THE TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER A GUARDIAN, TELEGRAPH, THE TIMES, IRISH
TIMES, ROUGH TRADE, MOJO, CLASH, ROLLING STONE, UNCUT BOOK OF THE
YEAR From award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes
the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum.
FEATURING AN INTRODUCTION BY NICK CAVE 'Warren has turned this
memento, snatched from his idol's piano in a moment of rapture,
into a genuine religious artefact.' NICK CAVE 'Such a mad, happy
book about art and music and obsession. I'm so glad I got to read
it. It made the world feel lighter.' NEIL GAIMAN 'In praise of
meaning-rich relics and magical things. Totally heartwarming
project.' MAX PORTER 'A unique study of a fan's devotion, of
transcendence and of the artistic vocation - it's got depth and
great warmth. It's a beautiful piece of work.' KEVIN BARRY I hadn't
opened the towel that contained her gum since 2013. The last person
to touch it was Nina Simone, her saliva and fingerprints unsullied.
The idea that it was still in her towel was something I had drawn
strength from. I thought each time I opened it some of Nina
Simone's spirit would vanish. In many ways that thought was more
important than the gum itself. On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina
Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown
Festival. After the show, in a state of awe, Warren Ellis crept
onto the stage, took Dr Simone's piece of chewed gum from the
piano, wrapped it in her stage towel and put it in a Tower Records
bag. The gum remained with him for twenty years; a sacred totem,
his creative muse, a conduit that would eventually take Ellis back
to his childhood and his relationship with found objects, growing
in significance with every passing year. Nina Simone's Gum is about
how something so small can form beautiful connections between
people. It is a story about the meaning we place on things, on
experiences, and how they become imbued with spirituality. It is a
celebration of artistic process, friendship, understanding and
love. 'This is such a beautiful f*@king book. Thank you, Warren. I
highly recommend this motherf*@ker.' FLEA 'A beautifully written
book about the power of music and objects. I powered through it in
two days.' COURTNEY BARNETT 'A moving, inspiration insight into a
beautiful mind.' JIM JARMUSCH 'The year's most eccentric and joyful
musical memoir.' DAILY TELEGRAPH (Books of the year) '[Nina
Simone's Gum] is a metaphor for [Ellis'] creativity - the
blossoming of a small idea into something bigger and bolder - but
also a journey inside the impulsive, improvisatory mind of Warren
Ellis, his passions, obsessions and superstitions.' OBSERVER '[A]
beautiful, strikingly idiosyncratic book - part memoir, part essay,
part conceptual art project, all testament to humans at their
strangest and best . . . [Ellis] sees signifiance where others
might not.' MOJO 'A glorious piece of object fetishism . . . Marvel
as Ellis' collection of eccentric personal mementos morphs into a
celebration of the intangible wonder of music.' UNCUT 'Wonderful.'
THE TIMES 'The most peculiar book I've ever read.' CRAIG BROWN,
MAIL ON SUNDAY 'Delightful . . . A joy from start to finish.' BIG
ISSUE 'A joyous work full of love, connection, creativity and
gratitude.' THE SPECTATOR 'Completely charming and joyful . . .
glorious.' LA REVIEW OF BOOKS 'Beautiful . . . remarkable.' NEW
EUROPEAN
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