Take Me Home: An Autobiography

Intensely self-engrossed writing, but interesting. If John hadn't given so much credence to the angst-filled workings of his mind, he might have been a happier person. But then he probably would not have been such a an amazing songwriter or performer. It was also enlightening to read about his activist work outside his singing career.

I had heard that Denver was honest about himself in this book. He certainly laid out many of his inner demons. I wish he were still with us. I would like to know if he could have found more peace in his life.

This is worth reading for the information on John Denver's origins and early career. Overall it gets a little tiresome and does reveal its subject as the self-absorbed child of the '70's that he was, wrapped up in the philosophies of the day and self-discovery despite his well known efforts in environmental awareness. The best aspect of this autobiography is that John Denver does come across as being honest about his own shortcomings, although I am sure there is as much left out as included in that regard. On balance he remains a mostly likeable, if tarnished, star. Most will find the first half a quick and absorbing read and the last 1/3 hard to get through.

An excellent read by a close friend of John Denver's life and music. I have always loved his music but when you learn the reasons for the songs, they mean that much more. He will be forever missed.

John Denver is one of my favorite musicians. This book about him was a gift for my wife who also loves his music (and probably owns every CD he ever put out), but I think we both look forward to reading about his life, from his own perspective.

This autobiography, completed of course before his tragic air crash death, gives a good summary of John's struggles with family, spouse, fame and environmental concerns. He seems quite honest and not overly puffed up. Appears also to be an accurate portrayal of his romantic but troubled relationship with his first spouse, Annie, their two adopted children and his biological child from his brief second marriage. Book was reasonably translated into the made for television movie, "The John Denver Story", and it was the film which led me to the book. Overall he comes across as a humble, sincere guy with a lot of talent and strong social/environmental convictions with a difficult relationship to a demanding dad which was eventually healed. Apparently a brother took some exception to the portrayal of the dad, I believe particularly in the film.

Too much fluff and too much jumping around. I really enjoyed John Denver songs and it seems this book is more about patting himself on the back for other things more than the song writing that he was well know for or even his acting career. This book could not hold my attention . The writer who helped pen this book aloud it to go off too much.

If you like John Denver (the character) do not read this book. If you want to know more about Henry John Deutschendorf read on, if you must. The book is not well written, though not the worst. It could also use some better editing. So why do I say if you like John Denver don't read the book? The image I got from the book - and keep in mind it is my interpretation of what JHD put forth is a man who can take no responsibility for anything he does, despite going on endlessly about EST, creating one's own space, not being controlled by effects around you but affecting your life, etc. Most everything that goes wrong for JHD is blamed on things such as the energy given out by a place, his ex-wife (wives) other musicians or other professionals with whom he comes in contact, RCA, Ronald Reagan and the Reagan Era, and the the catch all source of all his problems: his father, his home life and the Midwest values imparted by the former and the latter. JHD was certainly a product of his time - best exemplified in the Jackson Brown hit "Running on Empty." He always seems to be look for the quick fix to make him happy, to make all things better and so we get a lot of introspective, mystical claptrap as he runs from guru, to shaman to ashram, to spiritual leader, to place that is supposed to exude some power that will open his mind and make all things better. As Shakespeare said, "The fault lies not in our stars but in ourselves." While it is true no man in a island and we are influenced by external forces the majority of HJD's problems were his own. The book left me thinking two things: 1) I still like John Denver and his music, though I cannot say the same thing for liking John Henry Deutschendorf.; 2) I do not think I will be reading anymore bio/autobios of singers, as what they really have to offer lies in their music and nothing can really be learned - at least anything that enriches ones enjoyment of them - from their natterings.

Parts of this book was very interesting about his early life and his rise to fame. Unfortunately, half of the book was slow and too much detail. Lost interest several times and it took awhile to read because I had to keep going back to finish the book.

This gets a five star rating partly to my affinity for the artist and the openness he shares of his life. He takes us inside both of his Marriages the first to Annie Martel who we all know from Annie's song and the other to Cassandra Delaney.
He discusses his good and bad business partnerships and those agreements that though often feeling like he was used may have helped further a cause he believed in.
We get a full coverage of Johns singing career, his family history and most of his love of life and that of the land.
He describes his first encounter with Alaska, the resentment many native Alaskans felt and his falling in love with what he considered our last chance to do something right in the beginning with a wilderness and he was instrumental in helping get passed the Alaskan Land bill, something of which he was very proud of, we learn of Windstar a project though not named he had thought of since he was a youth.
Most of all we learn of a man making mistakes, finding love success, losing one or the other, the trials he goes through as he grows. It is a story of finding one's self and the process that may take.
This is a great read whether you are a fan of his music or not, I would highly recommend giving this a chance.

