Special Deluxe: A Memoir of Life & Cars

by Neil Young

The perfect gift for music and car lovers, Special Deluxe is Neil Young's New York Times  bestselling follow-up to  Waging Heavy Peace  that “reads like a great Neil Young song plays.” ( The Buffalo News ) 

In this acclaimed new memoir, New York Times bestselling author Neil Young has fashioned another extraordinary work of reminiscences told through the lens of one of his deepest cars. A lifelong devotee and collector, Young explores his love for the well-crafted vintage automobile and examines his newfound awareness of his hobby’s negative environmental impact. Witty, eclectic, candid, and filled with Young’s original artwork, Special Deluxe will appeal to car lovers as well as the legions devoted to one of the most genuine and enigmatic artists of our time.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Autobiography, Canada, Biography Memoir

400 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 2014

About the author

Neil Percival Young OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, pianist, and film director.

Young's work is characterized by deeply personal lyrics, distinctive guitar work, and signature nasal tenor (and frequently alto) singing voice. Although he accompanies himself on several different instruments—including piano and harmonica—his style of hammer-on acoustic guitar and often idiosyncratic soloing on electric guitar are the linchpins of a sometimes ragged, sometimes polished sound. Although Young has experimented widely with differing music styles, including swing, jazz, rockabilly, blues, and electronic music throughout a varied career, his best known work usually falls into either of two distinct styles: folk-esque acoustic rock (as heard in songs such as "Heart of Gold," "Harvest Moon" and "Old Man") and electric-charged hard rock (in songs like "Cinnamon Girl", "Rockin' in the Free World" and "Hey Hey, My My (Into the Black)"). In more recent years, Young has started to adopt elements from newer styles of music, such as industrial, alternative country and grunge, the latter of which was profoundly influenced by his own style of playing, often bringing him the title of "the godfather of grunge".

Young has directed (or co-directed) a number of films using the pseudonym Bernard Shakey, including Journey Through the Past (1973), Rust Never Sleeps (1979), Human Highway (1982), and Greendale (2003).

He is also an outspoken advocate for environmental issues and small farmers, having co-founded the benefit concert Farm Aid, and in 1986 helped found The Bridge School, and its annual supporting Bridge School Benefit concerts, together with his wife Pegi.

Although Young sings frequently about U.S. legends and myths (Pocahontas, space stations, and the settlement of the American West), he remains a Canadian citizen and has never wanted to relinquish his Canadian citizenship. He has lived in the U.S. for "so long" and has stated, about U.S. elections, that he has "got just as much right to vote in them as anybody else."

Reviews

[Ashley Daviau · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as Waging Heavy Peace but it was a thoroughly enjoyable read nonetheless! Neil Young has a way with words, whether it’s in novel or in song form, that man knows how to write beautifully and draw you into a story or song. I’m no car person but I especially enjoyed the little side stories about his cars and the gorgeous illustrations to show us what they looked like, I thought it was an excellent addition to the book. I also really loved learning more about Neil’s life, he really is a fascinating man!

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Listened to the audiobook. Great stories from a great storyteller

[Bjorn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neil's second memoir in just a few years. Do we really need two books on the life of an aging - if occasionally still brilliant - rocker, both written within months of each other? Especially when Waging Heavy Peace was quite good, but also a bit unfocused?

Well, sort of. Special Deluxe is a much more straight-forward autobiography than the predecessor, in that Neil uses cars that he or his family have owned through the years as signposts for changes in his life, from a small town in Canada to superstardom (somewhat ironically, given his praise for his wife, ending just before his recent divorce). And Neil loves his cars. He may not remember exactly when he played a certain gig, but he'll remember every detail of the car he bought on a whim on the way home, and the technical problems that led to him getting rid of it. And ultimately, the big question: How can he be a socially conscious old save-the-Earth hippie and still drive around in huge 1950s gas-guzzlers? Well, he wouldn't be Neil Young if he didn't on a whim decide to do something about that...

Full disclaimer: You had better have at least a passing interest in cars, and preferably alternative fuels, if you want to get through this. As much as Neil often uses the car as an entry point to a story he wants to tell about life, fame, drugs, music or family, there are also long stretches where he seems to impatiently brush all that stuff aside just so he can gush about the design of the grill of a 1959 Continental for a while.

