In his review titled “Nothing’s Bad Luck Zeroes In On The Life And Lasting Work Of Warren Zevon” Austin-based author Gabino Iglesias writes:
C.M. Kushin’s Nothing’s Bad Luck: The Lives of Warren Zevon opens with Zevon waking up in the middle of the night, confused and scared. The narrative quickly spirals into madness from there. Soon Warren is holding a Smith & Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum, aiming it at an approaching vehicle. When Zevon finally makes out the driver’s face, he realizes it’s himself. Then he wakes up again.
The preceding paragraph contains a horror movie trope and is steeped in noir. It’s also strange, pregnant with the promise of violence, and feels dangerous. Those elements pop up time and again in Nothing’s Bad Luck, a superb biography of mysterious and brilliant singer/songwriter Warren William Zevon.
…Relying mainly on interviews with friends, family, and fellow musicians, Kushins offers an honest, complete view of the life of this enigmatic musician from a multiplicity of angles. …While it follows chronological order and the interviews are extensive, Nothing’s Bad Luck breaks away from the dry, matter-of-fact style of most biographies. …Kushins has delivered a nuanced, in-depth, loving look at this complicated figure, one that helps cement him as one of the most complex and captivating musicians of our times.
Nothing’s Bad Luck: The Lives of Warren Zevon by C.M. Kushins is published by Da Capo Press (World English rights).
C. M. Kushins has been a freelance journalist for over fifteen years. His writing has appeared in numerous print and online publications, including High Times and Creative Nonfiction. Nothing’s Bad Luck is his first book. A native New Yorker and a musician himself, Kushins is also, at times, FiveSe7en Collective recording artist Muckiness Child.