James Brown

James Brown, an American icon, the insanely gifted Godfather of Soul, had a childhood that taught him to be street smart, generous, sweet, deeply religious and violent. Adrienne Lois Modell Rodriguez, whose childhood taught her that there was no safety and security to be found in the identity she was born with, spent her life as a brave, often lost, always loving chameleon. They insisted on finding each other, and they stayed together through successes, failures, abuse, addictions, high speed chases, prison and mutual adoration until her sudden and untimely death. Souled Out is the story of the chaotic and dark journeys these two people navigated, both separately and together. It is an unequivocal, unapologetic exploration of their lives with all the objectivity and intimacy the author, Susan Hutton has to offer - what she saw, what she heard and what she knows from her life as sister, sister-in-law, confidante, friend, witness and mourner. To portray this couple as anything less than exactly who they were would be a great disservice to their complexity.