“A masterpiece. . . . An unforgettable character . . . who proceeds to take you on a roller-coaster ride through his tawdrily tumultuous life.” —Chicago Tribune At the age of fifty-seven—living a life riddled with ex-wives, one night stands, and daily diet of Jack Daniels—Bad Blake is on his last legs. His ticker, his liver, even his pick-up truck are all giving him trouble. A renowned songwriter and “picker” who hasn’t recorded in five years, Bad now travels the countryside on gigs that take him mostly to motels and bowling alleys. Enter Jean Craddock, a young journalist sent to interview him after a beautiful concert, and a tentative romance blooms. Can Bad stop living the life of a country-western song and tie a rope around his crazy heart? “A measure of Thomas Cobb’s talent is that he can make Bad Blake’s story amusing even as we watch him fall.” —New York Times Book Review “[Cobb’s] picture of the scraggly underside of Western music is brutally convincing.” —The New Yorker “Crazy Heart just might be the finest country-western novel ever written, bar none.” —Houston Post “[A] moving, respectful evocation of the world of country music.” —Boston Herald “Thomas Cobb’s marvelous first novel doesn’t just play on your heartstrings, it breaks them.” —San Francisco Examiner “A piercing, keenly observed chronicle of modern Americana.” —Los Angeles Times “Heartfelt.” —Houston Chronicle “A beautiful book. . . . Bad Blake is a man you will not soon forget.” —Washington Times