First published 2015
Willie Nelson opens his life story with unvarnished honesty and Texas-bred clarity. He traces his journey from childhood in Abbott, Texas through decades of restless wandering that took him to the Pacific Northwest, Nashville, Hawaii, and back home again. Nelson describes selling vacuum cleaners and encyclopedias while hosting radio shows and writing songs, hoping one would strike gold. He reveals the wild times and barrooms, the true loves and best friends who shaped his path. His life unfolds on the road, at home, then on the road again, with music threading through every chapter. Nelson writes with the same rhythm he lived, capturing moments of purity alongside years of searching. This is his story told straight from the heart.
Genres: 20th-century, autobiography, biography-memoir, 21st-century, americana
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: found-family, memoir
Setting: Abbott, Hawaii, Nashville, Pacific Northwest, Texas
Period: 20th Century, 21st Century
400 pages · Hardcover · Little, Brown and Company