[.ca] Chet Atkins: Me and My Guitars (ISBN 0634055658)

BEAUTIFUL GUITAR PICTURES & STORIES:
At first I just meant to thumb through a few pages but Chet's easy-going and enjoyable writing style sucked me in. The next thing it was 2 am and I'd finished most of the book. Although I suffered the next day at work I didn't mind it a bit. If you like vintage guitars or Chet Atkins' playing I can't recommend this book strongly enough. It is full of beautiful color pictures and behind-the-scenes descriptions of the development of some very interesting and historic instruments. Chet's stories of the people he played with, the guitars he played and the music he made are wonderful and totally engrossing. Buy this book today!!

Beautifully Illustrated With Engaging Narrative:
Chet relates the story of his life and describes the guitars he owned and helped design in an easy-going, yet informative, manner in this book, which is lavishly illustrated with photographs of his guitars. As a country music enthusiast, I found Chet's story to be very interesting -- he had much more contact with some of the early artists (such as Karl Davis and Bill Carlisle) than I'd realised. Chet's narrative is characterised by his modesty and generosity to others: for example, he relates how Mother Maybelle Carter and her family fought some elements of the Nashville establishment to ensure he was permitted to play in Music City; and he is very complimentary of other guitarists (e.g. to Australia's Tommy Emmanuel). I have no hesitation in recommending this book to any country-music enthusiast or country guitarist, though the book also has a much wider appeal.