Stephanie Clifford is an award-winning investigative journalist and a bestselling novelist. As a New York Times reporter for almost a decade, she covered business and law. She now writes long-form investigations about criminal justice and business for the Times, The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Wired, Elle, The Economist, Bloomberg Businessweek, and other publications. Her accolades include the Loeb Award in Investigative Reporting, the Deborah Howell Award for Writing Excellence from the News Leaders Association, the Society of American Business Editors and Writers Award in Explanatory Reporting, and the Deadline Club Award in magazine profiles, among others. Everybody Rise, her first book, was a New York Times bestseller and a New York Times Book Review editors' choice. She grew up in Seattle and lives in Brooklyn with her family.
"Breathtaking. . . . The Farewell Tour is a shimmering paean to the
deeply flawed American West, which feels real and vital thanks to
Clifford's gift for description." -- The New York Times Book
Review"Thought-provoking and entertaining. . . . The Farewell Tour
is indeed a redemption tale. But its seemingly predictable arc is
disrupted by plenty of smart misdirections and subtexts. Like a
particularly sharp country song, it takes clichés and untangles and
renews them. . . . Clifford's emotional acuity is matched by her
grasp of country history. . . . The strength of The Farewell Tour
is in showing just how much work is required to escape that
judgment, to erase the persona and see yourself clearly."
-- Washington Post"Terrific, keenly observed....Clifford's command
of country-music history runs deep, and her powers of description
are prodigious....There's a song here for sure." -- Wall Street
Journal "Seamlessly written, The Farewell Tour reads more like a
musician's confessional memoir than a fictional work. It's a novel
that rock music fans and country music acolytes alike can
enjoy--even if they can't always appreciate one another's music."
-- Southern Review of Books"A must-read country-music novel. . . .
Like a great country tune, The Farewell Tour takes readers on a
journey of tough-to-swallow reflection, much-needed self-discovery
and plot-twisting closure." -- The Tennessean"Many details give the
book depth, from the history of so-called "hillbilly" music in
Washington state during the Great Depression, to rich descriptions
of key country figures throughout the genre's eras. But the most
compelling element is the main character herself. Waters is a
refreshing and intense artist whose candor kept me rooting for her
at every stage. Her story of redemption, unrequited love, and
growth brings the reader along on tour. It's a gig you don't want
to miss." -- Nevada Public Radio"If you ever wondered what would
happen if Daisy Jones confronted her past, this book is for you."
-- Esquire"A book about music, about country music in particular
and the struggle one woman has to achieve stardom in a world
dominated by men....but it is so much more than that. Clifford
takes the reader on a tour of country music and some of country
music's greatest and most memorable stars, including Buck Owens,
Loretta Lynn, Patsy Cline and Dolly Parton, as our main character
struggles to become a country music legend herself."
-- Yakima Herald (Yakima, WA)"Go places with this country music
saga. . . . Clifford takes you into the early generations of
country music, to the landscape of eastern Washington state, to the
vanished world of mid-century America, and into the heart and mind
of a hardscrabble, fiercely independent woman." -- The Free Lance
Star (Fredericksburg, VA)"Fine-grain detail, historical import, and
emotional heft. . . . Early chapters in Depression-era Walla Walla
- where 10-year-old Lil leaves her troubled family - read a bit
like Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping, while the novel's
exploration of band dynamics would be at home in David Mitchell's
recent Utopia Avenue. . . . Clifford dives deep--genuinely,
unapologetically deep." -- Post Alley (Seattle)"Triumphant. . . .
Tracing both the rocky start to her farewell tour and her youthful
rise to stardom, Clifford introduces readers to a refreshingly
alive and authentic protagonist. . . . Both a startling, resonant
portrait of a woman creating and living in the male-dominated world
of country music and a late-in-life coming-of-age drama that soars
with themes of reinvention and redemption." -- Book Reporter"The
Farewell Tour is rich in historical touches and will appeal to fans
of American culture and country music alike. The novel is the
second by a New York Times bestselling author with a no-nonsense
ear for both narrative and dialog; the style is well-paced and
accessible without sacrificing depth. . . .Her final tour stop is
both bookend and epiphany for a woman who had sacrificed
self-awareness for a life lived in the minds of others. Recommended
reading." -- Historical Novel Society"Years ago, someone told me
that you should write as though your characters have immortal
souls. I keep trying, but Stephanie Clifford has done it, with a
novel that feels like real life, so alive and heartbreakingly
authentic. This story is a fictional paean to real survivors, a
tribute and a triumph." -- Jamie Ford, New York Times bestselling
author of The Many Daughters of Afong Moy"Beautifully written,
wise, and true, THE FAREWELL TOUR honors the hard-working,
hard-living women of country music--their resilience, courage, and
powerful devotion to artmaking. I won't soon forget the indomitable
Lillian Waters." -- Elizabeth Wetmore, New York Times bestselling
author of Valentine"What happens when your coming-of-age story
begins with your retirement tour? What happens when we become too
old to feel young? Stephanie Clifford's novel is about regret,
love, despair, country music triumph and failure, and betrayal.
It's about 'the music spreading...out from the migrant camps and
down from the mountain towns, over radio waves, into jukeboxes.'
It's about a Nashville where everybody is hungry for fame and a
Walla Walla, Washington, where everybody is broken by shame. This
is a novel to be read by dusty barlight and wheatfield sunlight. I
loved it." -- Sherman Alexie"Stephanie Clifford nails the character
of Depression-era songbird-turned-country crooner Lillian Waters in
her fabulous new novel, The Farewell Tour. . . . I saw myself in
Lillian's journey, from the highs to the lows to the numbness, from
the bench seat of a roadster rumbling across dirt roads to shiny
tour buses humming down interstates. . . . By the last chorus we
learn that a life in country is a holy sacrifice to the Gods of
hillbilly music--for which The Farewell Tour is a worthy offering."
-- Grammy-winning singer, songwriter, and performer Ketch Secor of
Old Crow Medicine Show
"A dual-timeline redemption story and an epic journey through a
half-century of country music....Full of marvelous period details
about World War II-era Tacoma, Washington, and its proto-country
music scene as well as glitzy 1970s Nashville, Tennessee....Like a
country ballad, this is a bittersweet testament to the healing
power of old love, long friendships and heartfelt songs." --
BookPage"Clifford conveys Lillian's joy in crystalizing an emotion
into a song and connecting with a live audience. . . . a moving
tribute to the power of country music." -- Publishers Weekly
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