From Lilith to Lilith Fair Book

Lilith, the mythological character from whom the Lilith Fair takes its name, had the audacity to defy God. The force that Sarah McLachlan defied in 1997 by proposing a real alternative to the summer music festival--the belligerent, male-dominated radio and record industry--is only slightly less frightening. In From Lilith to Lilith Fair, Buffy Childerhose chronicles the festival--a girlapalooza that quickly overshadowed its predecessors--from its seedling stages to full bloom with insights from most of Lilith's 1997 artists, including Paula Cole, Indigo Girls, and Sarah herself. Most chapters begin with a portrait of a pioneering woman, from 16th-century Italian artist Artemisia Gentileschi to Canadian suffragette Nellie McClung. The historical stories point most frequently to women's struggles to be heard, honored, and even considered through the ages. The Lilith Fair artists relate more contemporary stories of discrimination and prejudice, and ultimately of triumph. Much of the book details the media's initial, negative response to the tour and how Sarah and company battled through press conferences with insensitive journalists before every show. Rolling Stone portrayed Lilith participants as "utterly lacking in community" and competitive. Salon decried "the second-grade sensibility of the pseudo-feminist Lilith Fair," and Ms. magazine scolded Sarah for her reluctance to use the word feminist. But once things got started, Sarah's utopian vision won out over its detractors: shows sold out, audiences left happy, and magazines like Entertainment Weekly and Time ran favorable cover stories on the tour. From Lilith to Lilith Fair captures the bumpy road to success for the women of Lilith, led by the unwavering persistence and undeniable talent of Sarah McLachlan, who--appropriately enough--writes the forward for this officially sanctioned book. --Shawn Stewart Read More