Rucker, Allen 1945(?)-

PERSONAL:

Born c. 1945, in Wichita Falls, TX; married; wife's name Anne-Marie; children: two sons. Education: Washington University, B.A.; University of Michigan, M.A. (American culture); Stanford University, M.A. (communications).

ADDRESSES:

Home—Los Angeles, CA. Agent—Jay Mandel, William Morris Agency, 1325 Ave. of the Americas, NY, NY 10019. E-mail—ar@allenrucker.com.

CAREER:

Writer, television producer. Writer or co-writer of various books and television screenplays; University of Southern California, Los Angeles, School of Cinematic Arts, lecturer.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Writers Guild of America Joan Young Award for career distinction as a writer with a disability, 2005; George Peabody Award and Emmy Award for Exceptional Merit in Nonfiction Filmmaking, both 2006, both for "Two Days in October," broadcast on the Public Broadcasting System's American Experience; DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award; Writers Guild Annual Award; two CableACE Awards.

WRITINGS:

(With Martin Mull) The History of White People in America, Putnam (New York, NY), 1985.

A Paler Shade of White: The History of White People in America (sound recording), Simon & Schuster Audioworks (New York, NY), 1987.

The Sopranos: A Family History, NAL Books (New York, NY), 2000.

(With Michele Scicolone) The Sopranos Family Cookbook: As Compiled by Artie Bucco, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Tom Green) Hollywood Causes Cancer: The Tom Green Story, Crown (New York, NY), 2004.

(With Michele Scicolone) Entertaining with the Sopranos: As Compiled by Carmella Soprano, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2006.

(With Gretchen Wilson) Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life, Warner Books (New York, NY), 2006.

(With John Rich and Big Kenny) Big and Rich: All Access, Center Street (New York, NY), 2007.

The Best Seat in the House: How I Woke Up One Tuesday and Was Paralyzed for Life, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

TELEVISION SCRIPTS

The History of White People in America: Volume 1, [California], 1985.

The History of White People in American: Volume 2, [California], 1986.

Portrait of a White Marriage, [California], 1988.

Hometown Boy Makes Good, [California], 1990.

First Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, (Los Angeles, CA), 1995.

A Magical Walt Disney World Christmas, [Florida], 1997.

Stand and Be Counted (narration), [California], 2000.

"Two Days in October," The American Experience (series), Public Broadcasting Service, 2005.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer and television producer Allen Rucker has written or cowritten a number of books that are linked to the entertainment industry, as well as various scripts for television. Among his most successful projects are a series of books linked to the Home Box Office series The Sopranos; they include The Sopranos: A Family History, The Sopranos Family Cookbook: As Compiled by Artie Bucco, and Entertaining with the Sopranos: As Compiled by Carmella Soprano. A contributor for Publishers Weekly noted of The Sopranos Family Cookbook that "the book's conceit is playfully written by Rucker in the voice of each character." Entertaining with the Sopranos serves as a follow-up cookbook, revisiting the style of the first and offering more recipes, these specifically for holidays, parties, and family occasions.

Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life, which Rucker wrote with Gretchen Wilson, tells the story of the country music singer as she rises to fame while stubbornly clinging to her small-town country roots. A contributor for Kirkus Reviews found the book repetitive and remarked that "one assumes that co-writer Rucker's contributions were primarily structural," suggesting that any issues with the work stemmed from Wilson's content.

Of all of Rucker's works, the most compelling might be the one he wrote based on personal experience: The Best Seat in the House: How I Woke Up One Tuesday and Was Paralyzed for Life. When he was fifty-one, Rucker suddenly contracted a rare condition, transverse myelitis, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. While Rucker's initial reaction was, naturally, depression regarding his condition, he eventually shook off his malaise and went back to work. He returned to writing at that time, after having concentrated on working as a producer, because writing was something he could do easily from a seated position. The result was the majority of his recent books and screenplays, as well as numerous personal papers such as letters and e-mail. His memoir chronicles his journey, recounting some of the lowest points in his depression as well as the work ethic that helped to pull him out of it. Tom Shales, in a review for TV Week Web site, wrote: "The book itself resonates with hope yet never stoops to preachiness or mush. By the time you've finished Rucker's description of his ordeal, you almost feel as though he's a member of a club you'd like to join—but you probably don't meet the admission requirements. Each revelation he describes seems genuine, fresh, sometimes startlingly direct, and there's nary a phony or self-serving sentence in the whole thing." A reviewer for Publishers Weekly credited Rucker with delivering "straight-arrow honesty and a vibrant, penetrating wit while probing the most intimate aspects of contemporary life and human behavior." In an interview for the Memoirville Web log, Rucker remarked about his experience: "Most people think they couldn't handle it—they'd be shootin' up or never leave the house. And the point is that you won't do that, you can handle it."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

BOOKS

Rucker, Allen The Best Seat in the House: How I Woke Up One Tuesday and Was Paralyzed for Life, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2007.

PERIODICALS

Booklist, November 15, 2006, Donna Chavez, review of The Best Seat in the House, p. 11.

Entertainment Weekly, December 8, 2000, Clarissa Cruz, "Bound for Glory: A Bevy of Books Suitable for Gift Giving Speaks Volumes about the Eclectic Pitch to Readers," p. 85; October 1, 2004, Gilbert Cruz, "Celebrity Bio Diversity," p. 77; November 3, 2006, Neil Drumming and others, review of Redneck Woman: Stories from My Life, p. 81.

Kirkus Reviews, September 1, 2006, review of Redneck Woman, p. 896; October 1, 2006, review of The Best Seat in the House, p. 1004.

Library Journal, May 1, 2006, Christine Bulson, review of Entertaining with the Sopranos: As Compiled by Carmella Soprano, p. 114.

New York Times Book Review, January 21, 2007, Ada Calhoun, review of The Best Seat in the House.

Publishers Weekly, September 16, 2002, review of The Sopranos Family Cookbook: As Compiled by Artie Bucco, p. 65; September 20, 2004, review of Hollywood Causes Cancer: The Tom Green Story, p. 55; October 23, 2006, review of The Best Seat in the House, p. 42.

ONLINE

Allen Rucker Home Page,http://www.allenrucker.com (April 8, 2007).

Internet Movie Database,http://www.imdb.com/ (April 8, 2007), author biography.

Memoirville Web log,http://smithmag.net/memoirville/ (January 23, 2007), author interview.

Time Warner Books Web site,http://www.twbookmark.com/ (April 8, 2007), author biography.

TV Week Web site,http://www.tvweek.com/ (February 19, 2007), Tom Shales, "Best Book in the House."