.
It felt, the thing is about, we're getting way too into it.
But yeah, I do have to say one thing that felt really strange to me was the main character in the book is Rose and Ruth Ann.
I don't know.
I don't know if you would have had the same reaction, but having heard Dolly read the older person the whole time and Kelsey Valorini reading the main character.
I felt really strange to have Dolly singing the main character song.
I also found that completely.
Yeah, that's true.
Okay.
And I love Dolly Park.
We all love Dolly Park.
Oh, my gosh.
You're the teacher.
I'm a Dolly Park teacher now.
So it's not, this is a little rough because I can't speak ill of a great artist.
Yeah, I completely agree.
I wouldn't say it's not my favorite Dolly Park now.
No, no, no.
But it's my favorite marketing strategy.
But I think it might be, I certainly think it might be better than the book.
And let's take it back to that, if we will.
I'll go along with that.
Yeah, go along with me.
All right, we're going to do a quick Sarah sums it up.
So if you guys can just scroll down to summary, I'll give you guys each apart.
You're so excited.
I don't know what to do.
Okay, Sabrina, I'll let you be Annie Leakeese.
Okay.
John, can you be Ruthanna Ryder and Leo?
Obviously, Ethan Blake.
So just imagine there'll be some nice twingy, twangy music playing under,
I'll pick a song from the album, all right?
Perfect.
Right.
Okay.
Hi, my name is Annie Leakeese with a name like that.
I guess you could say I was born to be a country music star.
I'm stubborn and I won't eat your french fries or stay in your mansion.
Even though I'm literally starving and homeless, also don't ever ask me about my dark house.
Hi, my name is Ruthanna Ryder.
I'm Dolly Parton.
I mean, a country music icon who's semi-retired, wink wink from the business.
I know what it takes to make it in this town.
Also, I know who to trust.
So pretty much everything I predict will happen, does happen.
Also, I too have a dark, dark past.
Hi, my name is Ethan Blake.
I play guitar for Ruthanna Ryder.
My true passion is babysitting, growing ass adults and driving them around in my own truck like a goddamn Uber.
I used to soldier an Afghan stand.
What do you know?
That's not my dark past secret.
Damn it, I'll just tell you.
I strangled my cheat next wife, Dan and got away with it.
G-Gally feels good to get that off my chest.
Anyway, I'm the hero.
And see.
Good summer, Sarah.
I think that really does.
My favorite thing is that for like the first 300 pages, 300 pages.
Like, they're like trying to like, you know, who is this woman, but on the cover, it says run, rolls, run.
Yeah.
It is insane.
They could have made that a reveal by just changing the title to like run, girl, run.
Yeah.
He's, he's a marketing gene.
Yeah.
He's a marketing genius.
So he's like, we need those three hours.
That's an extra guess what?
Those three are an extra five million bucks.
All right James.
I'm not going to fight you.
Yeah.
He didn't notice that Annie Lee keys name is just Annie Leakeys, which is kind of a gross name.
I wouldn't pick that as my stage name.
Yeah.
I was just thinking it was like Alicia Keys, but I think, I think it's a country.
Alicia Keys, I think you're right.
It's, it's a little, it's way too on the nose.
Yeah.
Very vague.
It's crazy to set that up that like, this is not her name, obviously.
Yeah.
She's obviously lying about her past, but then not reveal it for 300 pages or so.
It's crazy.
But, uh, John, do you have a, uh, pairing, a wine pairing for John and John?
Yes, I do.
Mm hmm.
Today's wine pairing is inspired by the name of our book, Ron Rose, Ron.
And that's why we're having a beautiful summer, Rose,
Chateau de Libran, Vindé Provence, L'Intemiste.
Um, yeah, some, some Sarah, some Grenache, some, some salt.
Because everyone of those words, that is French in era, educate yourself.
Right.
Because it sounded Italian and Spanish at the end.
So enjoy if you can find it, grab yourself a bottle.
If not any, Rose, we'll do.
Or if you want a bunch of beer, as always.
I have a question since we're in this section.
Yeah.
I, I got myself a nice little drink to enjoy for the podcast.
It's one of those recessed drinks with the, the hemp in it.
And it's for calming, making you calm, you know, I only keys need to calm down.
For making calm, yeah.
It's black cherry.
I poured it into my cup.
And it's this hazy iced tea color.
And I looked at the can and it's 20 days expired.
Does everyone feel comfortable with me drinking it?
Yes.
Internet.
Quora someone said, food does not go bad if it's in a can.
I don't think it's going to be a good idea to leave that's not true, but.
20 days.
I think you should show it and see see where the, let's get this podcast going.
I was really excited about it.
It was five dollars.
Maybe you'll just make you a little less chill than it would 20 days ago.
But I think it'll still be fine.
If I fall over, I've warned you.
We're alert Meg.
Yeah.
We're going to take a quick commercial break.
We'll be right back with more about the book and the authors and a lot more whining.
All right.
BRB.
[Music]
And we're back.
We're talking Run, Rose Run by Dolly Pardon and James Patterson.
Let's just give some quick background, shall we?
The book was in New York Times best seller released March 2022.
It was on the best seller list for 17 weeks.
And it is already been adapted by Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine production company.
They do so many of these books that we just want to be in book love.
And so they announced they'd be adapting the book like right when it came out.
It's obviously going to start Dolly Pardon.
That's so exciting.
Are you going to play yours?
I don't know.
I haven't found any other information about it.
And I don't know maybe the way you do it.
Seems to all you played 25, but I would accept it.
I think she looks young enough though.
Yeah.
I mean, yeah, they could do it with digital.
They could.
Yeah.
But don't you need a stunt cast it with like a country music star like a young.
Yeah.
Kasey must grades or somebody.
Oh my god.
Actually, they did that.
I would die.
It has been acquired by Sony Pictures, but again, I don't know where it is in the process.
The production process.
But I heard is great.
Her was next.
Oh my gosh.
Is that a job?
What's her next?
I said, don't go away.
I mean, that would be a sludge.
But I mean, then I just think it would have not.
It would have no similarities to the plot of the book, but it would be really good.
But it would send an important message.
And stand down.
Yeah.
It's a good title of a movie.
I'd say that.
Yeah.
All right.
One of the, now this is a double author book.
So, uh, and also two very, very famous authors.
So I don't know how deep we need to go to very famous people wouldn't say to.
Oh, you're right.
Yeah.
I'm called Dolly and I'm children's book.
And many, many songs.
Including.
I'm true.
How did you imagine.
How did you imagine this collaboration?
I was trying to figure this out.
Okay.
So from interviews, I gathered that James approached Dolly with the concept.
And then Dolly was like, well, I'm going to help write it.
Like, I don't not write my own shit.
And he sent her like an outline.
And then like two days later, she sent him seven songs.
And then she sent him crazy like that.
So I feel like she gave a lot of feedback and notes and wrote all the music is what I do feel like we wrote all the music.
And then he was not.
Oh, he was not involved in the music at all.
No.
But I don't know.
I mean, I don't, it's hard because I also was looking to see if there's a ghost writer since James Patterson does usually have them.
But I couldn't find any evidence.
I think it might actually be James a lot of James.
Maybe it was sort of a respect thing like working with Dolly.
I'm actually going to put the hours in or I'll have my assistant do it quietly.
Right.
I paid that enough out of respect for Dolly.
Totally true.
Dolly, I guess again, we all know who Dolly pardon is.
And we've talked about the studio album.
She released with it already.
I'll say it peaked at number 34 on the billboard 200 and number four on the billboard top country albums chart.
It got generally favorable reviews.
It seems and the singles were big dreams and faded jeans and blue bonnet breeze, which I know.
