This compilation of anecdotal essays by Tanya Tucker and ninety-nine of her friends addresses the blues and the way each person deals with those dark, lonely hours. Each short contribution speaks to the individuality of the experience, at the same time appealing to the universality of the blues in one form or another.

The famous and the not-so-famous share their thoughts, page by page: Willie Nelson’s “An Alternative to the Blues”; Wesley McNair’s “The Back Seat Blues”; “Around the Farm Blues” by George Jones; “The Cinematic Blues” of Dan Lauria; Tom Rymour’s “The Jurassic Blues”; and “Weird Al” Yankovic’s “The Warm Weather Blues.”

For Roseanne (Barr), there was revelation in a moment of rage, as she took a baseball bat to her ex-husband’s prized motorcycle, only to realize it was her own she was destroying. What could she do but laugh? Ian Duncan ponders the toughest of all, relationship blues (“Broken Heart Blues”) and wonders if his submission will be the only one bemoaning lost love.

George Stevens, Jr., thinks of the blues as “when I feel a little bit down”; he suggests literally changing the subject: a walk, nine holes at the golf course, calling a loved one to say hello. Garth Brooks stops running, in an act of courage that turns his life around, returning home to face his past and find his place on the smaller stage of daily life.

These short essays offer a variety of alternatives for dealing with the downside of daily life, whether changing the scene or the thought, a testament to the universal experience we all share at one time or another. Entertainment folks glean their lessons from the emotional rollercoaster of fame and fortune, but in the end, we share the same feelings and the same answers.