On New Year's Day 1953, Hank Williams-numbed by a deadly
combination of whiskey and narcotics-died in the back seat of his
Cadillac en route to a performance in Canton, Ohio. He was only
twenty nine years old at the time of his death and his passing
appeared to bring his rags-to-riches success and destructive
lifestyle to an abrupt end. Few figures before or since have cast
as long or as broad a shadow over American popular music. Today,
Hank Williams is considered by many to be the greatest singer and
songwriter in the history of country music, and it is the
combination of his remarkable musical achievements, his tumultuous
personal life, and his tragic and still-mysterious demise that make
him such a compelling historical figure. As volume demonstrates,
Williams's death was the beginning of an equally gripping second
act: for more than sixty years, an ever-lengthening parade of
journalists, family and friends, musical contemporaries,
biographers, historians and scholars, fans, and novelists have
attempted to capture in words the man, the artist, and the legend.
The Hank Williams Reader, the first book of its kind devoted to
this giant of American music, collects more than sixty of the most
compelling, insightful, and historically significant of these
writings. The selections cover a broad assortment of themes and
perspectives, ranging from heartfelt reminiscences and shocking
tabloid exposes to thoughtful meditations and critical essays.
Featured authors include Hank Williams, Jr., Bob Dylan, Steve
Earle, David Halberstam, Greil Marcus, Rick Bragg, and Lee Smith,
to name but a few. The Hank Williams Reader also features a lengthy
interpretive introduction and the most extensive bibliography of
Williams-related writings ever published. Over time, writers have
sought to explain Williams in a variety of ways, and in tracing
these shifting interpretations, this anthology chronicles his
cultural transfiguration from star-crossed hillbilly singer to
enduring American icon.
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