TOM WILSON is a three-time Juno winning Canadian musician with multiple gold records. He has written for and recorded songs with Sarah McLachlan, City and Colour, Jason Isbell, Colin James, Lucinda Williams, Billy Ray Cyrus, Mavis Staples and The Rankin Family. His band Junkhouse has scored eleven top-ten hits, and his iconic, Americana-fuelled Blackie and the Rodeo Kings was widely publicized for its presence on George Bush's iPod. Tom's most recent incarnation, Lee Harvey Osmond, has received extensive praise and airplay throughout the United States, where he's been touring for the last two years as a result. His art has shown in galleries in New York City, Vancouver, Toronto and more recently, Ottawa. The author lives in Hamilton, Ontario.
Finalist for the 2018 Kobo Emerging Writer Prize
Finalist for the Hamilton Literary Awards
National Bestseller
A CBC Best Book of 2017
"Beautiful Scars is a frank and fair, raw and loving look at what
it means to grow up with the silver spoon as far from your mouth as
it can get, a confession that celebrates the miseries and joys of
working-class life, of musicianship, of chasing secrets, of
fighting through to discover the person you didn't realize you
were. This is a remarkable, generous, big-hearted book that will
stick with me for a long time." --Guy Vanderhaeghe, author of The
Englishman's Boy, The Last Crossing and A Good Man "The book isn't
just good. It's stunning. . . . The secrets around [Wilson's] life
form a fundamentally Canadian story, rich in history and steeped in
darkness. They also separate Beautiful Scars from the ranks of the
typical rock memoir, and place it firmly on the shelf with the
likes of Angela's Ashes and The Glass Castle--riveting accounts of
family and secrets, poverty and peril, adversity and triumph."
--Quill & Quire, starred review "A helluva story. . . . Wilson has
the ear of the poet and the eye of the painter. He manages to pick
just the right anecdote to sum up a personal feeling, at the same
time as capturing a broader cultural moment." --Hamilton Spectator
"This is not your typical recollection of a debauched life of sex,
drugs and rock 'n roll. . . . The storytelling ability present in
Wilson's songwriting translates to the written page with real ease.
He has a direct cut-to-the-chase style, but is still capable of
delivering poetic imagery. . . . This [is] an inspiring read."
--Toronto Star "Beautiful Scars is like Cataract City, only true,
mixed with the kind of rock memoir you were scared to read. Wilson,
musician and shockingly fine storyteller, is from Hamilton,
Ontario. And not the bougie new Hamilton. That should tell you all
you need to know." --The Title "This incredible story is handled
with grace, grit and a real feeling of a boy, then a man, trying to
find their place in the world." --Vancouver Sun "A compelling
story, beautifully told. . . . Wilson writes with honesty and
clarity." --Winnipeg Free Press "A funny and poignant memoir about
family, identity and coming to terms with unexpected truths."
--Zoomer "Tom Wilson's memoir goes deeper than your average rock
'n' roll book." --Calgary Herald "[A] moving and beautifully
written memoir." --CBC Books "A dread of unknown origin cloaked and
nearly choked Tom Wilson, but his voice continued to soar and what
emerges here is an incredible tale of inclusion and devotion and
love." --Ron MacLean "Tom writes with charisma, humour and passion.
There's a depth to his story--full of a trauma and mystery--that
helps explain the arc of Tom's life and career. If you're already a
fan, you'll love him even more after reading this." --Max Kerman,
The Arkells "Tom Wilson's memoir, like his music, keeps a measure
of time that is so beautifully his own. This is a life, a story,
born of secrets and lies, of dark humour and love. Its song will
stay with you." --Ryan Knighton, author of Cockeyed
"Wilson's memoir is much more than yet another retelling of the
sex-drugs-and-rock-and-roll story that many other musicians before
him have told. All of that is in the book . . . but beneath and
behind this, always there lurks Wilson's search for truth and his
place in the world. . . . [Beautiful Scars] is more than a book. It
is a precious gift, a legacy of insight and truth from a father who
finally knows who he is and where he belongs." --Hamilton Review of
Books
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