Henry John Deutschendorf, Jr. was born about 10 years before I was, so his music was the anthem of my youth in the 70s. "Annie's Song" was exactly what I sought in love, not knowing then how hard it would be for him to actualize its meaning--or for all the rest of us, for that matter. While I thought him handsome at the time, I was sorry to hear that he cheated so flagrantly during his marriage to her. But John's autobiography comes across as more honest than pure, more innocent and self-disclosive than not. Annie failed to join him on the road, they struggled with infertility on his part, and the issues of stardom and very independent lifestyles ultimately tore them apart even after they had adopted two children, Zachary and Anna Kate.

John in the meantime sought to understand his difficult father, a stern military man, and he tried to face down the exploitative forces that chase a celebrity. He had legal troubles and money troubles and troubles with a music world that increasingly in a rock-and-roll era did not embrace his "country folk" style. He tarnished his image publically by embracing drugs and getting busted for alcohol, yet he tried EST and other self-discovery tools to make gains. He embraced world hunger and the ecology of the planet as personal causes, veered into a film career (that included stints with the Muppets and George Burns and Jacques Cousteau), and took up the aviation that his dad was famous for. And better than any other author I have read, he explains what it is to be a musician and songwriter, speaking right from the heart.

Yet he was destined for a second marriage, both sublime and disastrous. With Cassandra Delaney, an Australian singer, he was able to conceive his only biological child named Jesse Belle after he had medical treatment. His joy at being able to attend her delivery is not to be imagined, yet his relationship with her mother was unsupportable. According to John, "Before our short-lived marriage ended in divorce, she managed to make a fool of me from one end of the [Aspen] valley to the other."

The tragedy of this autobiography, written when John was just 50, is that he very personally takes you through all of his travails and you have a sense that he had begun to connect his own dots and even come into a modicum of happiness, maybe even a bit of wisdom. Yet then he died at 53, in a tragic air crash unbesmirched by pilot error, ending a life that he had hoped would be much longer. It is such a gift that his music--and in this book his story--lives on.

I remember the first time I heard John Denver sing in one of his TV specials when my son was still a baby, now 30 years ago. I was sure he would remain a major star. His obvious singing skill and message with heart were, and remain, a winning combination. Unlike many of his avid fans, somewhere along the line I lost track of what John was doing as the years went by. I was shocked at his early death, but unaware at the time at the enormity of his contributions on so many fronts.

Recently I came across several songs of his I had never heard before. I was enthralled, touched and saddened that so much of his work had escaped my notice for so long. The songs seemed so haunting. My immersion in the scope of topics, and what the songs revealed about their originator, brought me to a mild state of shock. I found myself embarrassed and guilty not to have taken the full measure of fruits of his extraordinary efforts seriously before.

Needing more information about the man, to flesh out true intent of many of his works and learn more about his dreams, I found only 1 autobiography in the entire Washington, DC library system. Subsequently I found there were only 7 in the Montgomery County, MD, system. I was sad and disappointed to find so little has been written about him....

His autobiography reveals the huge amount of courage John brought to many of his efforts, and in revealing the less flattering facts and deeds of his own life. In many ways the words in the book are a fuller extension of what he has already given voice to in his songs.

How is an artist made? Many strong feelings and experiences of childhood and adolescence can give rise to the need for artistic self expression, especially when other outlets are difficult. Beginning with his boyhood and family relationships, John talks about the feelings and events that lead to his own use of the guitar and songwriting as a means to self expression, finding friends and relationships, and making the contributions he was so driven to make.

John discusses the development of his musical career, while trying to balance marriage and the many issues with which all adults must cope. He describes the fabric of his many victories, losses and frailties in both his personal and professional life without shrinking from unflattering facts. We are given a rare view into how an artist translates the complexity of his thoughts and feelings into a communication to which others can relate. Often the most poignant moments in John's life led to his strongest and most striking compositions.

It is rare that anyone relates such a brutally honest examination of his life and his dreams as in this book. I now have a much deeper understanding and appreciation for John Denver the man, his music and the environmental causes to which he gave so much time, effort and financial support. It seems to me he may well have sacrificed a great deal to be able to give so much to the rest of us. In the end, it remains up to us that remain after him to carry on the work he so poetically outlined and gave his life to.

What's missing? Like John's life, this autobiography ends too soon. I hope someone will write more details about what John was doing in the late '80s and '90s. We have few in the Baby Boomer generation who have contributed as much as John Denver, without the acknowledgment he should have had during his lifetime. Only five years older than me, his life begs the question of each of us, asking what have we contributed and what will live on after each of us?