Product Description

"Ryan Adams, one of America's most consistently interesting singer/songwriters, has written a passionate, arresting, and entertaining book of verse. Fans are going to love it, and newcomers will be pleased and startled by his intensity and originality. The images are vivid and the voice is honest and powerful."
--Stephen King, author of Duma Key

"Ryan Adams writes with equal parts precision and recklessness; the blood he draws from the text is easily as unnerving as its unapologetic tenderness. He is proof that poetry will find its writer."
--Mary-Louise Parker, actress

"Infinity Blues is Ryan Adams at his personal, unforgettable best. Strong and beautiful and funny and pure. Like all his work, it's soul poetry of the highest order."
--Cameron Crowe, filmmaker

"This is much better than reading a friend's journal. It's more like watching somebody you love in the bathtub talking to himself. You're like, wow, he's even good at taking a bath. After reading Infinity Blues (which I think is a great title), I give Ryan Adams the best compliment I ever got--and the only reason for reading anyone's poetry. Ryan, I really like your mind."
--Eileen Myles, author of Cool for You

Ryan Adams may be known primarily for acclaimed albums such as Cardinology, Heartbreaker, Gold (which includes the popular hit songs "When the Stars Go Blue" and "New York, New York"), Love Is Hell, Cold Roses, Jacksonville City Nights, and Easy Tiger, but the world renowned singer/songwriter has always been a poet and fiction writer at heart. With the release of Infinity Blues, his nonmusical writing is for the first time ever unveiled in book form. Mr. Adams's work rings of an emotional authenticity that provides perhaps an even deeper insight into the man than is revealed through the songs that have resonated with his hundreds of thousands of fans the world over.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #29855 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 290 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9781933354743
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author
Ryan Adams is usually performing in some city on the globe at any given moment with his longtime band the Cardinals. Adams is known for his prolific nature, which in the last ten years has produced various international hit albums. Adams has also produced Willie Nelson's Songbird album and contributed to records by Toots and the Maytals, Beth Orton, the Wallflowers, Counting Crows, and Cowboy Junkies; additionally, he has appeared on CMT's Crossroads with Elton John. He was a longtime Manhattan resident before relocating to France in 2009, and he listens to A LOT of heavy metal.

Customer Reviews

Infinity Blues
I did buy this originally because I am a big fan of Ryan Adams' music, but
I've read it through, and reread parts, and think it is definitely worth
reading even if you aren't a fan, or don't know his music. Most of the poems are long, and there is quite a bit of obscenities, though they didn't see gratuitous to me. But people should know that, in case it offends them. I started to list some of my favorite of the poems--Papaw Special (for his grandfather), You Will Not Miss Me When I'm Gone, For My Father the Drunk, Electric Blue--but the list got too long. Not every poem in here works, but I found much to savor and I hope it isn't dismissed as just another vanity project by someone famous in another field--it's much better than that.

Journal Entries As Poetry?
I have been a big Ryan Adams fan since the Whiskeytown days, and Heartbreaker is a classic album. I was really excited when I heard this book was coming out. Sorry, but I think Ryan should have kept this one to himself. I know he had a serious drug and alcohol problem, and the text reads like a drunken/stoned rant about some girl(s) he's trying to connect with but is failing. I heard that he got cleaned up, but maybe he hadn't yet when he decided to go ahead and publish this book. Maybe with a clearer head, he would have thought otherwise. It's as if he gathered up all of his journal entries into a pile and threw them at the feet of his publisher. Who knows? Maybe Ryan felt he needed to publish this mammoth volume to purge himself of all his demons. If that's the case, I understand, but he does a better job at singing his pain through song.

No big deal. I'm sure some readers will get a kick out of some of the passages. The book definitely has its moments and does provide an almost painfully naked glimpse into his psyche. Maybe if it was edited and pared down a bit, it might have retained a more cohesive shape. An almost 300 page book of poetry is usually an anthology of some better poet's work, not a first collection, and Leaves of Grass this ain't.

Brilliant book for anyone who loves how Ryan Adams writes his songs
I think this move to books was a flawless move for Ryan Adams. This book is an enchanting journey through the many worlds that Ryan is able to create with his words. His songs are merely a slight glimpse into a world that he can describe beautifully in this book. I read the whole book in one day and found myself coming back to phrases or lines coined in some of the poems and thinking how apt and revealing they are. Ryan is such a master at hitting the mark and writing that are so close to the bone. Some songs for me are too close that I couldn't even listen to them after a break up. Just too much. This book is very much like that in that so much has seemed to happen to this guy and so much was said, it's hard to grasp it all in the first read. Many multiple readings are required to really fully grasp how much is revealed in this debut. I can only say bravo! I look forward to more releases such as this.