Yeah, I know.
So BBB.
That's a James Patterson note.
He said, do one that's three.
I'll iteration, please.
Oh, I'm on to green bonnet.
We say blue bonnet.
Great. No, thank you.
Dolly pardon was born in 1946 in a one room cabin in Pittman center, Tennessee.
I guess, do you think I really need to get in the weeds with all this Dolly part?
Okay, all right.
I'll go through.
Listen.
Yes.
Okay.
All right.
I feel like there are bad comments coming from some of the people on this podcast later.
So when you talk about her greatness.
Okay, sure.
She was taught to play guitar as at a young age by her uncle Bill Owens, who she would later collaborate with writing songs with.
She started performing music on the radio as a child at age 13.
She met Johnny Cash at the grand old operating.
And she encouraged her to follow her instincts.
She graduated high school, moved to Nashville.
And in 1967, she made her debut album, Hello, I'm Dolly.
She's got 11 Grammy Awards.
She was inducted to the country music hall of fame.
She's a legend.
She sold more than 100 million records worldwide, making her one of the best female best selling female artists of all time.
She starred in films like 9 to 5, Best Little Hore House in Texas.
And she founded Dolly with Theme Park and the Imagination Library, which gives free books, little kids.
Oh, also remember that she solved COVID.
Oh, she also, I think, don't even $1 million to COVID research.
So she did also solve COVID.
She also famously wrote Joleen and I will always love you on the same night.
I didn't know that.
She has sort of since she said that that was true.
Then she has walked it back a little and said, well, I probably wrote them very, very close together.
So maybe not exactly the same day.
But I mean, come on.
Pretty good.
We're doing 48 hours a week, whatever.
A lifetime.
It's a good week.
It's a good week for her.
Yeah, so she's a, I think of well beloved, perfect human being, very little bad things to say with her.
She seems like she's always been on the right side of history.
Yeah.
And she's not a billionaire and she certainly could be.
Yeah.
And she gives away a lot of her money.
So hard to bash Dolly, but we'll find ways.
I think we'll find ways.
I'm not going to bash Dolly.
I'm telling you right now.
No.
All right.
Well, I guess maybe we'll just go it alone, Sarah.
I really need Claire here.
John will fall off the wagon.
Claire, so Claire will be helpful in this because Clara does famously doesn't listen to music.
So she would not care about Dolly.
Yeah, she doesn't listen to music.
But why is that?
That is a great question.
Doesn't interest her in any way.
She doesn't like sometimes she puts the sims on to help her work because she finds it.
So a little bit, we'll be missing out on that, but I'll try to channel Claire throughout some of this.
The other author, James Patterson, we've done him before.
So don't need to add too much, but highlights here, boy, 1947 in Newburgh, NYC.
So around the same time as Dolly, he got his MA in English from Vanderbilt.
So that's his Nashville connect.
Fun fact, he was a PhD candidate.
And then he was recruited to work in advertising, which he worked in that until 1996.
But he created the slogan, I'm a Toys R S kid.
What's amazing?
Yeah.
James.
And he now has 114 New York Times bestselling books.
I gave that other fact earlier.
His novels, I don't actually know.
I didn't double check this information.
This is from Wikipedia.
His novels count for roughly 6% of all hardcovered novels sold in the United States.
That sounds insane, but that does sound insane.
I mean, we've done his books three times on this podcast.
Yeah.
I guess he's, you know, he's out there.
He's certainly out there.
We, there was a 2017 research paper that found he doesn't really author most of his books.
Like he mostly does story and outline.
But that's a hard word, but they did, they did say Bill Clinton, the Bill Clinton book was him.
He did write most of that book.
So maybe maybe so funny that there was research done to find out that he doesn't do.
It's like he's alive.
You could ask him.
He's not gonna tell true.
But he lives in Florida with his wife Susan.
They have a son Jack who's in his 20s.
Yeah, that's that's he's also he's also a big like proponent of that.
He's a leader of the literacy writing.
Yes, he supports a lot of reading and the don't he still libraries, which is great.
He does.
He doesn't really slam the guy.
He and Dolly have that in common.
I think also when you when you read about it, I know James people make fun of like or have an issue with his books being like, you know, he shuts out two years.
Oh, is this really literature? Maybe he only cares about the money. And I know Stephen King has come out him a few times.
Oh, people I know.
But but James Patterson always replies like, well, I just I just I really like King.
He just replied like he really likes him.
I don't know that.
I thought it was it gave like I got beat up in school energy.
Jimmy.
Like in a sweet way.
Wow, interesting.
I just I wonder if he's really sweet or if he's like he says it just because he knows it'll piss Stephen King on board.
I was like that.
That's absolutely could that could be the case.
You know, and honestly, I I think it's cool that he puts out two books a year.
I like God.
I would love to put out one book in a lifetime.
I agree. I can't really say anything never having written a book, but I think I read it.
Sometimes you put out like 12 books a year.
Yeah, yeah.
And then he.
I don't I feel like she's in the advertising business more than the right business.
Having read one other of this books and having the other book that you read.
I was one of those detective.
Yeah, and there's always some woman getting beat up in a basement or rapes or probably.
And you know, he kept that in for this book.
Thank God.
But he also obviously most of his books are thrillers.
And I think this book is also marketed as such, but it really is not.
Particularly thrilling.
Barely a mystery, I would say mystery and just that we didn't know.
We can't wait until we talk more about the mystery, I love it because it is so funny.
I guess, yeah.
Does anybody want to go through the characters or we want to talk of just.
Yeah, we should.
One by one.
Yeah, maybe quickly go through them.
All right.
So our first lead is Annie Lee Keys, who we later learn is Rose McCord.
It starts with her.
Docker.
Yeah, shop.
We're all shocked by it.
It starts with her seemingly jumping off about going to kill herself.
And then we're like, what's going on?
And then it's like flashback one month earlier.
So I was excited about that.
I was like, great.
I get to see why this person gets so miserable.
They want to kill themselves.
But that was one thing that also.
The only thing of that happens in the book.
It's just her life gets better and better and better.
And actually probably would have been good if something bad happened to her that like you're like a could have been suspicious or made it made it.
Yeah, she does jump be like, oh, what was it or what was going on?
Yeah, a lot of times.
I talked.
She's being stalked by.
Gary men.
Which would certainly be troubling.
Like a resumbed.
Also, she's living homeless.
She's kind of being hunted.
Right.
But yeah, for they didn't like they found her at one point and they just like punched her and then they left.
Yeah, none of that stood up to any scrutiny.
Yeah, no, the logic behind the bad big bad dudes that we don't ever really meet.
We're just like why were they doing the things they were doing? We don't know. We never find out.
But Annie Leakey's yeah, homeless.
She refuses help constantly and that's for somehow charming to people.
She hasn't shout for days.
Sleeps outside, but she's still gorgeous.
But she can outplane out saying everyone.
So she's just kind of like one of those lead characters that we see that is just like can do no wrong is better than everyone.
She was not a she was not a redhead though.
And you're now seeing how I could relate to Annie Leakey's.
Oh, okay.
Oh, that's right because she is.
This is an important detail. She's a Burnett.
And she's such a convincing Burnett that a professional hair stylist runs her hands through her hair and says, wow, virgin hair never touched by hair dye.
Fairly by a snip of a scissor.
But the reality is she's a blonde.
And if you've ever met someone who is a blonde who has dyed their hair brown, slept outside for long periods of time and cannot get professional salon.
Burnetting done.
It's pretty obvious.
The person is a blonde.
Yeah, that was one of the many passages where I was like, this is definitely written by a man.
I think it's not really a big deal.
She's a country music superstar who's out of the business
but she's still recording secretly on her own.
