At the age of fifty-seven, Bad Blake is on his last legs. His weight, 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 Ms. Right. Can Bad stop living the life of a country-western song and tie a rope around his crazy heart?
Thomas Cobb's marvelous first novel doesn't just play on your heartstrings, it breaks them. (San Francisco Examiner)
[Cobb's] picture of the scraggly underside of Western music is brutally convincing. (The New Yorker)
A measure of Thomas Cobb's talent is that he can make Bad Blake's story amusing even as we watch him fall. Bad is entirely sympathetic, and this crazy heart is vivid; the milieu is as resonant as a steel guitar, and the plot moves along without skipping a beat. (New York Times Book Review)
Crazy Heart is a beautiful book ... Bad Blake is a man you will not soon forget. (Washington Times)
Thomas Cobb has written a bitter, witty psychological profile of an aging genius that is also a wonderful celebration of country music. Bad Blake lives at the poor end of the rainbow, but you'll never forget him. Crazy Heart is a splendid achievement. (Donald Barthelme)
In producing as nearly a masterpiece as the subject has yet attracted ... Cobb has created an unforgettable character who engages not only your interest but your emotion and who proceeds to take you on a roller-coaster ride through his tawdrily tumultuous life. (Chicago Tribune)
