Review and Giveaway!! Crazy Heart by Thomas Cobb

I was excited to receive a copy of Crazy Heart from Erica over at Harper Perennial, simply because I had heard all of the Oscar buzz about the movie. And since books are always better than the movie, I decided that yes, I needed to read this book.

Bad Blake is a down and out country star who has gone from headlining his own nationwide tours with his own band to playing in bowling alleys and dive bars with local amateur musicians. Time has not been good to Bad – he’s a raging alcoholic (though his benders have lessened through time), a chain smoker and a bit overweight…with no intentions on changing any of that. He’s been married and divorced four times, and has an estranged adult son who he hasn’t seen or spoken to in twenty years.

Thomas Cobb has written this story in such a way where you tend to sympathize and feel sorry for Bad, even though you know he’s brought all his heartache on himself. I felt sad that he couldn’t find the words to write new material, I felt bad to know that his former protégé, the guy Bad taught everything he knew and turned him in to a raw kid to a great musician, basically tossed him aside once he had his stardom.

When Bad meets Jean Craddock, you think this might just be the woman who’s going to turn things around for him. I just felt this ache for him, I wanted so badly for him to turn his life around, get in control of his drinking, quit smoking, lose weight, fall in love and live happily ever after… But remember, this book is about a country singer…

Even if you have seen the movie (which I haven’t yet!), this book is definitely worth a read. Thomas Cobb did a great job of creating this character and his world.

In fact, I am going to give away my gently used copy of Crazy Heart!!! All you have to do is leave a comment here on this post. You have to leave a valid email address – if you don’t I won’t be able to get a hold of you, and you won’t be entered!! Last day to enter is Wednesday, March 31, with the winner to be announced Thursday, April 1!! Oh, and let’s open it up to anyone!! Good luck!!!

Thanks again to Erica from Harper Perennial for allowing me to read and review this book!!!