It's a Long Story (...And I Read it All...) by Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson...Everything You Never Really Cared to Know...And So Much More!!!

A country music icon with so many stories, he's how WN summarizes his most recent autobiography:

"What I say is that this is the story of my life, told as clear as a Texas sky and in the same rhythm that I lived it. 

It's a story of restlessness and the purity of the moment and living right. Of my childhood in Abbott, Texas, to the Pacific Northwest, from Nashville to Hawaii and all the way back again. Of selling vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias while hosting radio shows and writing song after song, hoping to strike gold. 

It's a story of true love, wild times, best friends, and barrooms, with a musical sound track ripping right through it. 

My life gets lived on the road, at home, and on the road again, tried and true, and I've written it all down from my heart to yours. 

Signed,
Willie Nelson -

Can't say that I'm a Willie Nelson fan--I've enjoyed a few of his songs along the way. I was surprised to learn just how many of the country hits have been written by him. For example; the classic, and maybe one of my top 5 songs ever "Crazy" as sung by Patsy Cline.

He's old. He's stoned. Still writing country music, and still getting thrown into jail for possession of marijuana. Has had 4 wives...at one point he was married to 2 women at the same time, but he dismisses this with a 2 line comment.

That him...WN.

He has 7 kids by 4 different wives...His son from his first marriage died, but WN offers no details, and avoids the entire discussion of his children throughout the book.

The autobiography was like an agenda recap. Tales of gigs, and troubles. However, I found this autobiography devoid of serious self reflection. It's a safe re-tell that glosses over issues that really would be interesting to explore. Compared to Keith Richard's harrowing story in his autobiography "Life", Nelson scrapes the surface and stuffs lyrics after lyrics to seemingly fill the pages.

Not recommending this one...I'm no better for having read it, and I can't get back the time it took to read!

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