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Waging Heavy Peace

Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream
Wagingheavypeacecover.jpg
Original hardcover
Author Neil Young
Language English
Genre Autobiography
Publisher Blue Rider Press, Penguin Group
Publication date
2012
Pages 502 p.
ISBN
OCLC 798809870
782.42166092
LC Class 2012026138

Waging Heavy Peace: A Hippie Dream is the first autobiography by the rock musician Neil Young, published in 2012. Featuring a non-linear narrative, the book covers aspects of his career, family life, hobbies, and non-musical pursuits. It was generally well-received among critics.

The book is Young's first autobiography and was written in 2011. According to Jimmy McDonough in the 2002 biography Shakey, Young had previously stated he would not write about himself. He explains his reasons for writing the book in a chapter called “Why This Book Exists”. The 66-year-old musician states that the book is meant to make money to allow him a recuperation period away from touring and music-making. Young, who suffered a brain aneurysm in 2005, mentions the possibility of dementia in his father's health history as providing an additional impetus for writing his memoirs. The musician stopped drinking and smoking marijuana during the writing period. Young declined a ghostwriter from his publisher – writing is a family trade: father Scott Young was a sports columnist and prolific writer.

One focus of the work is Young's family. He discusses his two wives, including then-current wife Pegi and first wife Susan Acevedo as well as his relationship with Carrie Snodgress. He also talks about his children, including sons Ben and Zeke, who suffer from cerebral palsy. Young's home, the northern California ranch called Broken Arrow, features in the book.

Young's hobbies are discussed at length. He relates his love of model train building and his involvement with Lionel, LLC, a model train company, where he is a board member. He talks about his interest in carpentry, and his forays into filmmaking. Vehicles are another love, including his 1953 Buick Skylark and the electric-converted Lincoln Continental, known as LincVolt (Young is a proponent of electric vehicles and designed the LincVolt himself). Yet another obsession is his PureSound audio system (now known as Pono), which aims to replace iPod as the dominant digital music format.


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