Everybody wants to get her back.
Release that album.
That great comeback album.
She won't do it.
Which is actually funny because I think Dolly Park and I think people have been wanting her to come out with a new album.
But she did in March 2020.
Well, yeah.
Yeah.
Kind of she did.
But I think the...
What else do you want from this woman, Sarah?
I think it was a little bit of a run of the mill for her though.
I think people wanted like that, you know.
They wanted to reinvent herself.
They wanted her to, yeah.
I think one big difference between Ruthanna and Dolly is that Dolly has said she would like to die on stage.
Like she will be performing until her last moment on Earth and Ruthanna is very retired.
Well, is she...
Wait, wait.
...when we find out.
Uh.
Right?
With this Ruthanna character, did you guys...
Between her and Annie Lee.
Did you...
Was anybody else distracted by thinking about the show Hacks?
Yes.
I was.
It was, but they...
There was a little bit at first where they were kind of like budding heads because she was like, you can't do this.
Would Ruthanna say to her like, you should...
You're not gonna die.
Get out of town, get out of town.
That's my voice, get out of town.
But then it wasn't immediately after that that, uh, Annie Lee's was like, no I'm not.
And then she was like, I respect you.
And then there was no other budding heads it seemed like.
Hacks season two.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And thus, then enters a very frustrating portion of the book where Ruthanna writer, the biggest star in country music, which is what Annie Lee wants to be.
Ruthanna says, live with me.
I'll...
Live in my home.
You do not have a home.
Shower in my shower, eat my food.
Let me mentor you and make you a star.
Where are Annie...
And Annie...
Where are my dead dadders clothes?
And Annie says, thank you.
I will spend half of one night and then I'm back on my own.
After I steal a guitar.
Very frustrating.
It felt to me like the people who were like, I'm religious and God will help me.
And then all this help comes and they're like, no, no, I'm waiting for God.
Yeah.
God will come.
And it just was so...
It made her so unlike...
Fuck this girl.
I know there's a...
I knew there was something in her past or whatever.
We got that from the fact that she had to steal a tractor or truck.
Whatever she did in the beginning.
Yeah.
Well also...
Oh yeah, in the very beginning she's still...
Like she's hitchhiking.
She's constantly hitchhiking.
She loves to hitchhiking.
You hitchhiking in the beginning.
And that hitchhiking.
The guy starts to feel her up and she pulls a gun on him and he's like, you're not going to fire it.
And then she does.
She fires it.
And then steals his truck and takes it to the next truck stop.
And she thinks that this isn't even...
This isn't her dark secret.
This isn't just a secret.
This doesn't come back.
She thinks that sleeping under a tree in a park is a better way to keep herself safe than staying in this like guarded mansion.
It was like...
Oh so...
We wanted to hear more about the mansion, right?
Yeah, yeah.
What a sin.
That's a part of the book I'd like to have Dolly right.
Just like walk us through what a day in the life is.
Oh, dear.
Your manner.
The heated floors.
The multiple shower heads.
The one at a marble.
Yeah, the talking toilet.
I'm sure.
A day you can lie down in.
Oh, yes.
Yes.
Her closet, man.
Her closet must be.
Oh, I can't even imagine.
It's gonna be a whole way.
That's my apartment.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's bigger than my apartment.
I don't know what I'm thinking.
Yeah.
A last.
The very arrogant of you, Sabrina, to think your apartment would be larger than Dolly Parton's closet.
Truly one of the stupidest things I've ever done.
Although later we do get a bunch of like Blenciaga and like a bunch of brand names dropped,
but it's not in the way I wanted.
I wanted to know it was in Dolly Parton's house specifically.
Too bad.
But the other, I guess, main character we should mention is the musician Ethan Blake.
He is.
We got to get his perspective throughout.
He is playing guitar for Dolly Parton in the secret recording sessions.
She's doing at her house where they're just recording music that's never to be released,
but you know, whatever it's still such an author inexplicably intertwined in Dolly Parton's life.
Yeah.
He's young enough to be the young, the love interest of Annie League.
He's, which I suppose an apple like this, he could be literally 40.
I don't know how.
He was in Afghanistan.
I tried to figure this out.
I don't know how old.
I've been older, but I don't know how old.
Yeah, but he's best friends with Dolly Parton.
He says that he's standing at her house once, but it seems like he's like a staple.
There's nothing from the attic between them.
At all.
I thought we were going to get like a little reveal.
Maybe he had had a thing with the daughter.
And so he's like a.
Yeah, that would have been good.
Yeah, did not happen.
I imagine him like early 30s.
Yeah, maybe.
I don't know what.
I can't.
It's a real sweetheart of a guy except for.
Yeah, his big, his big, well, I mean, there are some signs I think about his deep dark past.
Like he's, you know, they mentioned, I guess, the Afghanistan stuff, but like he beats people up all the time.
He's like serving as her bodyguard.
I don't know if I blacked out during this portion of the book, but I really don't understand how he became.
Like he, he has a thing he does, which is play the guitar.
But instead, he really was just babysitting Annie Lee.
And I don't know why that was happening.
Did I miss?
I must say.
Well, I think Sarah, it's because he could never get too famous because he murdered his wife.
Definitely.
He definitely staircase to his wife and got away with it.
And we need to talk about this.
Yeah.
We can't be silent.
Should we talk about it now?
Yeah, I'm reading into it.
Yeah.
We should, Ruth and it definitely told him to look after her.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
But I do agree like, did he?
Yeah, did he kill his wife?
I kind of thought he did, right?
He said he was, he was in jail for six months and then acquitted, but I don't know whether.
But for a lot.
Right.
Yeah, because of a con, yeah, the day his rights appropriately, that is absolutely why or like there was someone on the jury that he knew in high school.
That's why he was acquitted murder.
Was his wife murdered?
Yeah, she's a strangled.
So who did he say?
Who is he trying to say really murdered her besides?
He doesn't ever say he doesn't even put it on the guy she cheated with.
He isn't even like, I think it was this guy and they're still trying to get him, but no.
It doesn't show random strangulation.
I know.
You're that unlucky?
Just in the immigrant.
That's why we got to build that wall.
Yeah.
And honestly is sad, but not sad.
It was also.
It was also very scary when he was telling that story because he kind of mentions like how she cheated on him and then he came back from from Afghanistan.
And it sounded like the wife wanted to leave the relationship, but he wouldn't let her because it was, you know, till death do us part.
And then, and then it was.
It's like, okay, you sound really possessive.
You sound scary.
And that was even before you revealed you murdered her.
Just to be clear listeners, there was never a reveal that he murdered her.
Yeah, we're, I think we are supposed to be sympathetic to the fact that he's.
I think we're supposed to believe he did not wrongly accused.
I think so.
So there's this big reveal that.
And he murdered her wife.
I don't know what to say.
And then she is like, I've heard this.
And yet my secret is still too dark and terrible to share.
Yeah.
Worse than the fact that you definitely at least went to jail for strangling your wife for a while.
Yeah.
If not, did do it.
And then she's like, my secret's worse.
I can't wait to tell you what her secret is.
But she just says I can't tell you no worse.
Yeah.
And also what a wife is murdered.
It's always the husband.
Yeah.
It's not.
Or.
Or the boyfriend.
Oh, yeah.
If they're not married, it's.
They could be married and have a boyfriend.
Right.
Yeah.
It's.
It's a male in her.
It wasn't.
It wasn't hard for them to just be like, Oh, then they found that it was the boyfriend who did it.
Or like the guy she had been cheating with.
Yeah.
They could have said that.
They did.
They did it.
I don't know.
Well, that's how James got us talking about it.
Yeah.
That's.
But also I will.
