Crazy Heart: A Novel - Couverture souple

“Thomas Cobb has written a bitter, witty psychological profile of an aging genius that is also a wonderful celebration of country music. Bad Blake lives at the poor end of the rainbow, but you’ll never forget him. Crazy Heart is a splendid achievement.” (Donald Barthelme)

“In producing as nearly a masterpiece as the subject has yet attracted, Cobb seems to have triumphed....Cobb has created an unforgettable character who engages not only your interest but your emotion...and who proceeds to take you on a roller-coaster ride through his tawdrily tumultuous life.” (Chicago Tribune)

“Thomas Cobb’s marvelous first novel doesn’t just play on your heartstrings, it breaks them.” (San Francisco Examiner)

“[Cobb’s] picture of the scraggly underside of Western music is brutally convincing.” (The New Yorker)

“Blake’s dedication to, and integrity towards, his country music is more than matched by Cobb’s moving, respectful evocation of the world of country music, and the life and times of Bad Blake.” (Boston Herald)

“Thomas Cobb has produced a piercing, keenly observed chronicle of modern Americana, getting across the current mores and attitudes as experience by C&W musician Blake.” (Los Angeles Times)

“You can almost hear the whining twang of a pedal steel guitar and the droning of a mournful singer while reading Crazy Heart.” (Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

“A measure of Thomas Cobb’s talent is that he can make Bad Blake’s story amusing even as we watch him fall. Bad is entirely sympathetic, and this crazy heart is vivid; the milieu is as resonant as a steel guitar, and the plot moves along without skipping a beat.” (New York Times Book Review)

“Crazy Heart is a beautiful book....The characters are cut cleanly out of America....Bad Blake is a man you will not soon forget.” (Washington Times)

“Crazy Heart just might be the finest country-western novel ever written, bar none.” (Houston Post)

Thomas Cobb was born in Chicago, Illinois, and grew up in Tucson, Arizona. He is the author of the novel Shavetail and the short story collection Acts of Contrition. He lives in Rhode Island with his wife.