Description

Book Synopsis

After he died in the back seat of a Cadillac at the age of twenty-nine, Hank Williams—a frail, flawed man who had become country music’s first real star–instantly morphed into its first tragic martyr. Having hit the heights with simple songs of despair, depression and tainted love, he would become in death a template for the rock generation to follow.

Mark Ribowsky weaves together the first fully realised biography of Williams in a generation. Examining his music while re-creating days and nights choked in booze and desperation, he traces the rise of this legend—from the dirt roads of Alabama to the immortal stage of the Grand Ole Opry and to a lonely end on New Year’s Day, 1953. This original work uncovers the real Hank beneath the myths that have long enshrouded his legacy.

Trade Review
"... Mark Ribowsky... has done a commendably thorough job." -- The Times
"...Hank is a timely biography…" -- The New York Times Book Review
"Many biographies have been written about him but none gives such detail of his drinking, sexual abandon and many misadventures as this." -- The Irish Times

Hank: The Short Life and Long Country Road of

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    A Paperback / softback by Mark Ribowsky

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      Publisher: WW Norton & Co
      Publication Date: 24/11/2017
      ISBN13: 9781631493379, 978-1631493379
      ISBN10: 163149337X

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      After he died in the back seat of a Cadillac at the age of twenty-nine, Hank Williams—a frail, flawed man who had become country music’s first real star–instantly morphed into its first tragic martyr. Having hit the heights with simple songs of despair, depression and tainted love, he would become in death a template for the rock generation to follow.

      Mark Ribowsky weaves together the first fully realised biography of Williams in a generation. Examining his music while re-creating days and nights choked in booze and desperation, he traces the rise of this legend—from the dirt roads of Alabama to the immortal stage of the Grand Ole Opry and to a lonely end on New Year’s Day, 1953. This original work uncovers the real Hank beneath the myths that have long enshrouded his legacy.

      Trade Review
      "... Mark Ribowsky... has done a commendably thorough job." -- The Times
      "...Hank is a timely biography…" -- The New York Times Book Review
      "Many biographies have been written about him but none gives such detail of his drinking, sexual abandon and many misadventures as this." -- The Irish Times

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