Nina Simone's Gum
A Memoir of Things Lost and Found
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5.0 • 1 Rating
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- $20.99
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
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.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Musician and composer Ellis debuts with an enchanting story of how his life was changed by a seemingly insignificant object: a piece of gum chewed by Nina Simone. A close friend and bandmate of Nick Cave, Ellis traveled to London to hear Simone perform at Cave's 1999 Meltdown Festival. This late in her career, Ellis recounts, the fiery Simone was slowed by health problems, but after performing her first song, "something shifted... her voice railed in defiance against her body.... To watch her transformation was a religious experience." Overwhelmed by the moment, Ellis took a piece of chewed gum that Simone had left on her piano. For 20 years, Ellis protected it like a religious relic, until Cave asked him to contribute it to a 2019 art exhibition he was curating. From here, 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 (and a few of who even painstakingly created molds to preserve it). When Belgian designer Ann Demeulemeester, for instance, encountered the gum, "it made her stomach tie itself in knots... moved her beyond understanding." Readers will find this heartfelt tribute to have a similar effect.
