A New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and USA
Today bestseller.
For the first time, legendary singer, songwriter, and guitarist
Neil Young offers a kaleidoscopic view of his personal life and
musical creativity. He tells of his childhood in Ontario, where his
father instilled in him a love for the written word; his first
brush with mortality when he contracted polio at the age of five;
struggling to pay rent during his early days with the Squires;
traveling the Canadian prairies in Mort, his 1948 Buick hearse;
performing in a remote town as a polar bear prowled beneath the
floorboards; leaving Canada on a whim in 1966 to pursue his musical
dreams in the pot-filled boulevards and communal canyons of Los
Angeles; the brief but influential life of Buffalo Springfield,
which formed almost immediately after his arrival in California. He
recounts their rapid rise to fame and ultimate break-up; going solo
and overcoming his fear of singing alone; forming Crazy Horse and
writing Cinnamon Girl," Cowgirl in the Sand," and Down by the
River" in one day while sick with the flu; joining Crosby, Stills
& Nash, recording the landmark CSNY album, Déjà vu,
and writing the song, Ohio;" life at his secluded ranch in the
redwoods of Northern California and the pot-filled jam sessions
there; falling in love with his wife, Pegi, and the birth of his
three children; and finally, finding the contemplative paradise of
Hawaii. Astoundingly candid, witty, and as uncompromising and true
as his music, Waging Heavy Peace is Neil Young's journey
as only he can tell it.
