Some Days Are Diamonds

Dick Feller was a renowned 70’s country musician who toured with the likes of Skeeter Davis. He also wrote hits for Johnny Cash, Tex Williams, and John Denver’s Some Days are Diamonds was also by his pen, as you may have guessed from the book’s title. Aside from that, he co-wrote great film hits for Smokey and The Bandit, as well as releasing his own songs.

Some Days are Diamonds is the autobiography telling Feller’s journey to becoming a famous country singer and songwriter, as well as becoming Deena Kaye Rose. It is a short story that skims over many aspects of Rose’s life from birth that readers may have enjoyed learning more details about as it sometimes appears to lessen the importance of some issues, but it still gives a general overview. It is quite heart breaking to read that even at a very young age, she knew that she was assigned the wrong gender but tried to hide it even in her late teens when the desire to fit in and become accepted by society and oneself was so traumatic that she felt the need to “purge” herself of everything feminine in order to “butch up.”

This is the Twenty-First Century and the Transgender community still struggles to be accepted by society; can you imagine what it was like in the 1960s!? Some of the comments were fun to read, even if not everyone is likely to comprehend the meaning, such as “I felt about as welcome as a pork-pie hat at the cotillion.” Comedic lines aside, Rose shows how difficult her transition was on many levels and portrayed such a strength of character that this book would undoubtedly assist others who are on a similar journey. It also gives a different understanding into the transgender community that may help people to have a deeper understanding. There is, however, a slight overuse of commas, which can make for a disjointed read, and areas where the book does not engage deeply enough with the issues that it raises.