Nina Simone's Gum: A Memoir of Things Lost and Found

Product Information

It has been exhibited behind reinforced glass in a display case as part of Stranger Than Kindness, an exhibition in Copenhagen earlier this year, which traced Nick Cave’s career.

There are many more in this delightful book - as there are in life when one stops to think about it. Unvarnished honesty coupled with a yearning interest in trying to understand the creative process [. He bundled it in the towel she used to wipe her brow, wrapped that in a Tower Records bag, and proceeded to keep it with him for the next two decades.Faber’s production really suits the text: it feels like a labour of love, and it’s a real joy – I mean that in the most natural, least cynical way I can describe – to be lost in its pages for a couple of hours. Faber Members get access to live and online author events and receive regular e-newsletters with book previews, promotional offers, articles and quizzes. What a thrill to see a person whose work gives a little extra beauty and meaning to our lives casually inhabiting the same physical space!

On Thursday 1 July, 1999, Dr Nina Simone gave a rare performance as part of Nick Cave's Meltdown Festival. With his blessing, the Belgian fashion designer Ann Demeulemeester produced an intricately carved silver ring in its image and, in September, her sculpture of the gum will be exhibited in Waterstones, Piccadilly, to mark the book’s publication. And then she said it would make a good connections text if the theme was how fame inspires people do weird things. And there are definitely people who would go to an exhibition that had Bowie's gum or Nick Cave's gum or Nina's gum.Ellis weaves what he learned from Nina Simone, her fearless music and defiant life, throughout the book as well, including recollections from other people who were present at the show at which he nabbed the gum, creating an informal oral history. it's a hands down unique book, taking an object we would - at best - ignore and telling a story about it, a story filled with care and admiration, because things aren't only what they seem to be, people aren't only what they seem to be.

From award-winning musician and composer Warren Ellis comes the unexpected and inspiring story of a piece of chewing gum.It was his mastery of Orange Blossom Special, learned from a tape of The Johnny Cash Show, that won him a music scholarship to attend a local private school. When Ellis takes Nina Simone’s gum from her piano after a transcendent performance, it takes him on an epic adventure while he contemplates the meaning and importance of these precious objects that we carry with us. That curiosity in that absurd book lead to one of my all time favorite book discoveries, a book about MAGIC, ART, and things having a life of their own. Warren Ellis is a multi-instrumentalist and frequent collaborator with Nick Cave as well as a member of The Bad Seeds and the trio Dirty Three among other music projects. Ellis's fascinating relationship with the artifact took an intriguing turn--which he details with whimsy and admiration--as the gum's "unique transmission of creative energy" connected him to a number of artists entranced by its power.