A comprehensive Willie Nelson bio has been long overdue, and Joe Nick Patoski's survey fits the bill. It's just under 500 pages without notes; that titular "epic" refers to the book as much as the man. But things get repetitive, as roughly half the book consists of enumerated lists of who played with seemingly every incarnation of the Willie Nelson Family, dubious genuflections before Nelson as "a deep thinker who put his philosophy on the table in three-minute melodic chunks for all to ponder," and every-other-page reminders of how much fun Texans have with drugs and sun. Still, Patoski's clunky but functional prose eventually delivers on its title, delivering a slickly reductive compression of the colorful highlights of Nelson's life. Patoski diligently begins with Nelson's grandparents, but his real interest leapfrogs the book forward to the '50s within 50 pages, as Nelson hits the road for Texas' rougher roadhouses....
- 4/24/2008
- by Vadim Rizov
- avclub.com
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