This book is an expansion of Graham Hoppe’s thesis in the folklore program at the University of North Carolina. It is a study of popular culture that grapples with the image of the Appalachian Region portrayed at one of its most popular tourist attractions. “Gone Dollywood is a landmark study. Graham Hoppe eloquently explains why Dollywood draws thousands of visitors each year and captures East Tennessee worlds in significant ways. This fine book, like Dolly Parton, will touch the heart of its readers.”—William Ferris. “Graham Hoppe’s Gone Dollywood places Dolly Parton’s theme park, persona, and career within a broader history of the collisions of fact and fantasy, folk and celebrity, and art and commerce that have buffeted the Tennessee mountains Dolly calls home. Like Parton herself, the book is disarmingly open and friendly on its surface, with an impressive core of smart and savvy.”—Jason Mellard. “With an engaging and singular voice, Hoppe shows us just how Dollywood reflects, shapes, and challenges stereotypes of Appalachia, hillbillies, and country music, leading readers to understand Dollywood as an indispensable point of departure for broader conversations about gender, race, and class.”—Jessie Swigger, The author, Graham Hoppe grew up in Indianapolis and now lives and works in Raleigh, North Carolina.
Athens: Ohio University Press, 2018. 154 pages with photos, Index, Bibliography, Notes, and A Note About Sources. Hardback in dust jacket.