Books on Bob Marley's life are now seemingly a dime a dozen, but probably none thus far has as much of an insider slant as No Woman No Cry, Rita Marley's first-hand account of her life and in particular her marriage to the late Marley. Told in a conversational style (with occasionally choppy sentences, some Jamaican patois slang, etc.) and clocking in at a relatively svelte 209 pages, it makes for a quick, easy read, packing in over 50 years into a focused, concise work.While Bob Marley's name is largely what will sell this book, Rita Marley herself has led an astounding life, one ripe with strife and turmoil -- from her childhood self-consciousness about being dark-skinned to her mother leaving her and her father to marry another man to being pregnant and unmarried at age 18 (before Bob) to dealing with her husband's marital infidelity to being shot in the head during the infamous assassination attempt on her husband to dealing with his eventual death and the subsequent battle for control over his estate and his music.  And yet, her outlook seems to have remained remarkably positive and upbeat throughout all of her trials.  Sure, there are moments where she lets loose her emotions (such as at Bob's passing or when confronting one -- and only one -- of his many female admirers), but there are many more moments where she plays it cool, while most people would simply explode.  Her husband's extramarital affairs form the bulk of those incidents (she ends up not only taking them in relative stride, but ends up caring for many of the children that resulted from those affairs as if they were her own), but she also never balks when her mother-in-law charges her for rent and babysitting at a time when Rita was living with her in the US in order to help make more money for her family, and in one of the most eye-opening scenes of the book, Rita remains composed when meeting with Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer shortly after Bob's death, an encounter that revealed the bitterness that the pair felt towards Bob and his success.  According to her, Tosh pulled down Bob's pictures from the wall of his [Bob's] own house, Wailer stated that Bob's death was "the wages of his sin and corruption," and she claims that they wanted to take everything that she and her children had (although they'd have to get in line at that point).  I'd love to have found out more details on the origins and inner-workings of this feud amongst the former childhood friends, but this isn't delved into -- perhaps due to mere ignorance of the facts.  (It seems as if Bunny Wailer by now has gotten over it all, as he has since released a couple of Marley tribute albums, but I'm not so sure about Tosh, who died six years after Marley.)  Of course, everyone tends to recall their own actions through rose-colored glasses, but I tend to believe her version of things overall, as she has publicly shown herself to be a truly honest, giving, maternal figure.  Her many charitable endeavors and grassroots organizations are detailed in the book, and her relationship with her husband itself is often viewed in a maternal light here, as she often refers to him as a "poor boy" whose mother had to leave him alone in Jamaica so that she could make a better life for them both.  As loving as she comes across, though, you nonetheless feel an ardent frustration when reading of her husband's philandering, particularly in light of his intense jealousy of her being with other men.  Oftentimes you want her to stand up and give him an ultimatum, but when you read more, you see the complexity of her situation; you have to factor in her burning love for her husband, her religious beliefs, her distaste for divorce, her love for her family, her need for Bob's financial support, plus the fact that this was Jamaica in the 1970s, not the US in the 21st century, when divorce is seemingly more common than marriage (yes, I know that's impossible).  Rita Marley ultimately chose other means of empowering herself -- from starting her own businesses to purchasing real estate to managing the Marley estate and the careers of her children to establishing her own musical career, not to mention serving as Bob's protector, confidant, and general advisor.  No Woman No Cry is in fact filled with strong female role models -- from her Aunt Viola to friends like Minnie Phillips and Angela Melhado to fellow I-Threes Marcia Griffiths and Judy Mowatt -- who share a refreshing spirit of cooperation, industriousness, and support not often shown amongst women.  I should note that from a musical standpoint, you don't get a whole lot of insight into the reggae music industry.  Although there are appearances by the likes of Coxsone Dodd, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and of course Tosh and Wailer, this is much more a personal memoir than a look back at Jamaican musical trends and star players.  As a memoir, it succeeds at humanizing a musical icon, while also providing thought-provoking insight into the life and motivations of the woman behind the legend.