Very few celebrity deaths have effected me as much as that of John Prine, who passed away after contracting Covid-19 early on in the pandemic. Prine is one of the greatest songwriters America has produced, and his catalogue is full of wryly funny, semi-tragic, sideways looks at life that endeared him to discerning listeners for decades. “Hello in There”, “Sam Stone”, “Angel From Montgomery” and “Far From Me” are just a few of his many legendary songs.
In 2018, the writer Tom Piazza approached Prine after a concert hoping to do a piece about him for a magazine. Instead, the two became friends, eventually leading Prine to ask the writer to collaborate with him on an autobiography. The two traveled the country together to John’s concerts, and Piazza set about interviewing Prine’s friends, fellow musicians, producers, and family. Sadly, the project was put aside after Prine’s illness and death.
Living in the Present with John Prine (the title is a nod to the singer’s “Living in the Future”) is not so much a book as the remnants of a book that could’ve been. I was leery of reading it for just that reason, but Piazza very quickly won me over. His love for Prine is absolutely genuine, and shines through the entire project.
Piazza details his time with Prine, but the best parts of the books are the few snippets of Prine discussing his life in his own words. Some of it will be familiar ground for Prine fanatics, but the man had a real knack for storytelling. I enjoyed hearing the stories of his upbringing in Muehlenberg County and his start in the music business, especially an anecdote about encountering Bob Dylan at a party and being shocked to discover that the legend knew Prine’s song.
I was also moved by Piazza’s account of Prine’s sickness and eventual passing. He captured the bizarre, scary time of early Covid very vividly, putting me back there myself. Piazza’s desperate wish for Prine to recover mirrored my own and many others.
Living in the Present with John Prine isn’t substantial enough to satisfy the desire for a full account of John Prine’s life and his songwriting genius, but as an intimate portrait of friendship and deep admiration, it has ample charms of its own.