I will say a six months arrest to full prosecution.
That's absolutely absurd and did not happen.
And he's a liar.
On top of this.
Absolutely.
There's no way it goes to trial that quickly.
Right.
Wow.
That's a whole other James Anderson book.
Yeah.
Absolutely.
I'm.
Liky's future is gonna be, she is found tangled up in a phone court in her house and it's like oh, another crazy
accident she got all caught up in this like a wild bird. And he's gonna make it all the money and it's gonna be like oh.
And then who's he marrying now? He's not gonna stop.
He's not gonna stop.
And he's gonna blame it on Afghanistan. I'll tell you that women in his life are gonna keep getting tangled in things.
Ropes all times. I feel like it is an important personality trait of both of them that they are
both so attractive
Any person who meets them just refers to them as pretty boy or pretty girl
Very true really has
In their head. I love that. I love to hot people who won't talk about their past. There's nothing better
I guess I don't know actually you know it let's take a quick commercial break and we'll be right back
We pretty much giving you the main characters we can dive into whatever we else we want next so be our
Anything goes
Like not even there's not even like a barista at a coffee. There's like
Nova is like there was a woman who worked for Ruthanna who's introduced at one point and I don't remember her name
Oh, she makes she was probably these so something like Maya. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're like she was like the diversity
offer and yeah, she was like the sassy
Like it was it was a little
First thought
Really you're gonna do that that's gonna be alright, but like just for the reason
more pronounced in the audio recording than you probably
Yeah, I'm not sure
I think it's just there's like someone who does the overall
Each main character has their own there are so many people
Our writer too. Yeah, there are so many people. I didn't I assumed that there was one actor doing several voices
But that was not the case it seemed I
I assumed it was Kelsey Ballerini. She said I want to take that part as well
Yeah, we'll spread that about Kelsey. I just want to mention Kip Hart because he was my favorite character
He was the country music star. I don't know who's supposed to be all right
Whatever is like I don't know what is yeah
And he's just like
Oh, yeah, dressing room does it knock and calls are pretty girl. I like he starts smoking
She's like you can't do that. He's like best sides not for me. It's for all the bastards that aren't famous
And I was like I like this guy and then my favorite this was right are we back from commercial break? Yeah, we we have been back
Okay, great. I know we didn't actually say it, but no, that's fine. It's fine
One of the my I wrote it down because I like this line so much Kip Hart also says I was once scrappy and hungry like you
Those were fun times
Just kidding they sucked both balls
That's how he changes it up and makes it a Kip heart is him he says
Both balls
Like this guy's hilarious
I
Did laugh out loud when I heard that line
I bet James Patterson says that in his real life like twice a day
He says it about Stephen King quietly. It's got the alliteration
Make it make crack up. Yeah, it's so funny and then and then he was like I haven't listened to your music
And then it was it was set up that he was like probably gonna like hit on her in some way
But then he does it and he's just like she was too good. I'm not gonna ever open from me again
Which is I don't is that a thing I
It felt real it did I think I said thing for sure
I guess I just felt I feel like when people come to see you in concert they want to see you and
This shoes like had one song on the radio and they're like a few people are new or maybe she performed really well, but like
It's not like she stole his fans. I don't know. I don't quite get it. I don't quite I think that's a thing
I think there's like famous stories about like where
Your opening band blows you off the stage and makes it too hard for you
Like there's like a famous sort of a Leonard Skinner opening for somebody who's huge and yeah, then they're like fuck that
Get rid of those chests or like what comics is stand-ups like you can't have somebody
Loan your audience out
That makes a lot of sense, but I just hate how she was able to do it like her first time
Like up on a bunch of big crowd every single time she got in front of people there was never there was not one moment of like
Oh, no, she really
Didn't didn't hit that writer maybe that wasn't the right song for this crowd or like people are listening
This isn't a bar where people really care who's on stage and that makes her sad
It was just like every single time people just were merely like who is that let me listen
I'm crying more sit play more of your songs
Who wouldn't be in a bar like a random potent bar and be like never?
I don't want to hear classics. I want to hear your random ass songs
Okay, I have to tell this quick story my brother kind of banned for his wedding and
He got married in Joshua tree and we're all excited about it, but they
The band did not perform music anybody recognize they just performed their own songs and it was so fucking
I don't
wedding like
Just play something people know. I don't know. I just that's I don't buy it. I don't buy it
Your brother's fault. I it is, but it was it was it was so funny. It was it was ridiculous that
It was a ridiculous thing to do, but you knew that was gonna happen right?
I don't I mean I assume maybe to some extent they must have known I
Have a question about Kelsey Valorini or what I don't really know who Kelsey Valorini is because
But I know she's been my questions actually about Rose, but okay, Kelsey Valorini is a
young female
Woman country singer not okay, okay
Yeah, so they had a country singer reading for the main character and then they but they didn't have her sing the parts
Exactly that's wild well, but it so that is why I think this is a brilliant marketing strategy because I was like I
Absolutely need to hear these songs and that's what made me look up whether there was an album attached because I was like
I can't just keep hearing these words read over and over the same words and we have the
Leo so
We don't get the full song just to clarify anytime you're reading the book and it will go into a song
Which happens a lot like a few lines of a song?
We just heard them spoken we didn't hear nobody was singing those to us. Oh, yeah
Mm-hmm
Dolly part in their speaking words to me. No, no
That's true that has seemed weird for the audio, but yeah that whole tie-in with the album is that's the Patterson Genius
Yeah, it's all it's all marketing. It's
Now a movie. I mean I get you see why this movie
Valorini into the movie when I see it. Yeah, you don't get me. I don't know
I don't really come through with a lot of these they do I want to mess with the spoon that's for sure, but
This his his movies the movies from his books. They don't yeah, they don't really seem that great
This this would require a lot of
Change right James Patterson book to movie
What's easy? No, it ain't can I fix it?
No, it can't did you guys hate that it was can you just heard it? Yes? Oh, I loved it. I thought that was brilliant
I
Was like this has Dolly's DNA all over it my god the woman can can write a lyric for throw away line in a book
She gives us that that could be the most popular country song in the radio. That's what I thought at the time
It's all I heard it. I've never seen a James Patterson movie
Adapted from a book
Yeah, me either
So I don't know maybe you're right. Maybe it is just maybe he's just that good. It's impossible to translate to the screen
Yeah, probably oh I wanted to ask you all since
Most of us are in the comedy world
There was some advice given to Annie Lee keys. I think it was from Ruthanna, but I know it might have been from Billy the bartender
The advice was country music stuff you should try a career in comedy
Why do you do
I remember that and I didn't know that was I didn't know if it was she he was inferring that she was funny
Like she had said something that was funny because I was then I was like wait
What did she say that was funny that would make someone say maybe you should be a comedy
He has one of my older relatives understanding of comedy though, which was like right?
Why don't you just put up a comedy show on television?
