Living in the present with John Prine

Novelist and music journalist Piazza (The Auburn Conference) recalls his friendship with late singer-songwriter John Prine in this dazzling tribute. After profiling Prine in 2018 for a piece in the Oxford American, Piazza became fast friends with the musician and his wife, Fiona, who contributes the book's introduction. "You don't want to be him," Piazza says of Prine's particular magnetism. "You just want to hang out with him." The writer and musician started collaborating on Prine's memoirs, but after Prine died in 2020, Piazza's project evolved into an account of the musician's final years. He paints Prine as a whimsical, well-studied folk music elder, who loved hot dogs (so much so that Oscar Mayer fixed him up with a lifetime supply) nearly as much as the songs of his friend Bob Dylan, who told Prine he had "a voice like a Jew's harp" when the two first met. Alongside memories of trips in Prine's 1977 Cadillac Coupe de Ville, Piazza weaves in interviews with the musician's brother, David, and guitarist, Jason Wilber, to further flesh out his jolly portrait of a humble and hilarious man who made a huge impact on American music. Prine's fans will be over the moon. Photos. (Sept.)

A personal profile of a beloved singer-songwriter. After attending a John Prine concert in New Orleans in 2016--"He might have been an aging Mafia don, or an organizer for the longshoreman's union, playing a Gibson jumbo guitar that looked almost as big as he was"--veteran author Piazza (City of Refuge,Devil Sent the Rain, etc.) profiled the singer-songwriter forOxford American magazine. The article--also titled "Living in the Present With John Prine," led to a friendship as well as a plan to produce Prine's memoir, which was cut short when Prine died in 2020 from complications caused by Covid-19. He was 73. Piazza repurposed the materials he had gathered to produce this moving work. Equal parts profile, oral history, and on-the-road adventure, the book recounts the artist's working-class background in suburban Chicago, his family connection to rural Kentucky, his early success with Atlantic Records, and the decision to co-found the label Oh Boy Records. Often writing in the first person and present tense, Piazza recounts his time with Prine, including a spontaneous road trip from Nashville to Sarasota, Florida, in a cherry-red 1977 Coupe de Ville. Piazza also reviews Prine's body of work, its broad influence, and his unassuming humanity. Comparing Prine to Bob Dylan, Piazza notes, "You don't want to be him, you just want to hang out with him." Along the way, the author gathers insights from Prine's peers, friends, and family. One band member, for example, notes that Prine's keen emotional intelligence easily overcame his limitations as a musician and singer. A two-time cancer survivor, Prine was already in poor health when Piazza befriended him, but the artist's good humor and low-key grace shine through on every page. A heartfelt blend of first-person journalism, oral history, travelogue, and elegy. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.