Produces text, we hear, about donkey in part of book — major life events (5,2,7)

'book major life events' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.

'produces text we hear about donkey in part' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'about' could be 'of' and 'of' is found in the answer.
'donkey' could be 'ass' (ass is a term for a donkey) and 'ass' is found in the answer.
'part' could be 'te' (te is a kind of part) and 'te' is found within the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'of' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?