Why don't you see you know what I do remember one of her things was like somebody said yo butterflies in your stomach and she was like
I don't have butterflies. I got a bunch of pigeons
Okay, okay, okay, which is that the authors fully understand how difficult a career in comedy is and we're commenting that a career in country music is
infinitely harder, so why don't you go and try something easier, but still very hard
No, I think I don't even think like so you think it's like when a rocket scientist says to a neurosurgeon like
why don't you
Try to be a neurosurgeon instead of yeah, I know you say along those lines although I think you missed some of the
way
I think that I had your example didn't examine
Or if a neurosurgeon says your rocket scientist
Well, it's not when he asked him if neurosurgeons is hard and it is much harder
So when the neurosurgeon said well, it's not rocket science. He's being sarcastic. Is that your step? Yeah
Yeah, yeah, I'll get science. I lost the thread
It's all right. Okay, we're defending dolly too hard here. I think I think we can
Wait, I've got it here's the problem. Okay, it has to be in the same profession. So it's a
neuroscientist, okay, and there's a
Perspective neuroscientist
This is so hard and the real neuroscientist says yeah, you might as well just go pursue rocket science
Uh-huh, that's right. Yeah, okay
That's good
Okay, you must have scored well on your verbal section of my LTS
But I don't think stillin would say that right
Well, it's like we should have a crotchety person, right? It was insulting to comedians. Let's just say I don't remember it
I'm I still wish I remembered it because I would be so insulted. Yeah, I was mad
Uh
And I wanted just I needed to come here and have us all be a little bit mad
Although it seems like what happened was to share we all got a little confused
But to share to bring this to James Patterson dolly pardon
Okay, maybe maybe this maybe it is true or then
We really want to recognize because dolly pardon was like reading writing a book and she was like I can do this
Um, and she also writes country music songs while James Patterson was writing a book and then he apparently went to Nashville
I was like I can do this and he sat and tried to write a country music song and he could not do it
And he was like I can't do it. I'm just sticking the books
So I'm surprised he couldn't after I'm a toyser as kid I have
I know
So basically our country song right far
Some other favorite lines uh, I wanted to just call upon yes
She looked like a star-spangled angel
And a wonderful moment really not cliche I've never heard this before
Ruthanna gets bad news and the phone slips from her hand and falls onto the carpet while she stands there
I mean, that was really cool. Whoa
Yeah, yeah, he really sticks to a uh
Two cliches minimum per page
Right right right and also however each chapter is
Two to five pages like that's a hard rule. Yeah, we love that here on mean book. We're like we love that
A hundred chapters
It makes us feel like it reads so fast though, right? It gave me the feeling of watching like a tv show that I
Know is not good
But I keep watching it because I've had
Sneeze surgery and taking a bunch of vikin and panaglas a while
so I can't
Turn the channel
That's brilliant James Patterson and I immediately forget everything
The moment it's done
Because it does not penetrate into your brain. Yeah, you're not gonna like three days later
You could read it again and you'd be the same as that and it's hard to know what I missed and what was just not said because so much was just not said as well
Um, I definitely missed the first attack scene when she was attacked the first time
Like I think I spaced out and came back and people reacting to the fact that she had been
Attacked by this group of men. Does anyone know?
What happened? Yeah, what happened? Oh
She just came out from the shower and
Man was there had her gone. Is that the is that a later one? That's the one?
She's going back to her tree. She was going back to her tree. Oh, okay. It was her tree house
She was a little tree
Well, they keep making you think she's gonna be raped but then their very careful to be like she was just beaten senseless
She wasn't raped she and also her injuries would take
like
three
Times more than the length of a whole book the key. Yeah, she was superhuman actually
And I don't think we should we that was mentioned enough in the book like the fact when she jumped from four or five stories
They were like it's I think it looks like you fell off a bicycle. It's like
Yeah, she didn't fall through a glass on it. Yeah, and then into a book. She's the explanation of why she didn't die
A very soft, but yeah, as though yeah, she had fallen off a bicycle and then she
I feel like that is believable
Without the glass on it like if as someone who famously fell out of a window of a third story into a book
I didn't know about that Sabrina. Oh my god. That's why I was practicing fire safety. I
created my own
rope out of sheets that I
Through out the window. Is there something you're doing for fun at home? I was yeah, it was five
Okay back up in their garden
And they said you had to have two ways out of every room in the house
And so I started to repel down the side of the house
Wasn't I didn't do a great job with the sheet rope by yourself. Oh my god
The bush and was totally fine
At a your side
Green through a glass on it. I don't think the result would have been quite the same
It had had been a fourth story hotel because it was I mean, it was three stories
Believe you were half of it was the basement that was like half out but half under
Sabrina that's insane that you did that
I swear I
Every one of you
Leo did you know that? Yeah, I did not know that's fascinating. That's a I'm glad you're still with us. Yeah, same
I did your parents witnesses. No, it was so probably no, but probably nobody believes you when you told like
When you told your parents they must be like yeah, right. I told my mom like after college because
I was so afraid of getting in trouble and then it just wasn't it didn't come up until
Was her reaction disbelief or is she like thank you for not telling me that?
My mom is one of the strangest people her response was just like nah that tracks
Okay, all right no one did anything wrong here
I'm a great no fault
That time good thing we didn't invest in those screens
Oh my god
Um, I don't I guess we talked about the book a lot. Do we want to get to
What the big reveal is where the twist that we've been waiting put off this whole time?
I think we should because but I guess there was some interesting stuff in there about like
What it's like to try to make it in country music but also it was confusing because she just got everything she wanted like
She her first song she recorded got on the radio and she immediately became popular and I'm gotten album and blah blah blah like it was
Oh, yeah, there was like an agent that was she should avoid yeah, yeah, everything I was like avoid him and she talked to him and
She was right
Yeah, then she avoids them and it's fine. Yeah, that's right. She's like thank you. I did avoid him
Yeah, I got a better different agent. Yeah, okay, and then even when Kip Hart was like you're not opening for me
They were like doesn't matter you have your own door
And but they are like when she jumps out the window they're in Vegas, right?
Yes, so then so then she's always done doing a duet
She's adding begging to do is to deal with the most famous coaches out of all time
But in Vegas and she's with the big star, but they only put her on the fourth floor
Right, she's like you would get put up. Yeah, they have those hotels have like millions of rooms
You could get a much better
It is ridiculous now that I think of it my parents live at Vegas. I know I know Vegas
I think the Vegas aspect is also what contributed to the hacks
Yeah, yeah, maybe maybe do you think you do you guys do you think Patterson was watching hacks?
Probably probably
It's probably when you probably called Dolly Parton in mid-episode
What if
She can meet it in this movie
ruining her life
It was just that she was running from sex traffickers which is a bit of the
Yeah, so anyway, she's attacked in Las Vegas, Sabrina brought it up before there's a guy that's she obviously recognizes her nose that's in her
Hotel room who tax her with her own gun and then she stabs him in the eye with a stiletto and
Which was a bad ass moment. Yes, it certainly was bad ass and you straight up gouged his eye
With her. Yes, and which by the way the the police decide that this was a suicide
But when Ethan does his own investigation of the crime scene
What she can just walk into because it's not a crime scene
He finds the stiletto with I guess human eye on it
He bags it because he knows about crime scenes
And he's like you know
Yes, he died and he's like I think actually a struggle happened here. I can make it look like an accident or
Yeah, I know I just that completely conceives me so she killed the guy and then
The police are like I guess it killed himself, you know like
Well, you don't have a gun you just he grind a stiletto into the face
When I he lived I
I thought he escaped or something oh I thought he escaped too. Yeah, so
Okay, that's my other question if he escaped then we know
There's no blood trail evidently this hotel doesn't have security
No one's concerned about it no a woman
fall from the fourth floor and they're like well, I don't think we need to look into this at all
A women be crazy women be horrible and be fallen
And that's all we can say
Who cares about all these flip chairs
It was that the I'd stiletto it was that fallen time of the month you know
So she decided to pull a Sabrina
Yeah, yeah, yeah exactly
Tested fire safety of the
Vegas hotel also why wouldn't there be blood from her gouging his eye? Yeah, there would be I think let alone the I
The ball remain but like
Yeah, why did why did she decide to go to Arkansas? I know
Yeah, she escapes from the hotel room not telling anybody not taking a phone not taking anything in hitchhikes this bitch loves to hitchhike
Um and to get back to her hometown of Arkansas because she was tired of running from her past
But we didn't know what her past was at this point and it's very confusing to know why anything's happening
But when you guys are reading this you're like like me right you're like okay now we're gonna find out
Oh, wait, wait, wait, sorry, yeah, yeah
So were you did you feel like
It's a no I just want to mention quickly when she woke up in the
Hospital briefly she thought that she was in a
A room like the kidnapper had gotten her and it was all a dream she mentions this and I think I must have
Like right after she said that because then I went through a period of time believing like wow that's crazy
James Patterson he just made it all a dream two thirds the way through that's a wild
I was like really excited to finish the book because I was like what's he gonna do next if it was all a dream and then it was like
I started playing it was like oh no no was
Is the hospital but what actually happens is not much more rewarding than a dream no no
So we spend though you know likely was saying we spend this whole book like what's it gonna be?
