Biography of a Phantom - A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey

The drama of In Cold Blood meets the stylings of a Coen brothers film in this long-lost manuscript from musicologist Robert “Mack” McCormick, whose research on blues icon Robert Johnson''s mysterious life and death became as much of a myth as the musician himself

"This is a human and humane book, an insightful exploration of the biographer’s craft. [...] McCormick’s book makes you feel what we lost when Johnson died young." —New York Times

When blues master Robert Johnson’s little-known recordings were rereleased to great fanfare in the 1960s, little was known about his life, giving rise to legends that he gained success by selling his soul to the devil. Biography of a Phantom: A Robert Johnson Blues Odyssey is musicologist Mack McCormick''s all-consuming search, from the late 1960s until McCormick’s death in 2015, to uncover Johnson''s life story. McCormick spent decades reconstructing Johnso