Warren Zevon: Life'll Kill Ya

WHEN IT COMES to matters Californian, Warren is even more jaundiced than Steely Dan: if the Becker/Fagen take on El Lay was Elmore Leonard meets Randy Newman, boozehound Zevon’s was Chester Himes spliced with Ross MacDonald and James Ellroy. (His fans these days include Carl Hiassen.) The good news is that anyone in need of a dose of splenetics can still rely on Zevon to deliver a set of caustic diatribes every other year.