In the introduction to his authoritative biography of Hank Williams, Colin Escott argues that, in terms of creating a legend, Williams's death at the age of 29 ‘left what is still the most important body of work in country music; in fact, one of the defining caches of American music’ (pp. 2–3). As with other 20th-century icons who died young, subsequent writings about Williams have given many interpretations to this legend. Such differing literary representations include Williams as the ‘humble country boy’ or as the ‘hedonistic tabloid celebrity’ or as the ‘rock'n'roll pioneer’, to name but a few. In collecting together 79 selected writings from across a wide variety of sources, including liner notes for CD compilations and court documents relating to Williams' divorce from his first wife Audrey Mae, the editors of The Hank Williams Reader provide a wealth of material which both informs and challenges these differing interpretations.

The writings, presented in chronological order, are divided up into seven sections – each dealing with a certain time period. The first section presents writings that were published while Williams was still alive, including the aforementioned divorce decrees and also a newspaper article describing his arrest for being drunk and disorderly. The remaining six sections bring together writings that were published after his death, and in many respects these reveal more about the writers' differing attitudes towards Williams (and more generally the culture/society of the times) than they illuminate his life or personality. For instance, the newspaper editorials that were published following his death subtly highlight the class divisions prevalent at that time between country music and the print media. Similarly, the writings produced by Williams' immediate family promote a positive and wholesome image of the singer-songwriter. These texts contradicted earlier reports of his behaviour, but this is unsurprising given his family's personal and financial interests in maintaining his legacy.

In addition to the ones mentioned above, the editors identify a number of other interpretations of Williams' life and work, including the ‘tragic hero’, ‘organisation man’, ‘model family man’ and ‘original outlaw’. However, one of the strengths of this collection is that it provides possibilities to construct both an understanding of how these interpretations have developed and how they are interlinked. For example, in relation to the interpretation of Williams as a ‘pioneer of rock'n'roll’, both Bill C. Malone (in an excerpt from Country Music, USA (1968)), and Greil Marcus (in an excerpt from Mystery Train (1975)) explore the notion that Williams did as much to dilute country music as he did to promote it. For Malone, Williams' music reduced the rural purity of the genre and for Marcus, part of his music missed the hillbilly soul that Jimmie Rodgers ‘had celebrated’ (p. 172). Williams' music dealt with fear and resignation rather than the hedonism of rock'n'roll. Similarly, the description of Williams in John Mothland's The Best of Country Music (Reference Mothland1984) bridges a number of the singer-songwriter's representations through considering his music as being about limits – either those imposed by the poverty of the rural South, or those placed on him by his fans or his employers, such as The Grand Ole Opry. Rather than a proto-rock'n'roller, Williams was a child of the transitional South who ‘had brought the modern world into country music and country music into the modern world’ (p. 202).

While the anthology includes excerpts from scholarly articles, such as ‘“Everybody's lonesome for somebody”: age, the body and experience in the music of Hank Williams' by Richard Leppert and George Lipsitz (1990), alongside rarer newspaper excerpts and archived documents, what is also of great interest is the inclusion of short vignettes describing moments where people's lives intersected with that of Williams. Joe Pennington's description of his short-lived experience as a guitarist with Williams's band is particularly enlightening, but even more so is Nolan Porterfield's examination of the day he heard that Williams had died. In this article, ‘The day Hank Williams died: cultural collisions in country music’, from 1992, Porterfield is clear about the emotional impact that Williams' death had on him and on his fellow school friends. At the same time his account describes the ambivalence with which his generation viewed country music during this period.

This collection of writings is further enhanced through the editors providing a short introductory essay to each of the seven sections (as well as a shorter essay introducing each of the separate source materials). These essays help both to place the different pieces of writing into a historical and cultural context and to highlight any factual inconsistencies that they may contain. Overall, The Hank Williams Reader provides an important addition to the scholarly study of Williams and of the genre of country music in general. Furthermore, given the breadth of material contained within this volume and the degree to which the editors have rigorously researched, contextualised and fact-checked each piece of writing, this collection is valuable for the wider study of popular music.