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December 3, 2008 1:40:49 AM CST

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Willie Bio an Epic of Whiskey, Weed, and Women

Posted May 4, 08 3:01 PM CDT in Arts & Living 

(Newser) – Joe Nick Patoski hopped aboard Willie Nelson's tour bus more than 35 years ago, and despite the ever-present haze of marijuana smoke, appears to have emerged clear-eyed to write Willie Nelson: An Epic Life. The work is a "sprawling masterpiece" of the Texas hippie, John Clarke Jr. writes in Radar, chronicling a lifetime of drugs, music, and women.

Patoski's work moves swiftly—and without judgment—through Nelson's life, from Depression-era childhood to emergence as an American icon. "I had to police myself to cram 75 years into a book … I had to move the story along," says Patoski. He adds: "It's easy to get swept up in the Willie vortex, and when you get spit out you're not the same person."

Source Radar

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Willie Nelson performs at Farm Aid on Randall's Island.   ((AP Photo/Jason DeCrow, file))
Musician Willie Nelson talks to a reporter as he arrives at the BMI Country Awards in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007. Nelson was receiving the 2007 BMI Icon award at the show.   ((AP Photo/Mark Humphrey))
Country music star Willie Nelson is honored at the BMI Country Awards in Nashville, Tenn., Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2007.   ((AP Photo/Mark Humphrey))
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