Little Black Sheep

September 2, 2013
Grammy-winner Cleveland recounts her troubled history and long romance with alcohol and drugs. Her parents were alcoholics who didn’t stay married long because her father was a closeted homosexual living in the South. Cleveland grew up shuttling back and forth between Tennessee and California, learning to get in trouble but also learning music, beginning with dancing to 45 rpm records in her bedroom. Both her music career and her addictions develop in California, until she becomes pregnant, an event that is life- and soul-saving. It takes a long time—most of the story—for her recovery to stick, which makes for a fairly dark story. The account also suffers from a lack of dialogue, turning the narrative voice into something of a monotone. Cleveland’s métier is music—she is a seriously underrated singer—so if this soulful memoir helps draw attention to her music, so much the better. Agent: Kathleen Davis Niendorff.

January 6, 2014
Grammy-winning gospel singer Cleveland’s rough childhood paved the way for the spirituality she later embraced. In his memoir, she describes her early struggles—beginning with her parents’ divorce, her inability to fit in, and her drug and alcohol addiction. The turning point comes when she becomes pregnant and decides to change her life, embracing religion and finding healing and redemption. As a singer, Cleveland has some serious pipes. As a narrator, however, she’s far more languid—almost melancholy. In some instances, this tone works perfectly—when she describes her stepfather as “a man who viewed women as accessories or lapel pins, connected at the surface but meant only for display.” Yet as Cleveland begins her spiritual awakening, this tone becomes ponderous and affected—almost as if it were weighted down intentionally to increase the seriousness of her religious beliefs. An uplifting tone would have been more appropriate, and listeners will yearn for the beautiful vocal variety that Cleveland exhibits in her singing. A David C. Cook hardcover.