But you take the good with the bad; even if the book occasionally drags, it has that charm that comes from listening to an enthusiast being indulged to nerd out about something he loves, and I can't not like how unassuming it comes across. Neil Young's music has always been a work in progress, and judging by both his books, he himself is as well - there are no sure answers, no big lessons learned that don't come with a shrug that you can't always be perfect. It's not a book I need, but you can't live by need alone.

[Amaia · Rating 2 out of 5]

http://librodelosviernes.blogspot.com...

[Micaylah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Whew what a ride!

Although Neils 2nd book doesnt leave off where the first ended, it is a story unto its own. Again it is like sitting have a conversation with a very complex gentleman. The first few chapters though had me thinking that I had gone to an Autorama, not an activity I would normally do. At all!

But it was Neil Young and so I pushed forward. Was I ever glad I did, as I discovered something I think I will never forget now. If you want to know what that is, jump down to my last two sentences.

So off we go. Most of the book is a rehash of his life and some explanations. It is based on his life with cars. Plain and simple, yet not so.

It starts off in Omemee, around 1950. Neil recalls his dog and the car. You immediately notice he tags gasoline prices and a few chapters further he clocks in the CO2 lbs the old behemoths emitted, and continues this for almost every road trip he talks about. If you know anything about Mr Young, you know where this book might be driving to. But it's a fascinating trip and a very clever way to share his life and passions, mistakes and human-ness. (not even sure that's a word)

The book takes you again through his life but with a turn to something a little more serious than the memoirs of a rockin' legend. There is purpose to this missive besides outlining his life. That was his first book. What you get here are his attachment and very obviously love of cars, dogs trains, family, friends and music. The main focus is on his admiration of the people mover...the car.

There are parts of this book that are so palpable that you are there in the moment and everything else just fades away. The words become your momentary reality even though they are someone else's words. Someone else's life and someone else's passion. If you get totally engrossed in the book, you own that for 376 pages.

As the book progresses and the story unfolds you are swept away by an automobile on each adventure. Most are successful, some sadly are not. In my opinion Neil Young has always been a bit of a private person. I like that in a public figure of any genre and the ability to be so can't be easy. Here he lays bare some pretty interesting parts and I had to laugh at some of the antics I did not know about him but was so grateful he chose to share.

I also love the sketches of the cars he has drawn. Simple in their own right yet able to stand on their own.

And so the book continues. Until a barely perceptible change takes place...and you almost seem to be reading a whole other book. NY clearly sees the writing on the wall regarding fossil fuels and the need for alternative propulsion methods. It becomes an almost manic core need for him to help see the US through a transition that is going to take place on this planet whether the gas guzzling love affair with cars the United States has, likes it or not. He would do well to continue his writings on China's newfound love of the same.

His description of Death Highway near Fort Mcmurray is a chilling recount that will forever live with me. And even though I have seen the pictures and heard other tales (especially Aboriginal ones), this one is the most vivid and intimate one I have ever read. Perhaps it is because I am Canadian that this part of the book rings so harshly with me. But it is a narrative that will stick with you for a long long time if you are any kind of an environmentalist.

Personally; I believe Fort McMurray's days are numbered, left to be an oddity and blight in my home province of Alberta. Maybe not in my generation or even the next, but soon. I feel no guilt over this as he does. I never thought the tar sands were a good idea anyway. Alberta would recover from this. They are a resource rich place full of renewable ones and technology is not stopped at the borders. I have faith.

I sincerely hope NY is continuously inspired to write. His style would make a menu interesting. He is a joy to read and I am hoping he gets the bug again to put pen to paper.

All I can say is this....

In his music, you see the Artist.
In his books, you see the Man.

[Ron S · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written with a laid back style that comes across like a favorite, somewhat crotchety uncle reminiscing on a front porch with a beer, Young talks mostly about the cars in his life in this second installment of his memoirs. The obsessive repetition over PONO that may have turned some readers off in the first volume is absent here, which doesn't mean this is a typical kiss and tell rock 'n roll story either. But in talking about the cars in his life Young manages to tell us a lot about the times he grew up in, his early and later musical career, and the people he loved on the way. Anyone with a sentimental bone in their body should be aware that given the recent announcement that Young and his wife Peggy have filed for divorce, you'll likely burst into tears reading all of the tender and loving words he's written about her in this book.

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chapter Forty, the last, a chapter of such important message and example, puts it on its own, making the preceding three hundred and thirty pages enjoyable ephemera in comparison, not out of context in its easy ride to the last chapter.

