Overview

Robert Mugge's second book-Saloon Man: A German Immigrant Battles the Limits of Liberty, 1870 to 1915-focuses on his great-grandfather, the ""original"" Robert Mugge who came to America at the age of seventeen; made his way to Tampa, Florida while it was still a settlement; and became a hugely successful businessman. Because his core businesses were alcohol-related at a time of oncoming temperance-and because he hired, partnered with, and supported African Americans during Jim Crow segregation-the ""saloon magnate of Tampa"" was also controversial. As author Michael Tisserand writes in his foreword, ""A hallmark of any Mugge film is that it is both a documentary and a celebration of lives that are lived with staggering amounts of creativity. It is in this tradition that Saloon Man might be best understood."" Or as Mugge writes of his ancestor, ""He created businesses the way others compose music, paint pictures, or write books: as an extension of his inner self."" Noting that, in the book, ""we see Mugge encounter and try to persevere over the forces of history,"" Tisserand asks, ""What are the instances in which our personal histories meet world history? How do larger movements and events shape us, and when do we have the opportunities to shape them? These are questions that filmmaker and author Robert Mugge invites us to consider as we read his majestic accounting of the life of immigrant, entrepreneur, and saloon-keeper Robert Mugge."" Tisserand concludes, ""Few of us will be granted a chronicler who will bring such rigor and compassion to our lives-but all of us can benefit that this German-born saloon man and city builder ended up with a great-grandson who was born to tell the tale.""

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9781958861370

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Reviews

An intriguing, challenging read, packed with historical and familial minutia. -KIRKUS REVIEWS One of our best and savviest documentarians about American culture brings his keen social insight and richly expansive vision to his family history. And what history! Saloon Man melds meticulous research with relentless narrative energy in bringing to vivid life Mugge's great-grandfather and namesake. The elder Robert Mugge, making his way in a turn-of-20th century America rife with both endless possibility and embedded bigotry, is shown throughout to be highly alert to injustice and just as inventive in his means of circumventing it. The lively and diverse supporting cast, from Black entertainers and radical activists to rapacious businessmen and intransigent prudes, enriches this tale of a life well-lived through both travail and triumph. -GENE SEYMOUR worked 18 years at Newsday as film critic and jazz columnist. Robert Mugge steps out from behind the camera and proves himself a first-rate historian, part David McCullough, part Carl Hiaasen. Bursting with the cinematic flair of one of the country's greatest documentary filmmakers, Saloon Man tells the riveting story of Tampa's Gilded Age original buccaneer, the visionary saloon magnate and civil libertarian who ""tapped"" Tampa's untapped potential. -AIDAN LEVY is the author of Saxophone Colossus: The Life and Music of Sonny Rollins. A great American immigration saga that takes as many dramatic twists and turns as an epic film. Author Mugge takes us along with his great-grandfather Robert Mugge, as the German immigrant turns himself into a Florida businessman of imagination, skill, and shrewdness. Along the way, Saloon Man shows its subject to be an American Everyman battling entrenched power, racism, and corruption. -KEN TUCKER is an author, editor, and cultural critic for Entertainment Weekly, NPR's Fresh Air, and other publications. In Saloon Man, acclaimed filmmaker Robert Mugge turns a documentarian lens onto his own family, bringing the same attentive detail and storytelling acumen to this compelling and carefully researched biography that he has to countless musical luminaries. A fascinating and ever enjoyable portrait of the American entrepreneurial spirit, Saloon Man is a rollick of a read that reminds us how the immigrant experience has long shaped our country and national identity. -WILLIAM LEE ELLIS is a singer-songwriter, journalist, historian, Professor of Music, and Chair of Fine Arts at Saint Michael's College.

Author Information

Since 1976, Robert Mugge has produced more than three dozen documentaries about various aspects of American culture, with particular emphasis on traditional forms of American music. In his 2023 book, Notes from the Road: A Filmmaker's Journey through American Music, Mugge described the making of what he considered to be his twenty-five key music films to date, from Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise and Gospel According to Al Green to Deep Blues and New Orleans Music in Exile. His 2024 book, Saloon Man: A German Immigrant Battles the Limits of Liberty, 1870 to 1915, is a biography of his highly accomplished great-grandfather, also named Robert Mugge. His 2024 film, unrelated to the book, is Deep Roots: The Art and Music of Bill Steber and Friends. In addition to his many years as an independent filmmaker, and more recent ones as an indie author, Mugge has served as Filmmaker in Residence for Mississippi Public Broadcasting and as an Endowed Chair Professor at Ball State University.

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