What's it gonna be? Well a big secret bigger than murdering your wife like they've said it's one of the biggest
Build-ups to reveal
That I think I've ever read and the reveal is
She is in a bad an abusive marriage no not in a marriage. Yeah, just a partner. She
and then
Does some sex work he sell he sold her okay he sold her to another man you know like you do
It's confusing how you can do that when she's like she was older than 18
I don't I don't know okay
She was not an immigrant it is it does not follow the narrative that I have heard about sex trafficking
Uh, right that's like
It's usually not like women in Walmart parking lots being suddenly pulled into cars whisked away from their lives and families and sold into sex trafficking
It is tends to generally be people who don't have resources maybe
Are alone young maybe do not speak this language
Uh, so it it's definitely you know, it's one of those like
Uh, the news would have you believe that this happens every day
Yeah, I'm not I'm not sure that it is the most accurate
How of her being sold into this
To to D who is the person we we never meet who
Sexy trafficked her he might be the stiletto i-man yeah person might be sure
Could be a good reveal just like to put that out there that could be a good reveal
It just felt so unrealistic
It was it was like she has her abusive stepdad
Then she goes to this abusive man and then like he indescriptively
Yeah, we don't know how but she doesn't go back after the guy who apparently was forcing her to do sex work
That she had to escape from when he was passed out drunk she does she's not going after him she's going after
The x i don't know why though. I don't even understand why he was sending
Also, I think we can't call it rape and not sex work because no, I want to respect sex workers Sabrina
Okay, she wasn't she wasn't proud
Wait, she wasn't but she wasn't getting paid
No, I thought she was just she's
Rehoused it was sex work in only the men's perspectives honestly
I was just trying to down play it to make her reveal seem even
When you say she was sold into sex trafficking it feels like a bigger reveal than it was I just made everyone to know
Oh, we don't get any of the information about like
It's all just kind of alluded to as well like there's so much you're trying to fill in that you're like wait
Yeah, I guess we assume there was sex involved after she was sold
Yeah, say that. No, it was like you know what it's not even that he was a shitty husband
He also sold me now the books over
There is that enough for you and then it was just we're leaving and then it was like I could think after this D got
Uh arrested and he's in jail this character you just heard about for the first time
Has a bad story his trial will take one week
Yes, yeah, and nobody and then they were all happily ever after she's famous
They're getting married or are married. I don't fucking know. There's probably a baby on the way. I
There's just also what wait wait this the the step the step half-sisters half-sisters or step-sisters
You mean half-sisters he um
What's his face Ethan Blake has to like track them down and talk to one to figure out
Where any lease the any leased beaten hit held captive and and she he just like
There's an abusive dad and it's just like never comes we're not concerned about those girls
Sarah he gives one of them his phone number and then misses several of her calls
Oh, yeah
Look it comes and finds him somehow
um
So he's concerned okay
Don't know what happened to those girls
No, no absolutely not we have no closure. Yeah
Just one of the many things that were like whatever we don't know the eyeball eyeball guy was his name was weighed when she
Saw him so I don't understand if he was the same guy as D and if he was why was he oh my god the weighed guy the guy who got eyeballed
He was upset that she was writing songs that were referencing him
But I was like what's in the songs that is all at all what
We're here the songs
Also
Let's say you're lucky enough to be becoming a country music star
when you think
Also
Why don't I have the guy who bought me arrested? I can do these two things
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
I have for Ruth Ann whatever her name is all my son she didn't trust the police
But then it turned out all she needed was a kind female police officer
To come talk to her and then it was a lot why
Because yeah, I just think I'm gonna say the good ones
Roof the lyrics and I'm not saying anything more revealing that she was sold
Yeah, I don't I don't I don't understand
She certainly doesn't say like D sold me D owned me
If anything D you should have been advertising it he should have been like come work for me
You might become a country music star
Absolutely exactly
I don't know overlooked
Yeah, how is there not a song called or sold
Yeah, yeah
Come on, I don't know maybe that that stuff that James added after working with Dolly maybe like
The thriller part of it that's James
So Dolly was yeah, I'm about that
Dolly was like I don't care what happens to this girl
As long as my songs come up there
There is a problem that none of it makes any sense or right
I mean I have never written a book so I have no record of science but
It does seem like one of the things about writing the book is making sure it makes some kind of sense, right?
It's crazy how often that's that's not that doesn't stop people or isn't a priority
It's more like I mean James at least we know outlines
I feel like a lot of authors that we've done just admit to just being like I just write what I feel and it just comes and comes
We read a book once that is like wildly popular
And there's a big twist at the end you like find out who the murderer is
And once you find out it's like the murderer doesn't make any sense to the book and then
In doing the research we uncovered that the author had originally had a different murderer in mind
And
When they finished the book just change to the murder one
Why did they change it twist baby?
Twist and see coming because the author didn't even see it coming
That's how you do it baby
Um that is what James did he just there was no way for you to know was coming because there was or like
I don't even know what this wasn't a thriller wasn't really a mystery it was just like
Life alive, you know, I don't know what the hell it was
I don't know what what this was that we just read um it wasn't
Yeah, it wasn't like
So unenjoyable
So it must have a genre wow high praise high praise high praise um do you guys let's take a commercial break
We come back. We can do little answer is
The author and then maybe our good reads and hate rates up. Yeah
All right, we'll be right back
[Music]
We're back all right Jay
You okay segment so we're gonna do a little answer as the author and I found a great question um dolly
Yeah
Yes, dolly, what did you give James for his birthday?
Oh
Well, what did I give James for his birthday? I gave him
Tickets to my goddaughter
Miley Cyrus's concert so that he could have some inspiration of how to write just a
wonderful spunky young girl
Amazing and James what did you do with the gift?
I
Took my lovely life with me to the concert. We had the greatest time. We were
Standing up we were singing along. Oh, we got I was taking no two and so helpful it was I'd say the best
Concert I've ever been to I was just unbelievable and we got to meet my lee back stage and father
And we took the Clintons with us, so it was a lot of fun
That's amazing. I love the character you've created for James which is just the he's Ned flander's nicest man in the world
I'm exactly so what is that? This is the real dolly. What did you give James for his birthday?
