HEART WORN MEMORIES: A Daughter's Personal Biography of Willie Nelson

by Susie Nelson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 15, 1987

Biographies by children of famous people can be suspect for one of two reasons-either too much effusion, or too much spite. Rarely are they blessed with skillful writing. Susie Nelson's biography of her famous singer/songwriter dad is no exception--and doesn't even have that effusiveness or spite to fall back upon. For Susie Nelson can't seem to make up her mind how she feels about Willie. Nelson's daughter realized at one of her dad's famed Fourth of July concert/picnics that Willie was quite a star. So as she left the picnic grounds (""as the helicopter went 'whup whup' on its way to the Hilton""), curiosity took over and she resolved to go on a journey of discovery to learn what makes Willie tick. But what we learn is more about Susie Nelson than her father. We learn about her propensity for marrying sergeant-like ""white glovers"" who end up knocking her around the house--but Willie remains a shadowy figure. His daughter sloughs over any occasion that might add interest to the story, such as, say, what lay behind many of his hit songs. His partnership with many of the current singing stars, such as Julio Iglesias, garners a whole sentence late in the book. All we really learn about the singer is his problem in keeping a wife, and the typical tribulations of Nashville/Hollywood. ""Dad sure had slot of things going on. He and Shirley had split. Connie was now at the house at Ridgetop. His oldest daughter was married to a wife-beater. I was running around stoned or tripping all the time, and his only son was in a perpetual state of shock and wouldn't talk to Connie. On top of that, his manager had been stealing him blind and his records weren't selling."" Find a good turntable and a couple of Willie Nelson albums and sit back. You'll learn more about him than you ever will in this family bio.

Pub Date: Sept. 15, 1987

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Eakin Press (P.O. Box 23069, Austin, TX 78735)

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987

Categories: NONFICTION