I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

In this frank biography Crystal Zevon tells the story of one "Excitable Boy," rock 'n' roll legend Warren Zevon. For someone who learned from Stravinsky and Jackson Browne, roomed with Stevie Nicks, called Hunter S. Thompson a good friend, and collaborated with everyone from Neil Young to George Clinton to R.E.M. to Linda Ronstadt to Steven King, Zevon's commercial career never quite took off. When he was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the young age of 56, Zevon asked Crystal, his ex-wife, to come help. So she was there through his final days when he spoke with unflinching candor about his life, his neuroses, his jealousies, and his passions. Warren Zevon led a complex, messy life, producing some cultishly adored songs ("Werewolves of London"). But more than a rock-star expose, I'LL SLEEP WHEN I'M DEAD demonstrates, both from its author and its subject, a compelling, beautiful, and rare honesty.