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A dream about lightning bugs : a life of music and cheap lessons / Ben Folds.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Ballantine Books, [2019]Copyright date: ©2019Edition: First editionDescription: ix, 311 pages : illustrations ; 25 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781984817273
  • 1984817272
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
File under "Music" -- A dream about lightning bugs -- Watch me eat this sandwich -- Erase and rewind -- A working-class tourist is something to be -- Hall pass -- Measure twice, cut once -- Big ears, thin walls -- A line and some clues -- 1979, the summer of love -- But for the grace of my music teachers -- Cheap lessons -- Plan A from outer space -- Dropped at exams in a cop car -- Drums in a lake -- Mt. Labor -- The existential chicken dance -- Of mace and men -- An accidental mentor -- Lederhosen to pink bow ties -- My semester overseas -- Creative visualization or useful delusion? -- Where oh where is my voice? -- Nashville: The best (preferred) way to fail -- Frozen on a suitcase -- BFF -- The first album (both of them) -- Welcome to the goddamn music business -- Hand me that piano -- Whatever -- I wanna be... -- Throwing stools (and other monkey business) -- Our turn to ride the bull -- Reinhold -- Stop the bus! -- Rockin' the suburbs -- Going it alone -- Rock this bitch! -- Follow the brown -- Vincibility -- Benny! What IS cool? -- Time to grow up... Wait. What? Again? -- Way to normal -- The fake album -- Music for the mating age -- After the flood -- The ever-popular VH1 Behind the Music artist-hits-bottom act -- Following interest.
Summary: Ben Folds is a celebrated American singer-songwriter, beloved for songs such as "Brick," "You Don't Know Me," "Rockin' the Suburbs," and "The Luckiest," and is the former frontman of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. But Folds will be the first to tell you he's an unconventional icon, more normcore than hardcore. Now, in his first book, Folds looks back at his life so far in a charming and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller. In the title chapter, "A Dream About Lightning Bugs," Folds recalls his earliest childhood dream -- and realizes how much it influenced his understanding of what it means to be an artist. In "Measure Twice, Cut Once" he learns to resist the urge to skip steps during the creative process. In "Hall Pass" he recounts his 1970s North Carolina working-class childhood, and in "Cheap Lessons" he returns to the painful life lessons he learned the hard way -- but that luckily didn't kill him. In his inimitable voice, both relatable and thought-provoking, Folds digs deep into the life experiences that shaped him, imparting hard-earned wisdom about both art and life. Collectively, these stories embody the message Folds has been singing about for years: Smile like you've got nothing to prove, because it hurts to grow up, and life flies by in seconds.
List(s) this item appears in: Celebrity Written Books
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library Biography Folds, B. F663 Available 33111009688389
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the genre-defying icon Ben Folds comes a memoir that is as nuanced, witty, and relatable as his cult-classic songs.

"A Dream About Lightning Bugs reads like its author: intelligent, curious, unapologetically punk, and funny as hell."--Sara Bareilles

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND PASTE

Ben Folds is a celebrated American singer-songwriter, beloved for songs such as "Brick," "You Don't Know Me," "Rockin' the Suburbs," and "The Luckiest," and is the former frontman of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. But Folds will be the first to tell you he's an unconventional icon, more normcore than hardcore. Now, in his first book, Folds looks back at his life so far in a charming and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller.

In the title chapter, "A Dream About Lightning Bugs," Folds recalls his earliest childhood dream--and realizes how much it influenced his understanding of what it means to be an artist. In "Measure Twice, Cut Once" he learns to resist the urge to skip steps during the creative process. In "Hall Pass" he recounts his 1970s North Carolina working-class childhood, and in "Cheap Lessons" he returns to the painful life lessons he learned the hard way--but that luckily didn't kill him.

In his inimitable voice, both relatable and thought-provoking, Folds digs deep into the life experiences that shaped him, imparting hard-earned wisdom about both art and life. Collectively, these stories embody the message Folds has been singing about for years: Smile like you've got nothing to prove, because it hurts to grow up, and life flies by in seconds.

Praise for A Dream About Lightning Bugs

"Besides being super talented, and an incredibly poignant and multifaceted musician, Ben Folds is a fantastic author. I couldn't put this book down--and not just because I taped it to my hand. Ben takes us into his mind and into his process from the very beginnings of his childhood to where he is today--one of the greatest musicians and writers that has ever graced the art." --Bob Saget

Ben Folds is a celebrated American singer-songwriter, beloved for songs such as "Brick," "You Don't Know Me," "Rockin' the Suburbs," and "The Luckiest," and is the former frontman of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. But Folds will be the first to tell you he's an unconventional icon, more normcore than hardcore. Now, in his first book, Folds looks back at his life so far in a charming and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller. In the title chapter, "A Dream About Lightning Bugs," Folds recalls his earliest childhood dream -- and realizes how much it influenced his understanding of what it means to be an artist. In "Measure Twice, Cut Once" he learns to resist the urge to skip steps during the creative process. In "Hall Pass" he recounts his 1970s North Carolina working-class childhood, and in "Cheap Lessons" he returns to the painful life lessons he learned the hard way -- but that luckily didn't kill him. In his inimitable voice, both relatable and thought-provoking, Folds digs deep into the life experiences that shaped him, imparting hard-earned wisdom about both art and life. Collectively, these stories embody the message Folds has been singing about for years: Smile like you've got nothing to prove, because it hurts to grow up, and life flies by in seconds.

File under "Music" -- A dream about lightning bugs -- Watch me eat this sandwich -- Erase and rewind -- A working-class tourist is something to be -- Hall pass -- Measure twice, cut once -- Big ears, thin walls -- A line and some clues -- 1979, the summer of love -- But for the grace of my music teachers -- Cheap lessons -- Plan A from outer space -- Dropped at exams in a cop car -- Drums in a lake -- Mt. Labor -- The existential chicken dance -- Of mace and men -- An accidental mentor -- Lederhosen to pink bow ties -- My semester overseas -- Creative visualization or useful delusion? -- Where oh where is my voice? -- Nashville: The best (preferred) way to fail -- Frozen on a suitcase -- BFF -- The first album (both of them) -- Welcome to the goddamn music business -- Hand me that piano -- Whatever -- I wanna be... -- Throwing stools (and other monkey business) -- Our turn to ride the bull -- Reinhold -- Stop the bus! -- Rockin' the suburbs -- Going it alone -- Rock this bitch! -- Follow the brown -- Vincibility -- Benny! What IS cool? -- Time to grow up... Wait. What? Again? -- Way to normal -- The fake album -- Music for the mating age -- After the flood -- The ever-popular VH1 Behind the Music artist-hits-bottom act -- Following interest.

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