Special Delux is somewhat of an inadvertent portrait of the philosophy of excess of the American Dream, exemplified in the large, heavy gas guzzlers of the 20th Century.

[Cody · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neil’s bugaboos are goddamn hilarious. First it was high-res audio in the first book, here alternative fuels. His inclusion of cubic feet of atmospheric pollution per wonderful old yarn made me laugh every time. Like any great joke someone is riffing on, the placement never fails to delight. Full five stars for all the love to Poncho, of whom a more sympathetic rhythm player never existed.

[Mark Jones · Rating 3 out of 5]

Life: 4/5. Cars: 2/5.

[Gary Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

So Neil Young has written another book. In “Waging Heavy Peace” he wandered around in a fog of new-found sobriety, talking about his high definition Pono business, talked a little bit about some of his cars – apparently only scratching the surface; the guy is a car hoarder – and a little bit about his growing up in Canada.

After reading these two books and going through his Archives Vol. 1, which was released in Blu-ray with a faux-leather book of lyrics and photographs, and reminiscences, I get the idea… Young is going to tell us about his life in a 10-year period in which he’ll release books, music films, and box sets from the Neil Young Archives. This is not crass commercialism; this guy really speaks most clearly through his music. But the text is starting to take shape. He really is most articulate through music. I can see why he might not want to write a traditional memoir. I am not sure he can do it.

It kind of feels like Young read a book about writing your memoirs which counsels to pivot on a subject; your favorite song, your houses, or your cars. Young has picked the latter. Since he’s clearly a hoarder of cars, it’s not a bad subject to build your timeline on. He’s embellished it with his own watercolor sketches of each car. Since Young has a fetish for vintage cars from the distinctive Harley Earl era of car design, this Neil Youngturns out to make the focus on these particular possessions quite interesting. I think if Earl and his contemporaries were alive, they’d approve of Young’s descriptions of these car’s designs. He is quite… well… lyrical about them. In a way it’s too bad he did this, because without the book as outlet, there are probably a few good songs about some of these cares in there.

He spends a lot of time in the book talking about the politics of energy. I think you can safely skip this. This part of the book can be scanned quickly. He adds nothing new to the science or anything illuminating on the state of art or practice for alternative energies. He doesn’t every seem to get anywhere the fact that as one of the 1979 era “No Nukes” people he set us up for needing the fracking he decries as harmful to the land, and rightfully so. Nuclear energy isn’t mentioned once in the book. Search for “nuclear” – you won’t find it.

If you like Neil Young’s music, are interested in the history of the 60-70s Laurel Canyon music scene, are interested in vintage cars, the book is extremely interesting. If not, I have no idea why you’d read it.

He can say whatever he wants; anyone who writes and records “Expecting to Fly” has already made the world a better place, and has the right to say what he wants. I was glad to read these book decades after discovering his music. He’s still hear, saying interesting things for me to listen to. I’m pretty grateful for that.

[Sharry · Rating 5 out of 5]

I experienced some trepidation prior to reading this book. I had enjoyed Neil Young's first memoir, "Waging Heavy Peace," despite the absence of any sort of chronological order and his repetitive remarks about Pono. His unique voice came through loud and clear. I was worried that "Special Deluxe" might contain too many technical details about cars that would bog down the narrative.
I needn't have worried. I was totally charmed by Neil's follow-up memoir. This time around his story is told in a more cohesive manner with Neil's own tracings/watercolours of cars complementing the text. Each car serves to trigger certain strong memories Neil retains from the past. A significant number of these memories pertain to his earliest years when he first became fascinated with cars, mainly for their unique designs. Neil's dogs are also mentioned quite prominently throughout the text, especially in relation to his memories about certain cars.
We travel on a journey with Neil until he reaches an "a-ha" moment when he realizes that he's being a hypocrite for driving large gas-guzzling old cars that emit far too much carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. He starts to seriously consider alternative forms of energy. This leads into the story of LincVolt and his ongoing commitment and concern for the environment.
Neil doesn't delve too much into his musical history, although there are some deep revelations expressed on a number of different levels. His current interests are clearly illuminated and it ties in neatly with the narrative throughout.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Neil's second memoir is as heartwarming as his first. This time his life is viewed through his love of old vintage cars he has bought and his relationships with them. I loved how he talked about his road trips and told us the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere by each trip. Stories of cars and what he was doing with his music at the time was more of what I wanted to hear. I am a big fan of Neil's and have been to his concerts when he has appeared in Winnipeg. This book is a must read for every Neil fan and for anyone who is really concerned about the environment. Neil is passionate about his search for a fuel that does not pollute and also shows how big oil and politics prevents technology from saving our planet. We need more good men like Neil.

