As a life-long Willie Nelson fan, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to read this Christmas fable written by Willie and inspired by by his famous song of the same title.

The premise of this short tale is the imagined back-story of the disabled street vendor upon whom Willie Nelson based his real-life hit "Pretty Paper." At times I found myself confused wondering how much was true and how much was fiction since this book includes Willie, in the first person as himself, telling the story. I ultimately had to go to do a bit of research online to set myself straight and determine that the story should be judged entirely as fiction.

As a story, the book is much like Willie's songs. There's poignancy in the spartan prose, but it's best enjoyed if one just goes along for the ride. And just as the song "Pretty Paper" isn't a standard Christmas Carol, this book defies the genre. You'll find more honky-tonks and BBQ joints here than sleigh bells and reindeer. But if you're looking for something a bit different than the standard holly, jolly Christmas tale, you've come to the right place.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blue Rider Press for a galley of this book in exchange for an honest review. ( )

This was a nice, light read. It would be great at Christmas. I wouldnt recommend it for anyone younger than teenage years. This was easy to read and made me feel like Id sat with the author and listened to him tell it. ( )

I was not sure I would like this one but I really enjoyed it. ( )

FICTION
Willie Nelson (with David Ritz)
Pretty Paper: A Christmas Tale
Blue Rider Press, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA)
Hardcover, 978-0-7352-1154-4 (also available as an e-book, an audio book, and on Audible), 304 pgs., $23.00
October 25, 2016

“It was a rough Christmas in a rough town,” December in the early 1960s, and Willie is headed into Leonards department store in downtown Fort Worth to do some holiday gift shopping when he spies a man down on his luck, both legs amputated above the knee, balancing on a rolling board, hawking wrapping paper, ribbons, and bows on the sidewalk. Willie buys his Christmas gifts and goes back outside to look for the man with the pretty paper, but he’s gone.

Willie, intrigued by the quality of the man’s voice when he was singing out about his ribbon for sale — and suspecting he might be a musician — returns to look for him several times. The man on the board is Vernon Clay. He does have a story, one he doesn’t want to tell, but Willie is compelled to discover what brought a man with that voice so low. When Willie sets out to make things right, the situation quickly becomes complicated.

Pretty Paper: A Christmas Tale is “autobiographical fiction” from Willie Nelson (with the help of longtime collaborator David Ritz), based on his hit song of the same title. Pretty Paper seems simple, but as with Willie’s songs, you soon find yourself in the deep end of the pool, tackling big questions like the nature of God, betrayal in business and love, and why bad things happen to good people. Inexplicably drawn to the enigma of Vernon Clay, Willie makes a human connection with a stranger, and does the right thing because it’s the right thing to do.

Pretty Paper is peopled with colorful characters. There’s “Nutsy” Perkins, a local enforcer and bookie with an affinity for white fedoras with purple feathers in the brim, a drummer called Brother Paul (“who understood [Willie’s] personal sense of rhythm. Not everyone does.”) given to wide-brimmed hats and black capes, and Ranger Roy Finkelstein, who owns a record store in Garland (“Garland is where the action is. There’s more to Garland than meets the eye.”) where Willie tracks down clues to Vernon Clay.

Willie’s good-natured, dry wit is here. A British music promotor wearing a monocle and tweeds wants to take Willie to England. Brit: “Let’s proceed to the dining room for tea and crumpets.” Willie: “Or bourbon and barbecue. This is Memphis.” When Willie tries to talk a nightclub owner into letting Vernon Clay sing with his band, the owner responds with, “Seeing some guy in a wheelchair don’t make nobody wanna dance.”

A feel-good, quickly paced holiday tale, Pretty Paper is sometimes too sweet, with a couple clichés too many, but these flaws are infrequent. More often, we are treated to Zen Willie: “cosmic conspiracy” at work and advice to “love the mystery,” extolling writing and music as therapy, release, and exorcism, reminding me in turn of O. Henry and Jimmy Buffett.

It’s a slim, handsomely designed volume; the dust jacket features an iconic drawing of Willie in saturated color, complete with a red bandana anchoring his braids, and a green scarf warming his neck. The interior is similarly thoughtful, with simple charcoal drawings scattered throughout and the edges of the pages changing color by section, striped like a candy cane. This first-person narrative of seasonal serendipity reads as if you’re hanging on the tour bus with the man himself, telling tales. The final touching twist left me smiling, as any good Christmas tale should.

Originally published in Lone Star Literary Life. ( )

Pretty Paper by Willie Nelson and David Ritz creates a fictional story behind the song of the same title. The plot is tried and true formula for a feel good story. The casual tone takes a while to get used to, but then the feel good party of the story takes over. This story does not preach; it is just about what happens when one person reaches out to help another. In a world full of sadness and divisions right now, this message is a powerful and heartwarming one.

Read my complete review at http://www.memoriesfrombooks.com/2016/11/pretty-paper.html.

Reviewed for the Penguin First to Read program ( )