Joe Nick Patoski draws a portrait of Willie Nelson based on 35 years ofcovering his subject. He does an especially good job with Nelson’s earlyyears, describing the difficulty of breaking into the musicscene. Unfortunately, as the book continues, it often reads as if the journalist has stitched together hisvarious feature articles, with repetitious information and a sometimes-uncleartime frame. An Epic Life offersa more thorough portrait of the artist than Nelson’s autobiographical accountfrom 1988. However, in spite of its 500 pages, Patoski is not consistentlysuccessful at recounting Nelson’s career with the depth it deserves.
