Book review of Living in the Present With John Prine by Tom Piazza

There will never be a memoir by the great John Prine. The beloved, Nashville-based singer-songwriter died in 2020 from complications of COVID-19. Living in the Present With John Prine by longtime New Orleans-based music writer and novelist Tom Piazza (A Free State, The Auburn Conference) is the next best thing. 

In 2018, Piazza approached the “Illegal Simile” artist for an essay he would publish in Oxford American, and the two quickly became pals. Soon, they agreed to collaborate on Prine’s memoir. John’s wife, Fiona Whelan Prine, writes in the foreword about the friends’ “late-night jam sessions, where they were like a pair of teenagers.” 

The memoir the men had in mind—something in the vein of Bob Dylan’s Chronicles: Volume One, Piazza writes, “lyrical, and impressionistic, not a formal portrait, but something more musical, improvisational”—would surely have offered insights that Prine’s fans would cherish. But it likely wouldn’t show just how much fun the man had in his life. 

Living in the Present is more like a road trip. Portions reveal Prine’s life through interview-style back-and-forth narratives: Prine and Piazza eating at Nashville’s OG fancy dinner spot Sperry’s, “a steak-and-chops type of place, warm, dark, and clubby”; cruising through Florida in a 1977 Coupe de Ville with illegal plates that was also missing a key seatbelt; playing guitar together while Prine talked through his early days in Music City alongside the legendary record producer Cowboy Jack Clement. Prine quotes Clement when he describes the primacy of hijinks and play in his career. “We’re in the fun business,” Cowboy told him. “If we’re not having fun, we’re not doing our jobs.” 

Piazza fills some of the gap left by Prine’s passing by interviewing his family and musical collaborators. Prine’s 85-year-old brother, Dave, is a delight to meet on the page: His big-brother pride comes through strongly, and the way Piazza gives him and others space to be in awe of Prine adds depth to the songwriter’s life.

For anyone who has looked up at the stage and wondered whether Prine—cowboy boot tapping, smile askew—was having as much fun as he seemed to be, Living in the Present With John Prine offers an opportunity to catch a few more moments of that sublime joy.