Willie Nelson: An Epic Life

This is one of the finest written books I have read in a long time. The kind of book you don't want to put down.

No matter how many stories you have heard about Willie Nelson, or what you know about him -- I promise that you will learn new things about him when you read Joe Nick Patoski's book, 'Willie Nelson: An Epic Life." I have been reading Joe Nick's articles about Willie Nelson for years. It's always like I'm sitting down listening him to tell a story. You can kind of hear his southern accent in your head while you're reading :)) Joe Nick doesn't ask the same questions of Willie, and he always gets new answers. This book is so well researched, well written, and entertaining. Joe Nick tells the stories behind the stories. He is a Willie Nelson fan, and you can feel when you read it that this book was a labor of love. The book is about Willie Nelson, but it is also tells the history of music in Texas, and the characters and musicians. There are several books written about Willie Nelson, and I've read them all. This one is the best! Thank you, Joe Nick, for writing this book!

If someone had asked me who would be the best person to write a biography of Willie Nelson, I would have said Joe Nick Patoski without any hesitation. He's been "on the story" for years, as a journalist and as a fan. (I have too, in fact, but Nick got there before I did!) What fascinated me about this book was how well he negotiated the huge cast of characters -- and I mean "characters," a term used in the Texas underworld for small-time criminals, as well as dramatis personae. Willie has never been able to say no to anyone, resulting in a "family" the size of a small town, and it looks like Patoski has interviewed all of them. And although I've been covering Willie since his 1973 Atlantic sessions, and have interviewed him numerous times, I was astonished at how much new stuff I learned from reading An Epic Life. It's great to have all this information in one place, and for serious fans, or, indeed, anyone interested in Texas music, the history of country music, or what it's like to be a superstar today, this will very likely be the definitive book on the life and work of Willie Nelson for some years to come. At which point, I don't doubt Patoski will get back on the case and update this one.

This masterful, extremely well-written, critically-acclaimed book is one of the most entertaining I have read in years. I loved it. You will love it too. Willie Nelson's seventy-five years are packed full of amazing honky-tonk characters, historic music, and priceless philosophy. The characters that he attracts like a magnet had me laughing out loud. It also manages to lay out the cultural history of Texas country music and show business over the span of Willie's life in well-researched, fascinating detail. Joe Nick Patoski did over 100 interviews with Willie, his family, his band, and his long-term friends. They tell their story in their own words mixed in with Patoski's novel-like story telling. The love and extreme loyalty of the major characters is a constant theme. Willie does everything he can to help the people that helped him all these years. It is a fascinating biography that young and old will love. It would make a perfect gift for anyone. No one has lived a more interesting rags to riches to rags to riches life than Willie. As Patoski makes clear, its hard to find anyone that doesn't love Willie Nelson. I did a search of Joe Nick Patoski and was delighted to find all the rave reviews. Johnny Hughes

"Willie Nelson: An Epic Life", written by acclaimed Texan Joe Nick Patoski, is a meticulously researched and very readable documentation of the life and career of the legendary Willie Nelson. Combining insightful observations about Willie along with exclusive interviews of Nelson and the people that have been closest to him in his personal and professional life, this official biography has a very engaging and fluid style that makes it an entertaining and enlightening read for those either new to the story of Willie Nelson or for the long-time fan. From the Blackland cotton patches of Willie's boyhood home in Abbott, Texas, through his musical "coming-of-age" in the rough and tumble, blood and guts honky-tonks of Fort Worth, his trials, tribulations and ultimate successes in the music business of Nashville, Nelson's return to his roots in Texas and to Austin, then on to the heights of The White House and his well-deserved legendary status worldwide, Patoski wonderfully leads the reader on the road of Willie Nelson's life. This well-written, flowing " page-turner " is a joy to read. Jim Yanaway