John A. Lomax may be most famous for getting the legendary songster Leadbelly out of prison in Louisiana. Trouble is, he didn't do it, though he did what he could to keep the myth that he did current, as Porterfield shows in his exhaustive examination of a unique and energetic man. Lomax said he began collecting cowboy songs as a child, and collecting, transcribing, and recording folk music was indeed his life's labor. He was most famously associated with Leadbelly, employing him as driver and assistant while he combed the South and Southwest, searching out previously unknown music and musicians. Lauded now for recording folk musicians for the Library of Congress, he also interacted crucially with the popular media of his day. Giving great attention to details and documentation, Porterfield tracks down the discrepancies between the myth of Lomax the noble researcher and the facts. The resulting biography engagingly portrays a man who, despite or maybe because of the mythmaking, contributed almost incredibly to American cultural history and lived a life enviable in its zeal for discovery. Mike Tribby --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.