dolly gave him a guitar
signed by her okay
and
James what what did James do with that guitar he responds I've never played it
That's not an answer to the question. I've never played it um, I just love that
If you want to set out there so you can sell it on either
Oh, right right right Chris it's a
Just like our main characters hair. This is a virgin guitar. Yeah, yeah, nice. All right. I like that very much
All right, I guess oh my god. We already time for good reads
We're there baby. All right you guys it's before we do our hate rates
We're gonna go into some good reads five star reviews
um called from good reads as per you
Okay, now I'm having to pull them up so
struggle with me for one second
Here you go
All right, uh, this is from Susan she says
Holy cow people run rose run blew my mind totally screwed with my head and then blew my mind once again
It was that good all while I was reading I totally had it figured out only to be wrong over and over again
I love when it all there keeps me guessing
I know many people don't read James Patterson anymore
But I truly think they are missing out. I know they think he turns out too many books in a year
But he always keeps me highly entertained and run rose run was no exception
And it goes on blah blah blah she says once you start reading trust me you aren't going to be able to stop
When everything is finally revealed. Well you won't believe it
I really hope James Patterson writes with Dolly Parton again
Five I'm picturing this woman just like constantly putting the book down in shock
I know
Where these twists that she was reading
I love how she says like I know a lot of people don't read
The best playing author ever
much anymore
ah
Run don't rose run to breathe this ball
Oh that would have been clever
Well honestly what were the twists that were surprised there was one twist
I get not a mention
Oh maybe that Dolly owns the bar that she's playing
Oh yeah
Oh yeah Dolly comes into the bar that she holds really in cognito
She doesn't want to be seen so she her limo idols outside and um
She's wearing a white sequined outfit and uh full makeup
But she's sitting in the back so nobody in all of natural knows she's there. It's really cool
It's it's fun that celebrities want to believe that people don't notice them but like
Your Dolly pardon is cute you're gonna it's cute. It's cute. I guess that makes it a little safe
I don't know everyone knew why this and why why does she want the bar because
She used to play there. I think she started or got her break there or something maybe I don't I might be adding that
That might not be in for me. It's also a national thing
That every country musician. I think you have to legally you have to own a bar in national unfortunately
I think that is true. I think it's probably a loser
monetarily for some people but you gotta do it. Yeah, that's true
It's like they don't their taxes aren't high, but that's what they do instead
You know that makes sense
Are we got one more five-star review from bookish Charlie
She says
Did I listen to the album Dolly released alongside
I it's spelled with an eye CH
ARLI. Does that feel like a girl spelling am I wrong?
I don't know all right they are really ready
For fair is it fair is it
Charlie I'll Charlie I'll pronoun you with they they wrote
Did I listen to the album Dolly released alongside this book while reading it? Yes, yes
I did those of you that know me
Clearly not us
No
That Dolly is my absolute queen and I would and I would do anything for that sweet fairy
So when I found out last year she was writing a book
I think my scream was probably heard around the entire globe
I feel like this book was a perfect combo thriller suspension romance for them
It's a cute little genre crossover that I love
I wouldn't say any of them are the main genre but rather it's a triple talent for all three genres
And the album from Dolly sweeter than Apple pie and sweet tea on a hot day in June
I loved it. Please go and read about my little country pumpkin annually and listen to her story while my queen serenade's you five stars
Okay, I actually feel
More confident that that was a man who wrote that
Okay, maybe, but I love that Charlie has identified the lack of genre
But that didn't matter it was a triple genre and that's a thing yeah
Triple Threats of the romance we didn't really touch on but it
There was supposed for anybody who was listening to this entire episode
You might not know that Ethan and Annie Lee were
Supposed to be in love with each other
Right there's they don't do anything they don't even they never they never found
Yeah, it was weird and you know because but they do marry you married
Because she had been
Or the reveal of her having been sex traffic
Probably would have worked better if he had like tried to
You know make a move and she like couldn't deal with being touched because of this dark
Like it would have having some sort of hint as to yeah, it would have worked well and I don't know why
There was nothing there
Like we knew that there was a reveal but there was not a single hint as to what the reveal actually was
It was
It's that for run run run
Very confused um
Wow, and that's great writing all right you guys ready for our hate rates
So Leo how we do this is
We base this in the world of mean book club book so you know, you're not comparing this to
I don't know whatever you think is a good book
So can be a five out of it you can read a mean book club book and it can be five out of five
Let's just say that but is anybody have a rating they want to go first
I have a question or Leo okay. Yeah
I
Do you really read a hundred books a year?
But that is a false
claim my
Friend was dating somebody who I could mpr and they kind of concocted that
Although I was trying to read a hundred books here. I think I got to like 60
Wow impressive
Have a very good frame of reference for your that's still good man of books. That's still a that's still a
That's a lot yeah, so do I be happy if I can read 60 books a year
I try audiobooks you can really you can really shit through them if you three times do it three times speed
I know I don't find it enjoyable and again, I like I just like lose I cannot
I read the cover
You read for hate
Anger read yeah, I actually listen why I'm on the peloton and it makes me work out harder
Well, maybe I could read like some self-help or
nonfiction but even nonfiction I've tried to listen to and then it's like
I was like wait something about like the economy and
Supplies I'm lost
Yeah, yeah, it's harder to get quotes and stuff when you do audiobooks too. That is tough. Yeah
I have to quickly record it into my phone
Yeah, yeah, while the audio plays in the back. Yeah, I screen shot it so I can go back to the time code and find a later
Right, you're not gonna get it
But uh, all right, all right, Sabrina, do you have a
I'll give my reading um
I think
I'm gonna have to go five out of five
And
Here's why okay
um, it's dolly part and
and I love her and everything she does even
If hypothetically it was a miss it wouldn't be for me and
You know, typically I don't give out the five out of five
No, you don't for books that aren't the secret
But I think that this book
Inspired me to wield the power of the secrets. Those I don't think we we recorded what happened
I think we did we talked about that pre-recorded subrenus if you want to explain briefly
Well as everyone listening knows I have the power of the secret so
When I realized that I had double booked myself and I was really sad because I wanted to do both things
I figured oh no big deal
I will just my other event was an outdoor sporting event. I was like I'll just secret
Rain and the event will be canceled and it delayed so that I can go to it another time
But not have to choose one over the other and it worked out perfectly
Even though when I made the decision the forecast had absolutely no rain so
And today at 3.30 pm
My friend text me wow sky just went dark giant
Crash of thunder and I was like super
Nice done here. I am all right, so I'm gonna I'm gonna rate
So I like Sabrina love dolly partner like there is
There she has no comparison in any other field she stands alone in country music. She is the queen of country
Uh and I love the James Patterson that Leo created
This episode he seems like really a lovely man
He loves his wife. Yeah the character that has kind of blossomed
The man that loves his wife he's good friends with a Clintons
He's not mean to see even king to see even king who I love and no one should be mean to see even king
So I'm gonna have to give it a five out of five as well
Because I love the authors
Was that a bark? What was that?