[Simon Sweetman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another sometimes interesting, often shambolic and mildly fascinating memoir from Neil Young. You've got to love him in all his stubbornness - or not, I guess? There's some interesting yarns about the music - about songwriting, where the lyrics/songs came from - in and around tall tales of cars and gigs. It's meandering as fuck - but then, Neil Young fans will sit through Old Ways and Landing on Water to get to Ragged Glory and Sleeps With Angels. This is no Freedom, probably more like "Life" or Trans - sometimes intriguing, sometimes dead boring. But I love him for doing whatever the fuck he wants - always.

[Marlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

Organized better than his first memoir, this memoir explains his love of cars and appreciation for the environment. I appreciated his explanation for his Anti-Tar Sands tour in 2014 which received much media attention (mostly negative, unfortunately). Also this memoir indirectly explained his new relationship with Darryl Hannah (his pending divorce from Pegi caught me by surprise because he highly praised his wife in his memoir from the previous year.)

Now that Neil Young has satisfactorily explained the old car and enviornment passions that I didn't quite understand in his first memoir, I look forward to his next installment when he explains his love for Pono and dislike of iTunes.

[Steve Peifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

If this was written by an unknown no one would care and no one would ever finish it. Maybe you have to be a car guy to get it. I still like his music but the more i get to know him the less I like him. What he calls following his muse sounds suspiciously like an indulged selfish narcissistic jerk. Who ever thought David Crosby would have the high moral ground on anything?

[Loring Wirbel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although this odd little memoir only gains a middling ranking, there are portions of Special Deluxe that are more fun to read than Neil's definitive memoir Waging Heavy Peace. Let's face it, Neil is a rambler who will never give us a sequential life timeline, but we (casual observers as well as fans) wouldn't have it any other way. What defines this book is not the detailed descriptions of classic cars and the accompanying watercolor paintings, but the way Young uses cars to flesh out parts of his life he skipped over in his earlier autobiography. We get sharp imagery of Neil growing up and moving all over the Canadian landscape, Neil touring across the continent to play surfer instrumentals, Neil heading to Los Angeles in a hearse to link up with Stephen Stills and form Buffalo Springfield.

Neil Young always has demonstrated certain obsessive collector traits, perhaps a side symptom of his unusual form of epilepsy. He collects cars, builds elaborate Lionel train landscapes, and frets so much about high-quality audio preserving the analog slope of sound that he built his own company, Pono, to market a personal music player. What is interesting in this book is that he slowly comes to realize the role his obsession with cars plays in global warming, and chides his lifetime of obsessive behavior. Even in the early chapters, when he blithely picks up gas-guzzlers, the 2014 Neil talks about the pounds of carbon emissions belched into the air as he makes his life-defining trips. It's as though Young is consciously saying, "Yeah, I lived an interesting and creative life, but I failed to live lightly on the Earth, and my carbon footprint caused real damage. Allow me to get my mea culpas out of the way as I tell my stories."

As in his earlier work, what we don't get is a sequential chronology of the post-Buffalo Springfield years. The book jumps among a series of impressions linked by particular cars, so we might find ourselves in 1986, 1998, 2005, and 2010 without quite knowing how we've traveled along that line. We get glimpses of daily life with Young's earlier partner Carrie Snodgress and his long-time wife, Pegi Young, though there is very little concrete information about Young's first wife, Susan Alcedo, who remains a mystery to this day. There are senses of how the retrofitting of vans aided his severely handicapped sons, Zeke and Ben, but no real sense of the work with Bridge School or of the challenge of daily life with a handicapped child. There also is very little about Young's wildly talented artist daughter Amber.

