Originally published 25 years ago, Watermelon Wine was praised for its honest, unsentimental examination of the compassion as well as the passion behind authentic country music. Author Frye Gaillard looked at the commercialization of the Grand Ole Opry; the tradition-minded rebels such as Hank Williams, Waylon Jennings, and Tompall Glaser; the growing divide between country and folk music; how Johnny Cash inspired new songwriters and new ideas; how the changing relationships between men and women were affecting the music; the role of God and gospel; and Southern rock's increasing influence. A quarter-century later, the essays in the book seem prophetic and in many cases have become even more relevant. A new introduction by Nashville music journalist Peter Cooper and a new afterword by the author update the book's themes and show what has happened to its personalities.

Frye Gaillard's first encounters with books were disappointing. As a child he never cared much for fairy tales – "stories of cannibalism and mayhem in which giants and witches; tigers and wolves did their best to eat small children." But at the age of nine; he discovered Johnny Tremain; a children's novel of the Revolutionary War; which began a lifetime love affair with books; recounted here as a reader's tribute to the writings that enriched and altered his life. In a series of carefully crafted; often deeply personal essays; Gaillard blends memoir; history and critical analysis to explore the works of Harper Lee; Anne Frank; James Baldwin; Robert Penn Warren; John Steinbeck; and many others. As this heartfelt reminiscence makes clear; the books that chose Frye Gaillard shaped him like an extended family. Reading The Books that Mattered: A Reader's Memoir will make you study your own shelves to find clues into your own literary heart.