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The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart

Name: The Tao of Willie: A Guide to the Happiness in Your Heart
Author: Willie Nelson
ISBN: 9781592402878

by Willie Nelson, Turk Pipkin

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Overview

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. Now 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. In the spirit of his fellow Texan Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, Willie's timeless insights sparkle with clarity: It's like having a one-on-one conversation with the sage himself.

Synopsis

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. Now 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. In the spirit of his fellow Texan Harvey Penick's Little Red Book, Willie's timeless insights sparkle with clarity: It's like having a one-on-one conversation with the sage himself.

New York Press

...a kind of holistic hymnal for the wayward in everyone.... So cracked that it's just about perfect.

About the Author, Willie Nelson

In a career spanning more than fifty years, Willie Nelson has sold over 100 million records, recorded 250 albums, written 2,500 songs, appeared in several films, and written two New York Times bestsellers: Willie (an autobiography) and The Facts of Life and Other Dirty Jokes.
A longtime friend and golfing buddy of Willie's, actor Turk Pipkin has appeared in numerous feature films and played a recurring character on The Sopranos. Contributing editor to Texas Monthly, he has also written for television and is the author of eight previous books.

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Editorials

From Barnes & Noble

Willie Nelson's warmhearted, homespun have made The Tao of Willie a bestseller. Nelson claims that this book of life lessons is based on the Tao Te Ching, but no knowledge of that ancient Chinese philosophical work is required to enjoy his crisp insights into everything from reciprocity to the war on herbs. A natural high for baby boomers and recent graduates.

Boston Sunday Herald

Seriously fun guide offers readers the full Nelson.... [a] whimsical yet serious guide to happiness.... The Willie philosophy is simple, a blending of 'do unto others as you would have them do unto you' and 'don't sweat the small stuff.'

LIFE magazine

Folksy advice, colorful jokes, and anecdotes from the stage.

New York Press

...a kind of holistic hymnal for the wayward in everyone.... So cracked that it's just about perfect.

The New Times Book Review

[T]he book is a wily tour through Nelson's obsessions....

Publishers Weekly

Recluse Raymond Hickle has his sick sights set on Kris Barwood, the stunning Los Angeles news anchor. Meanwhile, freelance private detective Abby Sinclair is hired to stalk the stalker. She moves into Hickle's apartment building, befriends him, spies on him and draws out the deepest secrets from him--all in the hopes of stopping him from eventually killing Barwood. Hickle's secret informant, Barwood's cheating husband, Sinclair's suspicious lover and a botched stalker case from four months ago further complicate matters. The story appears as if it's going to climax near the three-quarters point of the book, but then Prescott (Comes the Dark) plants a series of twists and turns that keeps his novel going strong for more than 100 additional pages. In fact, so convincing is Prescott's prose that it's initially difficult to accept that the primary plot surprise isn't a bluff by one of the main characters. By the time all the shadows have been hunted, only two are captured and killed. But while a low body count may be uncommon in some modern-day thrillers, the technique works in Prescott's favor, enabling him to weave brilliant elements of psychological horror into the standard hunter-and-hunted story. Agent, Jane Dystel. (June) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.|

Publishers Weekly

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. (On sale May 9) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

The quintessential country singer draws on the Tao Te Ching to hint at how we might be happy, too, even if we haven't written 2500 songs and sold over 100 million records. Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

From The Critics

Abby is a private investigator cunning in her approach of infiltrating the lives of stalkers to protect her clients: the only people more cunning are her boss and one Raymond, a dangerous stalker who turns the tables. Twists and turns of plot are a specialty in a thriller which offers tension and action at every turn.