Your Cheating Heart: Hank Williams

by Chet Flippo

This book has a one small blemish on back cover.

Genres: Music, Biography, History

Paperback

First published January 1, 1981

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chet Flippo braved a ‘70s New Journalism, “non-fiction novel” biography of Hank Williams. A carefully researched, thoughtfully imagined telling of Hank’s desperate life. It’s a crazy book.

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe Mr. Flippo did enough research to accurately recreate conversations that took place with no one except the participants present or to know what "ol Hank" was thinking at various times but if that is the case it is proof that real life is less dramatic then fiction. Lacking any dramatic tension, which one could presumably create since whole conversations and internal motivations are being made up anyway, Your Cheatin Heart has some interesting tidbits about an American music icon who's impact on popular music cannot be overstated but it is poorly conceived and executed. Just buy the music!

[Derek · Rating 3 out of 5]

The best way to think about Your Cheating Heart is historical fiction. The broad outlines of his career and a fair amount of myth are all here. But it's written in the style of a novel, with no possible way to verify the dialogue and details within. It may not matter much, since the writing is breezy and well crafted. But for the authoritative factual account, your better bet is Hank Williams: The Biography, which is exhaustively researched but the writing is dry, almost like a textbook.

[Mary Jeanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book on the life of "Hank". It was written in a really interesting way.

[David Highton · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not like the fictionalised style of autobiography and the text was too dense - not sure the author knew what a paragraph is. A sad story of a declining life.

[jimtown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Your Cheatin' Heart A Biography of Hank Williams by Chet Flippo changed my perception of Hank Williams a little bit. I only vaguely knew who Hank Williams was until I had heard bits and pieces about his life, mostly from watching CMT. My impression of him was a shy, quiet, lonesome, singing cowboy. Turns out according to this book, that Hank wasn't quite as shy as I imagined him to be. He could be pretty crude at times in his talk about women.

Hank, whose real name was Hiram, grew up under the thumb of a stern, dominant mother. As a child he was sent out to sell peanuts and shine shoes to earn his keep. His mother worked hard also, running a boarding house, but she always seemed to think she was entitled to what Hank earned as well. Young 'Harm' learned quickly that if he worked hard and made his money early in the day, he was free to do as he pleased the rest of the day. He was fascinated with the music industry and hung out in places where he learned to write and sing a sorrowful song.

When Audrey married Hank, she was interested in furthering her own singing career. When that didn't pan out, Audrey lived luxuriously, for the times, on Hank's money. Hank enjoyed the fame but he wasn't a real people lover, he felt he deserved the adoration he gained. I think Hank and Audrey really did love each other, but mother, money, fame, drinking, drugs and sex all came between them. Made for some good sorrowful songs for old Hank.

The book made it perfectly clear that he loved his son, whom he called Bocephus, now known as Hank Jr. After Hank's death, it is said that Audrey tried to mold little Hank into a carbon copy of his father. I'm so glad that Hank Jr. is his own man. If he had only one song to his name, A Country Boy Can Survive, it shows he is truly his own man and one his father would be proud of. My thoughts of Hank have changed some since reading the book. There is a lot more turmoil to this entirely readable story. I felt afterward, that not only do the good die young, the poor and uninsured die young too. Hank died at age 29 in the back seat of a car, being shuffled to another concert he was not up to performing. I think fame is a hard pill to swallow.

[Ted · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed it, provided an insight into many area's of Hank's life, if we believe the author, I had no previous knowledge of. Reinforced my belief that Hank Williams was the bard of country music. We are unlikely ever to see, anyone make the kind of impact Williams did, during his tragically short life.

[Bill Sullivan]

this is the best biography I have ever read

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biography of a sad, depressing life of a classic singer/song writer.

[Bill Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favorite music bio