The book ends with Young's devoted work to create a biofuel/electric hybrid powerful enough to propel a classic Lincoln Continental, in a first instantiation as Linqvolt and later as Miss Pegi. Young describes in detail his trip across the U.S. and Canada, and we learn that his first meeting with Daryl Hannah took place while working on fighting the Alberta tar sands and the Keystone-XL pipeline. In the process, we learn that Canadians started a "Neil Young Lies" campaign in 2010 that was almost as heated as the U.S. conservative denunciation of Young in 2006, during the CSNY "Living With War" tour. The book concludes prior to Young suddenly abandoning his wife for Hannah, and it is odd to read of the devotion Young expresses for Pegi Young, knowing that within a few months after the publication date, he'd be living with Hannah and Pegi would soon succumb to cancer. Neil Young almost forces his devotees to recognize that they must accept their heroes warts and all, and not airbrush out the facts of what bad humans they can be at times.

I'll be interested in reading Young's new book on Pono. His latest goal is to get his key unreleased albums from the Neil Young Archives out before he dies, and one can't help but feel that Young wants to tie up loose ends, purify his own footprint on the planet, and leave us with some final guidelines before he departs, knowing full well that he has a tendency to step in the cowflop even as he tries to tell us how to avoid it.

[Peter O'Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine if you finally met someone as interesting as Neil Young and all he wanted to do was talk about cars. That is kind of this book in a nutshell. Special Deluxe uses his ownership of different cars at different periods of his life to act as a vehicle (see what I did there?) for telling elements of his life story. Having a foot in both the automobile camp as well as the rock memoir camp isn't a bad idea in itself but in this case, the book doesn't really scratch either itch. The cars he talks about (mostly stylish fifties gas guzzlers) are without question cool-looking cars with great aesthetics but still the point is, that Neil Young gets to collect cars while the rest of us get to collect, um, Neil Young records. Overall, still not too bad and you can add an extra star to the review if you love automobiles.

[Taylar · Rating 4 out of 5]

I listened to the audiobook, which I really enjoyed because Neil Young reads it. I don't think I would have enjoyed it quite as much; nothing really stellar about the writing. I really enjoyed his stories and life told through the lens of his cars. This is about Young's life but also about the cars, people, and influences in his life. He slips in some politics, some stories, and a lot of weed smoking. I learned a lot about Young as a person - he is very honest about himself and has clearly done a lot of contemplation about the kind of person he has been.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Audio. I really enjoyed this book and I really enjoyed hearing it read by the author. The tone felt refreshingly honest. A pretty normal guy who's led a pretty interesting life telling stories about some of the things he is passionate about, including cars and climate change.

[Janne Paananen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Neil Young kirjoitti muutama vuosi sitten muistelmansa, joten hieman kummeksutti tämä uusi teos. Tällä kertaa punaisena lankana kulkee Neilin elämään vaikuttaneet autot, jotka hän on myös maalannut Special Deluxen kuvitukseksi.

Alkuun autoteema tuntuu hieman oudolta ja teennäiseltä. Mutta tapa, jolla Young muistelee autoja ja niiden merkitystä kulloiseenkin elämäntilanteeseen, osoittautuukin yllättävän viihdyttäväksi. Young kertoo niin yksityiselämästään kuin muusikon urastaankin nelipyöräisten (lähinnä) amerikanrautojen kautta.

Viehättävänä yksityiskohtana Young kertoo mitä kulloinkin bensa maksoi ja kuinka paljon hänen autonsa päästivät hiilidioksidia ilmakehään. Tästä päästäänkin kirjan lopussa odottavaan maailmanparannusosioon, joka on 2000-luvulla ollut yksi Youngin suurista intohimoista. Ensimmäiselle sähköllä kulkevalle maanteiden kromikuninkaalle, Lincvoltille, kävi huonosti ja toisenkin kanssa on riittänyt vastoinkäymisiä, mutta niistä huolimatta Young onnistuu ajamaan Amerikan läpi sähköllä kulkevaksi muunnetulla Lincoln Continentalilla.

Muutaman vuoden takaisiin muistelmiin nähden Special Deluxe kertoo osittain saman tarinan, jopa samat tapahtumat, mutta silti vinkeästä näkökulmasta. Olipas virkistävä teos.

[Amos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having not read his previous autobiographical book, I enjoyed learning about this timeless rockers formative years and beyond in this memoir that ties each memory told to a car purchased by him or his father (both car fanatics, tho Neil is by FAR the greater). While I enjoyed these tales, it did seem peculiar that anytime a subject started to get deep, or an internal examination got close to revealing true meaning, he would instantly write "but I don't want to get into that" and end the chapter... Kinda odd. Especially cause he brings up the topics in the first place!
But I digress..
If you're looking for some cool musical history about Mr Young you can find it here (along with a Save The Earth message in the final couple of chapters). Slightly fluffy but still entertaining, three stars are due to this one..
"Down By The River" indeed, mang!

