The Hag: The Life, Times, and Music of Merle Haggard

The New York Times bestselling biographer of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, The Eagles, and more, has written the definitive biography of country legend Merle Haggard. The book explores the uniquely American life of an angry, rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks who found redemption through the music of the common man, and celebrates Haggard's accomplishments and explores his infamous dark side. Eliot has interviewed more than 100 people who knew Haggard, worked with him, were influenced by him, loved him, or hated him, and the book offers a richly anecdotal narrative that will elevate Haggard's life and work to where both properly belong.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 480 pages
Publication date: 12 January 2023
Publisher: Hachette Books

The definitive biography of country legend Merle Haggard, written by the New York Times bestselling biographer of Clint Eastwood, Cary Grant, The Eagles, and more. Merle Haggard was one of the most influential country music musicians who ever lived. His remarkable musical career spanned the second half of the 20th century and into the first two decades of the next, during which he released an extraordinary 63 albums, 38 of which made it onto Billboard's Country Top Ten, 13 of which reached #1, and 37 #1 hit singles. With his vast songbook, unique singing voice, and brilliant phrasing that illuminated his uncompromising commitment to individual freedom, cut with the monkey of personal despair on his back and a chip the size of Monument Valley on his shoulder, Merle's music and his extraordinary charisma helped change the look, the sound, and the fury of American music. The Hag tells, without compromise, the extraordinary life of Merle Haggard, augmented by deep secondary research, sharp detail, and ample anecdotal material that biographer Marc Eliot is known for, and enriched and deepened by over 100 new and far-ranging interviews. It explores the uniquely American life of an angry, rebellious boy from the wrong side of the tracks bound for a life of crime and a permanent home in a penitentiary, who found redemption through the music of the common man. Merle Haggard's story is a great American saga of a man who lifted himself out of poverty, oppression, loss, and wanderlust, to catapult himself into the pantheon of American artists admired around the world. Eliot has interviewed more than 100 people who knew Haggard, worked with him, were influenced by him, loved him, or hated him. The book celebrates the accomplishments and explores the singer's infamous dark side: the self-created turmoil that e.

Weight: 360g
Dimension: 208 x 138 x 34 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780306923203