Brief biographical information about Browne’s life is scattered throughout the book but it's not as thorough as I expected.
The book offers little information about Browne’s personal life, and it seems like the author didn’t care to dig too deeply into Browne’s past, which included the suicide of his first wife. If you are looking for deep dive into his music and lyrics, this book will be for you. It examines lyrics in a cultural context and provides artist insights.

Thanks to NetGalley and Rowman & Littlefield for the digital copy of this book; I am leaving this review voluntarily.

I’ve been a Jackson Browne fan since I can remember, but I didn’t know much about the man behind some of the songs that were the soundtrack to my youth. I thought The Permanent Holdout would be a biography of the musician, but it isn’t. It’s a deep, deep dive into Browne’s music and interpretation of what his lyrics and music mean to the author.

Brief biographical information about Browne’s life is scattered throughout the book, and it is not much more than what one reads in a People magazine article. The dissemination of his songs line by line just got exhausting for me, especially because the author’s feelings about certain songs does not match mine. For example, Bonca says that 1989’s World in Motion is Browne’s worst album and pretty much dismisses it, but for me, that’s probably my favorite album I have of his. It made me expand my music selections to include more American protest songs, from Pete Seeger to Peter, Paul, and Mary. It made me more politically active even though I wasn’t able to vote yet.

The book offers scant information about Browne’s personal life, and it seems like the author didn’t care to dig too deeply into Browne’s past, which included the suicide of his first wife, Phyllis, and his contentious long-term relationship with actress Daryl Hannah.

If you like a deep dive into intricacies of Jackson Browne’s music, this is the book for you. If you’re looking for a biography of the singer/songwriter, this isn’t it.

Rowman and Littlefield provided an early galley for review.

Bonca takes a very merticulous and scholarly approach to his analysis of Browne's music. He applies not only what was occurring in the musician's own life but also in the country at the time (political and social) as he takes the reader on a track by track journey through many classic albums.

There are nuggets of revelation for all, from the casual fan to the diehards.

I'm a massive fan of Jackson Browne's music but I know very little of his personal life and views (other than what comes across in his music) so I was delighted to see this book on Netgalley.

I don't read a lot of non-fiction but I couldn't resist this one and I'm glad I was approved and read it.

Really interesting insight into someone I think is a criminally underrated musician.

Really impressed

Thank you, Rowman & Littlefield, for the copy of The Permanent Holdout - Jackson Browne, His Music, His America by Cornel Bonca. I was so excited to find this book because Jackson Browne was my first musical love. For over four decades I automatically bought and listened to Browne’s music so he will always have a special place in my heart. The incorrect music quotes really annoyed me, and I hope they’re fixed in the released book. Many places where the lyrics were quoted would have had more impact if the author had just summed up Bonca’s interpretation. The way Bronca constantly dissected the lyrics and what certain words and concepts meant bothered me because music is also personal to the listener and as a listener I had my own feelings about what this music meant to me. I wasn't expecting a track-by-track analysis of every album and it got old fast. I did like the overview of Browne’s life, loves, and the musicians who played with him and I have fond memories of the times I got to see him perform live. I’m not sure this book was for me. I think someone just discovering the LA singer-songwriter era would learn a lot, but as a long-time fan I didn’t think the book lived up to its promise of “revealing a remarkable musician still fueled by ideals of love and peace”. I am motivated to dig out my old Jackson CDs though! 2.5 stars rounded up to 3.