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book, I really enjoyed it...it was humorous at times and kept my interest throughout the whole story. I found myself wishing that Young could have went into more intimate details about his life, but I also respected his privacy. I'm not really a car person. I just want to make sure mine isn't going to break down on me, but I found his information on all the different types of cars really enjoyable. It also made me think seriously about the topics he brought up towards the ending. I feel as strongly as he does on the subject of global warming and greedy corporations, so I REALLY enjoyed reading all he had to say on that subject. This book makes me want to seek out his first book and see what that one is about.

[Chris Bertagnole · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the last book, rambling mess that it was. That said, there is a better focus and chronology to this one, and he relates his life through memories of the car du jour. And, just like the last one, there is the gushing over Pegi, the appearance of Daryl Hannah in the second book and the reality of the situation makes things a little unsettling, but, that, as they say, is none of my affair. Drive On.

[Joseph Spuckler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Special Deluxe: A Memoir of Life and Cars by Neil Young


Anyone who knows me, knows I have a strong dislike for cars. It is not the car but more so the worship of the car. People playout their lives on around cars. Who is driving? Where can we park? How much is parking? How much is gas? We also design our cities and suburbs around cars. Newer housing developments don’t have sidewalks, merely a concrete path from the front door to the curb where you park your car. The corner store and the idea of a self contained neighborhood have disappeared and been replaced by large shopping centers, big box stores, and strip malls. Supporting public transportation is seen as a subsidy, while tearing up tree lined boulevards to add lanes is seen as an investment. So, I was a bit hesitant to pick up this book.

I know Neil Young’s greatest hits and Live Rust from high school where certain crowds would agree with Neil Young’s phrase “It is better to burn out than to rust.” and also quote “Homegrown.” I still know the lyrics to that one. My previous knowledge of his life was fairly limited. Neil Young was a marijuana guy and like Patti Smith found it helped release their creativity. No heroin because the idea is to create and not block or escape life. It’s a cliche, but one I give little argument. In the book Young does mention a copious amount of marijuana smoking, some drinking, and cocaine a few times. He is no Keith Richards in that sense.

Young can tell a story and this storytelling is folksy and personal. He captures a level that the reader feels is almost one on one. It’s like meeting a friend you haven’t seen in thirty years and catching up. Some stories are funny, others are about his career, and some are touching. Compared to some of the other rock star autobiographies I have read Young comes up one top. His stories seem to be more about telling a story, than telling a story about Neil Young.

While I was reading this book a friend emailed and said, did you know Neil Young is getting a divorce? I said, “No, but I am half way through the book and he is on his third wife.” The last half of the book he remained with the third wife (and remained married for thirty-six years). To Young’s credit he never speaks ill of his ex-wives or of marriage problems. He takes the high road, so to speak.

Cars, yes, there is a great deal in this book about cars (and dogs too). Each story centers around a car. The car the family drove to Florida. The car his father got before he left. Young has owned more cars than some towns have. The cars are different though than your typical rock star car collector. There is a Bentley and a few sports cars, but most are old and a bit eccentric: A Jeep pickup truck, an Eldorado Biarritz, plenty of old Buicks. Each car has its own personality some work and some don’t. Some he’s kept and others he sold quickly. Each one, however, has a story. There are watercolor paintings of the cars at the start of each chapter keeping with Youngs thinking of cars an art more than just transportation.

Throughout the book, when a car is mentioned, Young tells the reader the miles per gallon the car got and the number of pounds of CO2 the car released per mile or on an extended trip. Another point to respect about Young is he has become environmentally conscious. He has worked with bio fuels and electric cars, putting a great deal of his own money into the program.

Young is an excellent storyteller and it shows in his writing either in prose or song. Chapters are punctuated with lyrics he wrote at the time of the story. The use of lyrics in the writing helps explain the meaning. Sorry, no answer on who the Cinnamon Girl was. This is perhaps the best autobiography by a musician I have read. I am surprised say, it beats out Patti Smith’s Just Kids, and I really, really like Patti Smith. Young’s style and language communicate to the masses on a personal level. There is no “life of an artist” talk or name dropping. It is storytelling at it’s best. I am very impressed with Special Deluxe, even with the car talk.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neil Young writes in a consistent and readable style. He tells you right at the start that this is a book about his life and the cars he has owned along the way. He also talks about some of the dogs he has had. The book is illustrated with watercolors of the cars that I guess Neil did himself. It is an interesting approach and it turns out that Young is rather obsessive about his cars and he has quite a few of them over the years, many of them with names and personalities. In discussing cars he also discusses his growing environmentalist focus as time went by with quite a bit about biofuels and other alternative fuels. And all of this is interwoven with his own journey.

