Books by Kristin Hersh
Don't Suck, Don't Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt (American Music Series)
“Friend, asshole, angel, mutant,” singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt “came along and made us gross and broken people seem . . . I dunno, cooler, I guess.” A quadriplegic who could play only simple chords on his guitar, Chesnutt recorded seventeen critically acclaimed albums before his death in 2009, including About to Choke, North Star Deserter, and At the Cut. In 2006, NPR placed him in the top five of the ten best living songwriters, along with Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen. Chesnutt’s songs have also been covered by many prominent artists, including Madonna, the Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Sparklehorse, Fugazi, and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Kristin Hersh toured with Chesnutt for nearly a decade and they became close friends, bonding over a love of songwriting and mutual struggles with mental health. In Don’t Suck, Don’t Die, she describes many seemingly small moments they shared, their free-ranging conversations, and his tragic death. More memoir than biography, Hersh’s book plumbs the sources of Chesnutt’s pain and creativity more deeply than any conventional account of his life and recordings ever could. Chesnutt was difficult to understand and frequently difficult to be with, but, as Hersh reveals him, he was also wickedly funny and painfully perceptive. This intimate memoir is essential reading for anyone interested in the music or the artist.
Copies
No copies available.
Don't Suck, Don't Die: Giving Up Vic Chesnutt (American Music Series)
“Friend, asshole, angel, mutant,” singer-songwriter Vic Chesnutt “came along and made us gross and broken people seem . . . I dunno, cooler, I guess.” A quadriplegic who could play only simple chords on his guitar, Chesnutt recorded seventeen critically acclaimed albums before his death in 2009, including About to Choke, North Star Deserter, and At the Cut. In 2006, NPR placed him in the top five of the ten best living songwriters, along with Bob Dylan, Tom Waits, Paul McCartney, and Bruce Springsteen. Chesnutt’s songs have also been covered by many prominent artists, including Madonna, the Smashing Pumpkins, R.E.M., Sparklehorse, Fugazi, and Neutral Milk Hotel.
Kristin Hersh toured with Chesnutt for nearly a decade and they became close friends, bonding over a love of songwriting and mutual struggles with mental health. In Don’t Suck, Don’t Die, she describes many seemingly small moments they shared, their free-ranging conversations, and his tragic death. More memoir than biography, Hersh’s book plumbs the sources of Chesnutt’s pain and creativity more deeply than any conventional account of his life and recordings ever could. Chesnutt was difficult to understand and frequently difficult to be with, but, as Hersh reveals him, he was also wickedly funny and painfully perceptive. This intimate memoir is essential reading for anyone interested in the music or the artist.
Copies
No copies available.
Rat Girl: A Memoir
"One of the 25 Greatest Rock Memoirs of All Time” --Rolling Stone Magazine (#8) “Sensitive and emotionally raw… it’s also wildly funny”--The New York Times Book Review
A powerfully original memoir of pregnancy and mental illness by the legendary founder of the seminal rock band Throwing Muses, 'a magnificently charged union of Sylvia Plath and Patti Smith' - The Guardian
Kristin Hersh was a preternaturally bright teenager, starting college at fifteen and with her band, Throwing Muses, playing rock clubs she was too young to frequent. By the age of seventeen she was living in her car, unable to sleep for the torment of strange songs swimming around her head - the songs for which she is now known. But just as her band was taking off, Hersh was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.
Rat Girl chronicles the unraveling of a young woman's personality, culminating in a suicide attempt; and then her arduous yet inspiring recovery, her unplanned pregnancy at the age of 19, and the birth of her first son. Playful, vivid, and wonderfully warm, this is a visceral and brave memoir by a truly original performer, told in a truly original voice.
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Toby Snax
Toby Snax is a little bunny who’s reluctant to experience things away from home. When Mama asks him to join her on a trip, he needs a bit of encouragement. So Mama tells Toby about the wondrous things that await him out in the wide world, helping him to look forward to new adventures.
This charming, gentle book will resonate with any child who’s nervous about trying new things. The acclaimed musician Kristin Hersh created Toby Snax to encourage her son, Bodhi, to embrace the experiences of touring the world together while she performed both solo and with her bands 50 Foot Wave and Throwing Muses. The first edition of the book sold out immediately and has become highly collectible. This new edition makes Toby Snax available again for all fans of Hersh’s evocative storytelling, as well as children—or even adults—who need a little reassurance that the world is full of wonders.
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Seeing Sideways: A Memoir of Music and Motherhood (American Music Series)
Doony, Ryder, Wyatt, Bodhi. The names of Kristin Hersh’s sons are the only ones included in her new memoir, Seeing Sideways. As the book unfolds and her sons’ voices rise from its pages, it becomes clear why: these names tell the story of her life.
This story begins in 1990, when Hersh is the leader of the indie rock group Throwing Muses, touring steadily, and the mother of a young son, Doony. The chapters that follow reveal a woman and mother whose life and career grow and change with each of her sons: the story of a custody battle for Doony is told alongside that of Hersh’s struggles with her record company and the resulting PTSD; the tale of breaking free from her record label stands in counterpoint to her recounting of her pregnancy with Ryder; a period of writer’s block coincides with the development of Wyatt as an artist and the family’s loss of their home; and finally, soon after Bodhi’s arrival, Hersh and her boys face crises from which only strange angels can save them. Punctuated with her own song lyrics, Seeing Sideways is a memoir about a life strange enough to be fiction, but so raw and moving that it can only be real.
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The Future of Songwriting (The FUTURES Series)
"An endlessly inventive mind and generosity of spirit that alone should give us hope." - The Wire
Throwing Muses frontwoman and critically acclaimed solo artist Kristin Hersh meditates on the future of her craft in this wry, existential and passionate addition to Melville House’s new series, FUTURES.
Over a long, hot Christmas in Australia, Throwing Muses frontwoman and critically acclaimed solo artist Kristin Hersh considers her future as a songwriter.
Is it possible to create music and not show off about it? How can artists establish and refine a following without becoming part of the commercial problem? And just how many times is it healthy to watch It's A Wonderful Life in 3 weeks?
In The Future of Songwriting, Hersh chooses to interrogate these questions through philosophical dialogue. From in-depth conversations with a comedian friend about the similarities between songs and jokes, via a fruitful visit to Sydney's 'bone museums', to a revelation from an acupuncturist in New Orleans, she delivers a fierce, funny and existential meditation on the art of the song – and its future.
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$16.99
Sinéad O'Connor: The Last Interview: and Other Conversations (The Last Interview Series)
by MELVILLE HOUSE, Kristin Hersh
A significant collection of interviews with the defiant, controversial, and ground-breaking singer, songwriter, and activist throughout her turbulent career . . .
“It’s not like I got up in the morning and said, ‘Okay, now let’s start a new controversy’.” -- Sinéad O’Connor
Sinéad O'Connor’s music — both in her songwriting and in her beautiful voice —addressed both emotional despair and incandescent joy with glorious ardor. But she may have been just as well known for her outspokenness. This collection of interviews covers the entire span of O'Connor's career, from the early days to her last interview. From giddy teenager to seasoned superstar, she speaks candidly about her meteoric rise to fame, and recounts what happened when she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II on live television in an act of protest. Unguarded and unpredictable, O'Connor was a woman who electrified the globe: imaginative, opinionated, and eloquent.
Copies
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$19.99