National Network for Equitable Library Service

Neil Peart is an internationally critically acclaimed, bestselling, and award-nominated author, and for more than thirty years has been the legendary drummer and lyricist for Rush, the most successful band in the history of Canadian rock music. Defying categorization, his books have earned a devoted readership by combining elements of memoir, travel writing, and social commentary with a thoughtful, musical sense of self-discovery. His previous books include Traveling Music: The Soundtrack to My Life and Times (2004), a unique triple memoir of a man, a musician, and a traveler; The Masked Rider: Cycling in West Africa (1996), a richly textured account of bicycle touring in “the continent where both life and art began;” and the relentlessly soulsearching Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road (2002), which was chosen by The Writers’ Trust of Canada as a Drainie-Taylor Biography Prize Finalist for its “exceptional merit” as one of the five best biographies of the year. For their achievements, Peart and his Rush bandmates have received the Order of Canada, the country’s highest civilian honor.