Since I haven't read his first memoir yet, it might not be fair to express some disappointment over what this book doesn't discuss--perhaps the first one did. This memoir isn't a probing examination of how he composes or what his music is about. It isn't a searching self-examination or a tell-all. He refers to conflicts but then chooses not to discuss them. There are few dramatized scenes here, very little dialogue. He'd rather talk about the nifty amplifier he wanted but couldn't afford than the divorce that happened around the same time he started getting into music. He sort of mentions in passing that his father just ran out on him and his mother, and alludes to his mother's growing alcoholism and his frequent changes of school, but says very little about how all of that felt or how it influenced him as an artist. When he writes about having a fight with Stephen Stills and breaking his guitar over a chair, it is the guitar which is the focus, not his relationship with his bandmate. I guess he has no interest in telling his story in a way that would embarrass his friends and family. That's cool.

I was a little disappointed that the book did very little to reveal how his life informed his music or what his process is in writing songs. All of that is apparently too personal to be talked about. So be it, but does one pick up a memoir of Neil Young to learn what he thought about cars, guitars, amplifiers, and global warming? That said, it was a good read because Neil Young writes in a very engaging but simple way about what does interest him, about what he wants to talk about, and I was entertained in spite of myself. In the end this wasn't the memoir I was looking for, but it was a good read nonetheless. Maybe the truth of Neil Young is that he is someone who is obsessive about things that interest him and the drama in his own life is not one of those things. Or perhaps it is only through his music that he has an outlet, an indirect one, for dealing with that life drama?

It really seems as if Neil Young needs to displace his emotions into the things that interest him, making them somewhat endowed with spiritual meaning for him. He relates how an accident that damaged one of his cars led to a change in his music, making it less wide-open and more introspective. He writes:

"I don't want to stop talking about this car, but there is only a sad story left to tell, or maybe a real story, I am not sure. The fact is the 1959 Eldorado is still not fixed. . . . the unfinished cars mean something. They represent broken dreams, lost loves, and abandoned ideas. This is the sad part. Dealing with that reality is something everyone has to do. I had to bring it up." (p. 226)

[Doctor Moss · Rating 4 out of 5]

This (after Waging Heavy Peace) is the second of Neil Young’s two recent autobiographies. Waging Heavy Peace was more of a straight-forward biography, although not told strictly chronologically (or strictly anything else, really). This one takes an unusual angle — a life told by way of associations with cars.

Neil Young loves cars. He has strong memories of cars from his youngest days. In fact, it seems as though his car-collecting, and his love of older cars throughout his life, is a kind of attempt to recapture the feeling he had for those cars in his youth. It gives an interesting spin to everything about him — a longing for those feelings that he had, when his life and the pleasures of his life were so simple.

There are two things going on in the book. One is his reminiscences. Those are very sincere and touching — memories of friends, of songs, of times, of women, of old feelings. It’s as though he stores his memories in cars. Each car in the book, pictured in a watercolor painted by himself at the beginning of each chapter, is a starting point for recalling those times and feelings.

The other thing going on is a kind of enlightenment about cars, the effect that the kinds of cars Young likes have on the environment, his realization that he can’t in good conscience go on with what he’s been doing, and his decision to do something about it. As he recalls those old cars of his youth, he also recalls their impact on the environment, measured literally in their carbon dioxide output.

Finally, it’s a friend of his daughter who confronts him with the contradiction between his cars and his concern for the environment. And he turns himself around passionately and obsessively, just as he does everything that matters to him. He says, “Looking at my huge collection of gas-guzzlers, I realized that I was in love with something that needed to be replaced, something that had become obsolete.”

From then on, it’s his story of environmental activism, embodied in the Lincvolt, his project to reform those 1940’s and 1950’s heavy metal cars he loves so much and make them as environmentally sound as his words.

