Living in the Present with John Prine

By: Tom Piazza, Fiona Whelan Prine - foreword

Narrated by: John Pruden

A vivid, joyful, moving window onto the life and heart of an American icon.

In the spring of 2018, Tom Piazza climbed into a 1977 Coupe de Ville with the great singer-songwriter John Prine to write an article for the Oxford American. Their Florida road trip ignited a deep friendship, full of tall tales over epic meals, long nights playing guitar and trading songs, and visits back and forth between their homes in Nashville and New Orleans. Along the way, Prine invited Piazza to work with him on a memoir, with John telling sprawling, often hilarious stories of his youth and family in Chicago and Kentucky, his breakthrough into the national spotlight, his riotous early years in the Nashville country scene, and much more. When Prine died suddenly of COVID in April 2020, that unfinished memoir evolved into an intimate and very personal narrative of the artist's final years. In it, Piazza offers fans an unforgettable portrait of the beloved musician in his late glory—as a boyish cut-up, an epic raconteur, a great American poet, and, most important, a beloved friend.

©2025 Tom Piazza (P)2025 Highbridge Audio

Simply sublime

It’s hard to say enough great things about Tom Piazza and this latest book is one of his most personal and maybe one of his best

Wonderful work

I loved John Prine before reading this book. Now I know why. Thank you. Excellent writing.

Leaves a melancholy feeling

Such great stories about John Prine. I loved our times the way it is read. Left me a little melancholy.

Encore!

Thanks for bring John back for an encore! Long live Prine’s music! Thank you Tom.

Short but Sweet!

The book goes by quick. Based on a handful of conversations during the final few years of John's life. Still a fun listen in the voice of John.