
Living in the Woods in a Tree
Sybil Rosen
(Author)Description
This is an intimate glimpse into the turbulent life of Texas music legend Blaze Foley (1949-1989), seen through the eyes of Sybil Rosen, the woman for whom he wrote his most widely known song, "If I Could Only Fly." It captures the exuberance of their fleeting idyll in a tree house in the Georgia woods during the countercultural 1970s. Rosen offers a firsthand witnessing of Foley's transformation from a reticent hippie musician to the enigmatic singer/songwriter in the Austin, Texas, music scene. His songs have been covered by Willie Nelson, Merle Haggard, Lyle Lovett, and John Prine.
"Thumbs up!"--Merle Haggard
"There are no books that compete with Rosen's, and it's quite unlikely that any ever will. Rosen's time with him (and her deft telling of that time) reveals so much about the man and the music."--Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"Poetic and gripping, this beautifully written book ends up being about Blaze, the author, the times, and the creative journey. An impressive work in every way!"--Louis Black, editor, Austin Chronicle and executive producer of Be Here to Love Me: A Film about Townes Van Zandt
"Romantic without being cloying, Living in the Woods in a Tree is perhaps the most complete vision of the Duct Tape Messiah as we're likely to get, and Rosen portrays a complex, confounding subject with a simplicity and seductiveness that's all too rare."--Jim Caligiuri, Austin Chronicle
"Though [Foley's] recorded output is scarce, his influence remains large."--New York Post
Number 2: North Texas Lives of Musicians Series
SYBIL ROSEN was born in Lynchburg, Virginia, and holds a BFA from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro. She recently published a collection of Blaze Foley-inspired short stories called Riding the Dog, which won the Gold Medal for Fiction/Short Story in the Readers' Favorite International Book Award Contest. A screenwriter and playwright, she has won many awards. A short documentary for which she wrote the narration was nominated for an Academy Award in that category, and while she wrote for the TV show Guiding Light, it won an Emmy for best writing. She currently lives in Whitesburg, Georgia.
Product Details
Publisher | University of North Texas Press |
Publish Date | January 09, 2017 |
Pages | 288 |
Language | English |
Type | |
EAN/UPC | 9781574416763 |
Dimensions | 8.9 X 5.9 X 0.7 inches | 0.9 pounds |
About the Author
Reviews
"Living in the Woods in a Tree comes at a time when music fans are hungry to know more about Blaze Foley. There are no books that compete with Rosen's, and it's quite unlikely that any ever will. Rosen's time with him (and her deft telling of that time) reveals so much about the man and the music."--Peter Cooper, The Tennessean
"Poetic and gripping, this beautifully written book ends up being about Blaze, the author, the times, and the creative journey. This book will appeal to anyone who enjoys strong writing and great story telling, who is interested in Blaze Foley or Texas music. An impressive work in every way!"--Louis Black, editor, Austin Chronicle and executive producer of Be Here to Love Me: A Film About Townes Van Zandt
"Most people live their life in quiet desperation, and usually indoors. Mr. Foley blazed the outdoors and made the rest of us unique. A rare book about a rare being."--Colonel Bruce Hampton
"In her work--mostly memoir, part biography--Rosen struggles to come to terms with Foley's myth and her role in its creation. She offers a firsthand account of his transformation from a reticent hippie musician to the enigmatic singer-songwriter who'd live and die outside society's rules."--Texas Music
"A much-liked character on the Austin, Texas, music scene in the 1970s and '80s, he was shot dead at 39. Though his recorded output is scarce, his influence remains large. His friend Lucinda Williams wrote a song about him--"Drunken Angel"--as did Townes Van Zandt. Merle Haggard, Willie Nelson, and others have covered his songs."--New York Post
"More famous dead than alive, Blaze Foley continues growing in legend. . . . Romantic without being cloying, Living in the Woods in a Tree is perhaps the most complete vision of the Duct Tape Messiah as we're likely to get, and Rosen portrays a complex, confounding subject with a simplicity and seductiveness that's all too rare."--Austin Chronicle
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