by Neil Young
First published 2012
Neil Young opens his life story from his Ontario childhood, where his father sparked his love of writing and where polio struck him at age five. He traces his path from struggling with the Squires to driving across Canadian prairies in Mort, his 1948 Buick hearse. Young describes performing while a polar bear wandered beneath the stage, then his 1966 departure for Los Angeles. He chronicles Buffalo Springfield's quick formation and dissolution, his solo career fears, and the flu-ridden day he wrote three classics with Crazy Horse. Young recounts joining Crosby, Stills and Nash, creating the album Déjà vu, and penning "Ohio." He shares life at his Northern California redwood ranch, meeting wife Pegi, raising three children, and discovering peace in Hawaii. Young writes with the same unfiltered honesty that marks his music.
Genres: biography, autobiography, memoir, canadian-literature
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: coming-of-age, memoir
Setting: Canada, Hawaii, Northern California
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
512 pages · Hardcover · Blue Rider Press