I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon

Author	Crystal Zevon
Language	English
Subject	Biography
Publisher	Ecco Books
Publication date	2007
Publication place	United States
Media type	Hardcover, paperback
ISBN	978-0-06-076345-9
OCLC	76864657
Dewey Decimal	782.42166092 B 22
LC Class	ML420.Z475 Z58 2007

I'll Sleep When I'm Dead: The Dirty Life and Times of Warren Zevon is a biography and oral history of the rock musician Warren Zevon compiled by his ex-wife Crystal Zevon and published May 2007 by Ecco Books.

The book is an unflinching look at Zevon's "high times and hard ways" and contains many admiring reflections on Zevon's work from his famous musical peers, alongside some unsavory revelations. Included are details about Zevon's abusive behavior toward his ex-wife and children in the 1970s, his many sexual dalliances and his return to drinking and drug use after his diagnosis of incurable cancer. Extensive use is made of excerpts from Zevon's private journals, which are concerned largely with his sexual partners, music industry worries and his relationships with his children, Jordan and Ariel.

The book is interspersed with interviews conducted with 87 friends, lovers and collaborators, including Bruce Springsteen, Jackson Browne, Stephen King, Billy Bob Thornton and Bonnie Raitt. It is reputed that before his death Zevon gave the project his blessing and requested that the book be uncompromising in its honesty about even the most unflattering details.