Heart Full of Soul: An Inspirational Memoir about Finding Your Voice and Finding Your Way

With a Bible belt twang and a shock of gray hair, American Idol winner Hicks resembles nothing less than the other tweeny pop stars churned out by the television megahit. In this inspirational autobiography, Hicks reveals that, before capturing televised glory (and more votes than George Bush in 2004), he spent years playing to nearly-nonexistent road house audiences. Though his passion is for soul music, Hicks's life reads more like a discordant country ballad: formative years were spent shoplifting Otis Redding music, fabricating report cards and distinguishing between the ""teddy-bear drunks and mean drunks"" in his family; later, he turned to blind ambition and dime-store mantras like ""embrace my oddness"" to keep himself singing to empty venues. Behind-the-scenes Idol dirt is spare; Hicks discusses feelings of isolation while taping, the infamous purple jacket and the songs he chose to sing, but says little about relationships among other contestants, fans or judges. Still baffled by his sudden fame, Hicks has a charmingly humble, if not particularly dynamic, voice best summed up in his standard reply to people who stop to tell him he looks an awful lot like Taylor Hicks: ""Yeah, you know, it's funny, I get that all the time."" 24 color photos.