Ill Sleep When Im Dead: The Dirty Life
and Times of Warren Zevon by
Crystal Zevon
Brilliant
When Warren Zevon died in 2003, he left behind a rich catalog of dark,
witty rock n roll classics, including Lawyers, Guns and Money, Excitable
Boy, and the immortal Werewolves of London. He also left behind a
fanatical cult following and veritable rock opera of drugs, women, celebrity,
genius, and epic bad behavior. As Warren once said, I got to be Jim
Morrison a lot longer than he did.
Narrated by his former wife and longtime co-conspirator, Crystal Zevon,
this intimate and unusual oral history draws on interviews with Bruce
Springsteen, Stephen King, Bonnie Raitt, and numerous others who fell
under Warrens mischievous spell. Told in the words and images of the
friends, lovers, and legends who knew him best, Ill Sleep When Im Dead
captures Warren Zevon in all his turbulent glory.

Personal Review: Ill Sleep When Im Dead: The Dirty Life and
Times of Warren Zevon by Crystal Zevon
I found this book to be deeply moving, affecting and touching. It allowed
me to travel with Warren through his life, thanks to interviews with friends
and family, and - from what I gather - a compulsion to write in a diary every
day. We see him struggle with a weird childhood, pre-stardom, a lust for
stardom, serious drink problems, stardom, serious drink problems,
sobriety, post-stardom ... and a struggle to make a living from his art as his
star dipped. He was on a seemingly constant search for a label, to record,
then tour - all the while struggling (and succeeding) to stay true to sobriety.
His last release gave him the gift of closure and even peace with those
around him.
I ran through quite a gamut of emotions while reading "I'll Sleep When I'm
Dead". Among them: Shocked, repelled, amazed, in awe (of the creative
spark), laugh-out-loud at his way of looking at life, charmed, angered at the
abusive behaviour, shocked (again), repelled (again) charmed (again) and
amazed (again). I even felt hungover myself sometimes just reading the
sheer quantity of booze he drank at the height of his madness, black outs
and rages.
I am struck at how very lucky Warren was to have a core group of
individuals, such as Jackson Browne, who stuck with him through some
really truly horrible Warren-created awful times and behaviour towards his
friends and family. In an era before interventions and stays at Rehab were
common place, people just seemed to 'deal' with Warren - the horrible part
- along with the loving, creative genius.
In the really early days, terminal hipster Kim Fowley counseled him to get a
persona, such as being a prick, but a 'literary prick'... and Warren certainly
was for many years. If you looked past the actual shocking things he did,
you could see a self-destructive nature. He seemed afraid of success and
happiness.
And that gun thing. Yikes. He could so easily have gone the Spector route.
Maybe something deep down inside of him never went that psycho. But
there were still harrowing moments, such as very real physical abuse of
women - and men. Horrible really. If I had been Crystal when he hit her
very hard in her face (during a black out) - I would have run and never,
ever returned.
A core part of this book for me were the background stories, anecdotes
from his friends and family (lots of unvarnished, often bittersweet of
hilarious memories), beginnings of lyrics, and nuggets of behind-the-songs
...

This book compelled me to buy many of Warren's albums - to listen to the
lyrics afresh, savouring the stories behind them and having a better
understanding of his talent and genius. I highly recommend Stand in the
Fire - which is a live performance right after he became sober. He sounds
exhuberant, grateful to be alive and humble at getting and staying sober.
Meet the real Warren Zevon: he of the brainy wicked humor, whip smart
retorts, classically trained musicianship, writer of smart, droll, morbid,
romantic lyrics, a man tinged with a whiff of tragedy, a vein of cravenness,
a deep cruel streak, a dose of self-pity, fun and games, and a joy of life
awkwardly balanced between genius and deep utter despair.
Just as his family, many friends and his fans did, accept Embrace Warren
Zevon warts and all.
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