Alan Lomax tried to make himself into a better person while doing his absolutely important collecting work. His family were victims of that sad system and those sad times too. The book was telling it the way it was and also telling it the way Alan wanted those years to be seen. It IS the way it was----combined with the way he wanted it to be viewed. It's the stuff of fantasy and reality all formed into one snowball. Truth, as always, is elusive, relative, and a bit self-serving. And that's O.K.-----Just the way it is. But it did take A.L. a long time to get this book written---these "facts" out. All that said, Alan Lomax was a great man. And he was imperfect, like all of us.

Art Thieme