Reading both of these books, I think Neil Young is probably a hard guy to take day to day. He’s obsessive, sometimes very self-centered and self-indulgent, but he’s also incredibly transparent and sincere. That’s what makes him so different, and it shines through. If you want to know him better, read the book.

[Doug · Rating 3 out of 5]

Since I first heard Neil Young's music, I have been a fan. Considering the amount of Neil Young product and the number of times I have seen him live solo and with other variations, I would probably be considered a fanatic. I know my wife is sick of hearing the intro music to Shakey Pictures productions.

David Briggs produced the majority of Neil's albums prior to his untimely death. I feel that Neil benefitted from Briggs, what I assume was his ability to edit and push Neil more than anybody else. l believe Neil needs to find his Briggs with whom to write.

This book would be would have been served well with a ghost writer or a co-author. Neil's Dad, Scott Young, was a writer. An author. Neil is a songwriter. For god's sakes, I don't think there was one compound sentence in the whole book. The chapters are a short as the sentences. That said, the stories are interesting, but the stream of consciousness style of writing can be distracting as it hops from one topic to another. One chapter can start talking about a story in 1975 and then suddenly the story jumps to 1987.

It is nuts to consider the number of vehicles that Neil has owns and has owned. His memory and descriptions of the cars reflections his obsessive compassion for the vehicles. I enjoyed Neil's water color artwork of the cars. He's got some talent there too and I am happy for him that he has been able to set aside time to do his art.

I gave "Waging Heavy Peace", his first memoir 3 stars too, however I enjoyed this memoir more because the cars tied the stories together. Considering the books are getting better, I am looking to reading Neil's third book, also because there's a co-author.

[Harron68 · Rating 3 out of 5]

For Neil Young and/or car people. He is brutally honest in his recollections. The early days as a kid were the most endearing to me. His family's many moves were good training for the adult Young's touring lifestyle.
HOW he was lucky and determined enuf to leave "the cold North" of Canada for sunny SoCal and, despite his prickly personality, joined the Buffalo Springfield rock band and is itself worth reading.
What I didn't know was his childhood polio and later powerful fears of having a seizure (epilepsy?) on stage. Add his children's learning and physical disabilities for which I'm sure his empathy for those "outsiders" in life comes in part from his childhood and his kid's difficulties.
As much as his personal life and career in music (what an output of music, film and environmental causes he embraces!), the old vehicles he owned and drove thru the years makes gearheads nod in nostalgic approval.
The book was written a decade ago, and Neil's enthusiastic support for bio-diesel fuel and ethanol haven't materialized. His embracing of farmers (Farm Aid) and farm economics fits nicely into his philosophy. Unfortunately, bio-fuels can't be the answer and we're too late embracing all electric methods for the world's energy needs.
Back to the book, anyone who rocked to Young's music or waltzed to "Harvest Moon" can learn a lot about Young, his life and career. Three stars due to its limited appeal.

[K2 ----- · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think that readers will benefit from being big Neil Young fans and being familiar with his life and music to truly enjoy this book. I fall into that category and found him to be candid about his deep love of cars and what else other than music accompanies him daily. He is old, his life has been richly lived and hey he is not married to Daryl Hannah, wow.

Readers will see how his brain works and the quirks that give his song writing fuel. He is such a Canadian and that is to be admired. He had polio has a child and has deep values he retains no matter what his fame.

He is a national treasure and his music will live on long after he is gone. I appreciated learning more about what was going on when some favorite songs were being hatched and how his lifelong attachment to cars has impacted his life.

What a guy, but I certainly would not want to be married to him. Great follow up to his last book.

[Ed Zaremba · Rating 3 out of 5]

First, let me start out by saying I'm both a music fan - (I like Neil Young's (+ CSN&Y) music & have numerous CD's & vinyl LP's) - and a car guy. After reading Neil's first book "Waging Heavy Peace, " I looked forward to this second book "Special Deluxe," especially the cars portion. And to be honest, after reading, I didn't know what to make of it! He had a history of buying what you can charitably call "beaters" (i.e. junkers) that he thought were of classic design. Most cars barely lasted or ran and, in his youth, abandoned them on the roadsides!! Plus he had his own personal junkyards on his various properties, He knowingly admitted all the CO2 emissions coming from them and didn't acknowledge that until the very end of the book. Why didn't Neil just buy more modern cars with lower emissions than the classic clunkers? Tho I must admit his LincVolt project was admirable plus his efforts to address global warming.