Book Reviews

I just finished a couple of books I have had on the go here this week. The first one is a book I had picked up for 5 bucks called The Tao Of Willie A Guide To The Happiness In Your Heart by country outlaw legend Willie Nelson with Turk Pipkin.


This book was a quick and fun read. Willie basically just talks about his outlook on life. A lot of it is just common sense, like treating others as you would like to be treated. But through out the book he talks a bit about his life, a bit biographical but also interlaced with some jokes and stories about being on the road. He comes across as a very down to earth man, someone I could sit down and smoke a few with and just talk. Willie has a great way with words as you can well imagine, after all the guy has wrote like 2500 songs in his lifetime. He has a great sense of humour and is a very spiritual man as well. I would say he is now my spiritual leader,lol. Very fun and interesting read, highly recomended.

The other book I finished this week is the Ozzy biography called I Am Ozzy obviouslly noy wrote by Ozzy as I don't think he could sit and write a book, but it is Ozzy in his own words telling his story to writer Chris Ayres.

I thought this was an alright book. But if you have followed Ozzy's career at all, most of what is here you would already know. What is surprising is that it has taken Ozzy this long to actually tell his story. The man has lived quite the life, with his addictive personality it's a surprise the guy is still alive. The amount of drugs and boozing he has done over the past 50 years it's funny he recalls any of it.
It's a fun read with some good stories and some sad stories too, he gets into more detail then I have heard before about the plane crash that killed his band mate guitarist Randy Rhoads. I think that will haunt him til his own death, quite sad actually.
What I did find disappointing in the book is that there is very little in it about Jake E Lee whom took over guitar after Randy's death and almost nothing about Zakk Wylde who has played guitar for him for the past 15 years or so, til this year anyways. As Zakk no longer is in his band.
One thing I can say is that if not for Ozzy's wife Sharon, the man would not be alive today. Ozzy loves his wife and repeatedly says so through out the book, even though in the late 90's almost killed her by strangulation while on a drinking binge, she later dropped the attempted murder charges and still stands by him to this very day. Sharon is without a doubt what keeps Ozzy going.
All and all a pretty good book.