STEVE EARLE is a singer-songwriter, actor, activist, and the author of a Los Angeles Times Book of the Year, the story collection Doghouse Roses. He has released more than a dozen critically acclaimed albums, including the Grammy winners The Revolution Starts Now, Washington Square Serenade, and Townes. He has appeared on film and television, with celebrated roles in The Wire and Treme. His album entitled I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive was produced by T Bone Burnett. He often tours with his wife, singer-songwriter Allison Moorer.
"Earle (a hell of a songwriter himself) has written a deft,
big-spirited novel about sin, faith, redemption, and the family of
man." --Entertainment Weekly"Earle draws on the rough-and-tumble
tenderness in his music to create a witty, heartfelt story of hope,
forgiveness, and redemption."--Booklist"In this spruce debut
novel...hard-core troubadour Earle ponders miracles, morphine and
mortality in 1963 San Antonio... With its Charles Portis vibe and
the author's immense cred as a musician and actor, this should have
no problem finding the wide audience it deserves."--Publishers
Weekly"A thematically ambitious debut novel that draws from the
writer's experience, yet isn't simply a memoir in the guise of
fiction...richly imagined..."--Kirkus Reviews, starred"Steve Earle
brings to his prose the same authenticity, poetic spirit
and cinematic energy he projects in his music. I'll Never Get Out
of This World Alive is like a dream you can't shake, offering
beauty and remorse, redemption in spades." --Patti Smith". . . a
doctor, a Mexican girl, an Irish priest, the ghost of Hank
Williams, and JFK the day before he dies. This subtle and dramatic
book is the work of a brilliant songwriter who has moved from song
to orchestral ballad with astonishing ease." --Michael Ondaatje "A
rich, raw mix of American myth and hard social reality, of faith
and doubt, always firmly rooted in a strong sense of character."
--Charles Frazier"Steve Earle writes like a shimmering neon angel."
--Kinky Friedman "Earle has created a potent blend of realism and
mysticism in this compelling, morally complex story of troubled
souls striving for a last chance at redemption. Musician, actor,
and now novelist--is there another artist in America with such
wide-ranging talent?" --Ron Rash "The characters are
unforgettable, and the plot moves like a fast train. A fantastic
mixture of hard reality and dark imagination." --Thomas Cobb "Raw,
honest and unafraid, this novel veers in and out of the lives of
its many memorable characters with flawless pitch. Earle has given
us dozens of remarkable songs, he has given us a dazzling
collection of short stories, and now here's his first novel, a
doozy from a great American storyteller." --Tom Franklin"A haunting
and haunted bookend to Irving's Cider House Rules. Gritty and
transcendent, Earle has successfully created his own potion of
Texas, twang, and dope-tinged magic-realism."
--Alice Randall"If Jesus were to return tomorrow to
twenty-first-century America, and do some street preaching on the
gritty South Presa Strip of San Antonio, he'd love Earle's
magnificently human, big-hearted drifters." --Howard Frank Mosher
"Colorful, cool, and downright gripping." --Robert Earl Keen"Reads
like the best of Steve Earle's story songs, which means real good.
The tale of a more charmingly haunted, trying-to-do-the-right-thing
dope fiend you won't easily find."--Mark Jacobson "The best book
I've read since The Road. As much or more than any other artist of
his generation Steve Earle rises to the call, culturally and
politically, traditionally in folk and country and rock music and
what he's added there, and with acting and writing for theater, and
now with all the literary forms crescendoing in this beautiful
novel. He just keeps stepping up." --R. B. Morris"Steve Earle
astonishes us yet again. Country Rock's outlaw legend brings the
ghost of Hank Williams to life in a gloriously gritty first novel
that soars like a song. And echoes in the heart." --Terry
Bisson
"A mighty fine piece of storytelling." --Madison Smartt Bell
Doc Ebersole has a serious morphine habit, one that ruined his medical career and left him performing back-alley abortions in San Antonio while being haunted by the ghost of Hank Williams. When a young woman arrives at his doorstep searching for an abortion, the two slowly bond as her spiritual power to heal begins to affect Doc. Steve Earle narrates his novel of despair, magic, and 1960s history with a solid Southern twang that lends authenticity to the story. He proves versatile in creating voices for his characters, switching between Southern and Spanish and flat Midwestern accents. However, Earle occasionally fails to adequately distinguish between his narration and Doc's dialogue, which can confuse listeners. Additionally, his female voices could use some refinement, as they sometimes disrupt the narrative flow. A Houghton Mifflin Harcourt hardcover. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
 |
Ask a Question About this Product More... |
|
