The legendary country music songwriter known as the Storyteller delivers the genre''s most bracing, hilarious, and unique memoir, bringing to life long-gone characters from Nashville''s streets and barrooms and detailing his one-of-a-kind journey in music. This expanded edition of Hall''s original 1979 book includes never-before-heard poems and vignettes—read by the author—and new chapters that bring us up to date with Hall as he sits with President Carter, caps his recording career, quits drinking, ponders his legacy, examines the creative process, and retires from the music industry. "If you want to retire, go ahead," he says. "Life will still present innumerable occasions for you to go out and make an ass of yourself."

The legendary country music songwriter known as the Storyteller delivers the genre''s most bracing, hilarious, and unique memoir, bringing to life long-gone characters from Nashville''s streets and barrooms and detailing his one-of-a-kind journey in music. This expanded edition of Hall''s original 1979 book includes never-before-heard poems and vignettes—read by the author—and new chapters that bring us up to date with Hall as he sits with President Carter, caps his recording career, quits drinking, ponders his legacy, examines the creative process, and retires from the music industry. "If you want to retire, go ahead," he says. "Life will still present innumerable occasions for you to go out and make an ass of yourself."

The legendary country music songwriter known as the Storyteller delivers the genre''s most bracing, hilarious, and unique memoir, bringing to life long-gone characters from Nashville''s streets and barrooms and detailing his one-of-a-kind journey in music. This expanded edition of Hall''s original 1979 book includes never-before-heard poems and vignettes—read by the author—and new chapters that bring us up to date with Hall as he sits with President Carter, caps his recording career, quits drinking, ponders his legacy, examines the creative process, and retires from the music industry. "If you want to retire, go ahead," he says. "Life will still present innumerable occasions for you to go out and make an ass of yourself."