Oh this is appreciate it appreciate it
Um all right, this is ridiculous. I I feel like I was gonna come in with a middleing rating
But when you guys both get five out of five it pisses me off and I just feel like you need to balance it so
I'm gonna give it a two out of five
Uh this book made no sense um the main character was very unlikable
Uh there was the hero of the book was a wife murderer
I don't know if we're not remembering that um
James yeah dolly was involved in it and yeah the Ruth Anna character
I guess based on dolly was the best part um and you know I guess I'm giving it a point essentially because I like the album
I really love that she committed to doing an album and it was I think the album probably was
I do think the album was better than the book
Uh but yeah this book was not good and I think even if you like dolly pardon like reading autobiography read one of our children's books
There are other ways to get your dolly on then this James Patterson book so two out of five
Okay um
Wow this is a tough one because
Like everybody else. I love dolly pardon
wearing a t-shirt dolly pardon t-shirt the only one where I've seen her in concert
She's such a she's so funny she's such a professional she's the real deal
How could anybody say anything bad about dolly pardon she supports literacy
Yeah and James Patterson
also
supposedly
Does all these great things and seems like he's a big supporter of literacy
Good people do bad things although although not by his right
I would say this book this book kind of reads as your reading it you're like is this book an advertisement for this book
It's kind of a genius. I feel like it's a reading a commercial and it's sort of genius
It is pretty genius that he got dolly pardon to make in an album yeah
Although I would have paid a million dollars if I had it to just
Have her do whatever she wanted and not have it tied to this book yeah
But I've also never written a book so little I know and I'll just give it four four out of five
If you got to read a James Patterson book you you make it this one
The guys written likes 700 bucks pick the one you did with dolly pardon all right fair fair
That's amazing yes
Probably the highest reading of a book club book so far this season
We'll have to definitely
Man if only we could add in with Claire would think
uh
I can never tell if Claire would she would she go hard against it or would she be like we got to support this now
She would go hard against I think this undoubted yeah
Claire never likes books she does the podcast but I don't think she ever likes books
She just likes hanging out with us and that's where keeps her coming back yeah
That's my feeling the rest of it is so for today yeah
Yeah, well as our PA cast all all Pennsylvania all the time
That's true. Yeah, that's that's a better um yeah we're changing the name um
Oh it should have been sponsored by yingling
Oh that would have been perfect
Yeah, Patterson wouldn't let that slip by nope nope
That kind of specific he'd be all over it all right sadly. I'm not I'm just here alone no ghost writers
Do we want to do little fucker of the cast now? Yeah, I've got mine wow she
Wow
Okay, go everybody else equally afraid go
You say I fucking thought uh why just kept bringing up Clara
Clara's not here Clara would be on my side Clara would think this way you know what
I appreciate the people that are around you living the whole mix
Instead of comparing and comparing
Yeah, putting us down
So I'm sorry, okay, all right
I have my boat as well
Okay, go ahead Samina oh Sarah uh what she didn't say Sarah let's let her let's
I do speak I do it do it
Look
Here's the thing one of us
Repeatedly referred to this as just a James Patterson novel
and um that person Sarah
I think you'll realize was you don't remember
I don't remember me that you did it one moment ago
And listen are any of us can remember this book in three months? No
But we are gonna remember the dolly pardon was an author of this book
And so for that reason Sarah I'd see you wow
Okay, this is amazing five out of five and then she says are any of us gonna remember this book in three months
We walk this is we simply walk I'm not I'm already being attacked from two sides
I feel like you know the people are with me
I don't really think I need to defend myself
I'm the only one giving an honest god damn hate rate about this book
I'm not afraid of dolly pardon
I think dolly pardon would have respect me for speaking the truth
And then I'm literate enough to see when something shit okay
literate enough to listen to an audiobook
Yeah, I had to read words in order to download it
bitch
Okay, this is hard though I guess
Well, you know what Leo do before I go do you have anybody like to
Well, this is always rough for the guest. I mean
Yeah, especially in an all PA episode
I mean it did we didn't even get East East East East Side versus West Side which I thought was pretty big of us
Yeah, we didn't get to the East Side PA versus West Side. I do want to warn you Leo that once a guest
nominated a
Clariss daughter as the little fucker
Thing that never happened
And her daughters
Why did she cry once in a
And it was what was it in the middle of someone
No, it was a real fucked up thing to do
Because Leo's like if it was in the middle of a funny quip
Baby, I see maybe I could see the under
No, I'm gonna go with Clara because it's an outrage that I mean what what is what is she doing?
What is it's is she committed to this?
Travelling
Well, I mean I got it I got an email about this like a month or six weeks ago and I changed
My schedule because I respect thank you. I mean book club
Yeah, she changed the weather
Yeah
And Clara can't change a flight
Yeah, that's fucked up
Or figure out a way to charter some kind of a plane where she has internet. I don't know. Yep
All right, I think that's absolutely right. I regret my vote, but unfortunately once you vote it is
Yeah, it is I know that my vote this vote will not defend me from becoming a little fuck of the class
But at this time I would like to nominate Sabrina
This is an outrage
I think I think you're bringing up the fact like who who put this prioritize you didn't prioritize it
I think I think yes you use the secret, but do let just a circle background
Do I believe in the secret? I do not I believe
I believe you got lucky and weather saved your ass, okay, and I
And I think for that you're a little fucker of the cast this month, but here
Look I he cast your vote, but I wish you had this information. Okay
The thing that I forgot about, huh was actually my fiance's event. It was not mean book club
so I really
was
bad fiance
Good mean book club member, but then had to be the fiance fiance
fiance bad mean book club member
Um, and then you just got out of it you you got out of it you got lucky and
No, that's not what I think it's luck. I think it's got damn luck
But no, it doesn't matter. I am the little fucker of the cast as has been determined by the
voting so I'll take it. I'm proud. I'm proud
I think dolly would be proud too. Should be
She wouldn't be
All right guys, what let's do some plugs, I guess can we do?
Yeah, sure obviously us mean book club or mean book club on all the socials
Please check out our patreon become a patron of the mean arts
We do we do get a lot of books from the library, but sometimes we gotta buy them
You know, we've got plans for live shows bonus eps anything you can give helps
Leo where can people I mean you're not really on instagram, but like can people follow
I got I got off social media. I I was I got freaked out during the pandemic too too many worms too many worm
You're not a big tiktok or right now
I am huge on tiktok. I am I'm the oldest person on tiktok
And they love me they love me
um
But you know, now I'm gonna I've been inspired to write a book from this amazing and uh you can get I'm gonna write it right
It with dolly party so
Leo if someone wants to see a project you've worked on or if you have something coming up
What what something you would say like check this out really this was great
oh
Hmm it can be really old uh
Well, I don't know if any stuff is what is streaming
There's people who always like people are always like
Nobody streaming like Andy Galeach but maybe they are streaming maybe Andy Daly's show is streaming
That's a fairly funny show or views
Uh, I think uh Nathan's the newest streaming. Yeah, that's definitely streaming. We can post some links too
Yeah, we'll do that
Yeah, definitely if you haven't seen review uh the Andy Daly show you must check it out if you haven't seen
Uh the main is an national treasure
Andy is a national treasure
um
John Benjamin has a van oh yeah, that i think that might be streaming now
Excellent it's often not streaming, but it might be now not well
We'll rip them. We'll download them illegally and we'll send you the links, you know
Because everyone is
If you're a page
Right are you getting any money from this streaming or do we do we really need them to
Uh, no, I'm certainly not getting that's why we're streaming. Let's plug the
G.A.
Yes
Saga after both yeah double striking right now, which is probably why daly the movie for run rose run
Maybe it's being held up, you know
Could need yeah, that could be
Look at what the producers are taking from you right now. The daly will not cross a pick on
Absolutely not. No, absolutely
Long live daly. I don't know it, but I know it. Yeah, you know exactly
She's never on the wrong side of history. Yeah, she would put on a sparkly hat
And pick it
What do you think just picking is subride?
Just a half-sense stitch
A child's understanding I think it's a parade how i understand daly would do it
Yeah, okay, it doesn't matter. Clearly what i think it is
It's just an angry person
It's an angry parade. Sorry everybody support the angry parade of goers.
All right then what are we reading next episode guys
Next episode is everything you ever wanted to know about sex, but we're too afraid to ask and our guest
Everything you always say exactly the title, but you'll find everything you always want to prove it
And our guests joining us will be Dan Savage. We're very excited
Um, yeah, so it's a sex book, but it's hard to find this book is hard to find
What's an oldie right? It's from the 16th
And it's now in print on demand status, which makes it very difficult to locate
So beg your library. What was the library? You can probably get the library. No, my library. No
You know
Yeah, really? Yeah
Who's the one who loves the library? Don't you guys love the library?
Yeah, I love the library. Yeah, so it keeps us a democracy
I bought the book off Amazon, so
Um, well this would James better some needs more money
But all right guys, thank you so much for joining. We'll see you next episode. Bye
Thank you guys for having me. Thank you very much
Thank you very much. It's very fun. Thank you
[Music]
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