B. B. King's numerous honors include an honorary doctorate from Yale University, a Presidential Medal of the Arts, and fifteen Grammy Awards. He is a member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Blues Hall of Fame, and has more than ninety albums and anthologies to his credit. At age eighty-four, he is still on the road, touring the world.
David Ritz is the author of the acclaimed novels The Man Who Brought the Dodgers Back to Brooklyn and Blue Notes Under a Green Felt Hat. He is the only four-time winner of the Gleason Book of the Year Award. He's also cowritten the memoirs of many celebrities.
"Charming...honest...transcendent...an eloquent autobiography...It reads like a warm and lengthy conversation with a closefriend. Aficionados of the blues will find plenty to pique their interest, but the book truly shines because of the portrait itpaints of a man who has made kindness and respect a lifelong philosophy." -- Billboard
"B.B. King is the preeminent living practioner of the blues...Blues All Around Me is a treasure trove of informatino...told with real feeling" -- Washinton Post Book World
"An excellent musical life...dotted with encounters from everyone from Sonny Boy Williamson and Miles Davis to Stevie Ray Vaughn" -- Philadelphia Inquirer
"Candid...heartbreaking...deceptively and disarmingly casual and controversial...King's book is as self-questioningly honest as any blues song." -- Houston Chronicle
"B.B.'s life and 50-year career is a precious piece of American history that no one could have told better--except maybe Lucille." -- Vibe
"An amazing success story...an eminently entertaining tale of a true American hero." -- Austin American-Statesman
"For almost 50 years, King has let his guitar, Lucille, do the talking. Now the celebrated bluesman tells his own gutsy story." -- Buzz
"A classy book from a classy man...straightforward, frank, unaffected, and breezy, with many funny, insightful stories and anecdotes." -- Seattle Times
"King tells his very American success story with the lyricism and leisurely pace of a born storyteller...with warmth and sincerity." -- Rolling Stone
"This is one of the best recent pop-music bios. King speaks straight from the soul, it seems, just like he plays guitar." -- Booklist
"Excellent...provocative...King comes off in print not unlike he does in his music: warm and polite, down gome and sophisticated, expressive and tasteful." -- Orlando Sentinel
"The thrill is never gone." -- USA Today