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Born in small-town Texas during the Great Depression, Willie Nelson was raised to believe in helping his neighbors and living without pretense. After many hardscrabble years as a poorly paid songwriter (often watching his work become a gold mine for other performers), Willie finally found his own voice—the gentle but unmistakably honest sound that has made him an American icon. With The Tao of Willie, the master of harmonization has created a guide to finding harmony in everyday life. Featuring vignettes from each chapter of his seventy-plus years (along with plenty of his favorite jokes), The Tao of Willie captures his views on money, love, war, religion, cowboys, and other essential Willie topics. Loosely based on the principles of the Chinese philosophy of the Tao Te Cheng, which Willie has admired and followed for much of his adult life, this inspiring and entertaining collection of "Willie wisdom" takes us from his roadhouse days, when he united redneck rockers with straitlaced country music fans, to the mega-sized benefit concerts and environmentalism that define his boundless heart.
With stories that will make you both laugh out loud and look deep inside yourself, Willie Nelson shows us how the Willie way—and the way of the Tao—can also be your way. His timeless insights sparkle with clarity: It's like having a one-on-one conversation with the sage himself.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
May 9, 2006 -
Formats
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Kindle Book
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9781101218235
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9781101218235
- File size: 1274 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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March 20, 2006
In his third book, American icon Nelson mingles stories, jokes and adages with a collection of "lessons" he has learned "in this life." Loosely basing his book on the philosophical text of the Tao Te Ching
, Nelson advocates incorporating into one's life many of the teachings of that ancient work, such as meditation and the belief that all things are interconnected. But while the Tao
may inspire this book, Nelson's charming, often humorous tales of his Texas childhood, cowboy lifestyle, and famous and interesting friends make the "mysteries of life" not all that mysterious. Indeed, with chapter titles like "The Golden Rule" and "Don't Think No Negative Thoughts," the book is rooted as much in down-home common sense as it is in mystical philosophy. Nelson also shares his liberal views on subjects like marijuana ("I'll support a war on drugs, but not a war on flowers or herbs"), the environment ("Biodiesel reduces carbon dioxide emissions up to eighty percent") and war ("I believe in peace"). Whatever his message, the "Red-Headed Stranger" conveys his thoughts in the same friendly, endearing manner that has made his songs part of the fabric of American life. -
April 15, 2006
Novelist, golf writer, and longtime Nelson" " compadre Pipkin mounts this collection of the grizzled singer's bromides, aphorisms, and observations in an upbeat, warm-and-fuzzy manner designed to comfort as much as to guide readers through life's prickly situations. Recurring snippets of "The Willie Way" alternate with Nelson's views on "The Golden Rule," "The Time of the Preacher," and similar timeless topics. No doubt these are heartfelt expressions of Nelson's worldview, but as advice, they are less provocative than those delivered in, say, Hell's Angel Sonny Barger's similar set of musings, " Freedom" (2005). Likely to comfort those already in Willie's thrall, and likely useless to others, the little collection still has high circulation potential, given Nelson's standing with the boomer music-lover demographic. Such maxims as "Once you replace negative thoughts with positive ones, you'll start having positive results" can do no harm, and god knows Willie, avuncular and far removed from his "outlaw" days, can't, either. (Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)
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