Neil Young's Hippie Dreams: "Status-quo-disturbing visions" | The Kingston Whig-Standard

Neil Young
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For those who have read Neil Young's new memoir Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream, you know that it is "filled with reminiscences, ideas, idle thoughts and big, status-quo-disturbing visions."

From the review Neil Young's hippie dreams | Entertainment | The Kingston Whig-Standard by Stephen Skyvington:

Instead of giving us the standard tale of excess (sex, drugs and ... you know the rest), or having his story told by a ghostwriter (like Keith Richards), Young opts for telling his own tale, by himself, in his own special way.

Like a man who often looks onstage like he doesn't quite know how to play guitar but somehow pulls it off, the author of Waging Heavy Peace seems at times oddly ill-equipped to write a book. But what a book it is. Filled with reminiscences, ideas, idle thoughts and big, status-quo-disturbing visions, you'll swear you're watching a movie instead of reading a book - which is hardly surprising, given Young's affinity and genuine enthusiasm for film.

...
The book ends with two unforgettable, uplifting chapters. In one, the author describes how he came to write and record one of his most endearing and enduring songs, Will to Love. Suffice to say that if you ever wanted to know how an artist creates a work of art, then you need to read this.

The other chapter - the 68th and last in the book - is as moving a piece of writing as you'll ever encounter. The last paragraph, in particular, is almost Joycean in its reach, and ranks with any song Neil Young has ever written. Rip Van Winkle meets Back to the Future.

Check it out.

Thanks Stephen!

More on Heavy Review of "Waging Heavy Peace" Book by Neil Young.

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