Grant & I: Inside and Outside the Go-Betweens

Grant & I: Inside and Outside the Go-Betweens PDF Author: Robert Forster
Publisher: Omnibus Press
ISBN: 1783239395
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book Here

Book Description
“In early ’77 I asked Grant if he’d form a band with me. ‘No,’ was his blunt reply.” Grant McLennan didn’t want to be in a band. He couldn’t play an instrument; Charlie Chaplin was his hero du jour. However, when Robert Forster began weaving shades Hemingway, Genet, Chandler and Joyce into his lyrics, Grant was swayed and the 80s indie sensation, The Go-Betweens, was born. These friends would collaborate for three decades, until Grant’s tragic, premature death in 2006. Beautifully written – like lyrics, like prose – Grant & I is a rock memoir akin to no other. Part ‘making of’, part music industry exposé, part buddy-book, this is a delicate and perceptive celebration of creative endeavour. With wit and candour Robert Forster pays tribute to a band who found huge success in the margins, who boldly pursued a creative vision, and whose beating heart was the band’s friendship.

Grant & I: Inside and Outside the Go-Betweens

Grant & I: Inside and Outside the Go-Betweens PDF Author: Robert Forster
Publisher: Omnibus Press
ISBN: 1783239395
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 265

Get Book Here

Book Description
“In early ’77 I asked Grant if he’d form a band with me. ‘No,’ was his blunt reply.” Grant McLennan didn’t want to be in a band. He couldn’t play an instrument; Charlie Chaplin was his hero du jour. However, when Robert Forster began weaving shades Hemingway, Genet, Chandler and Joyce into his lyrics, Grant was swayed and the 80s indie sensation, The Go-Betweens, was born. These friends would collaborate for three decades, until Grant’s tragic, premature death in 2006. Beautifully written – like lyrics, like prose – Grant & I is a rock memoir akin to no other. Part ‘making of’, part music industry exposé, part buddy-book, this is a delicate and perceptive celebration of creative endeavour. With wit and candour Robert Forster pays tribute to a band who found huge success in the margins, who boldly pursued a creative vision, and whose beating heart was the band’s friendship.

Grant & I

Grant & I PDF Author: Robert Forster
Publisher: Penguin Group Australia
ISBN: 1743485662
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Get Book Here

Book Description
The Go-Betweens, one of Australia’s most talented and influential bands, very nearly wasn’t. Grant McLennan didn’t want to be in a group, and couldn’t even play an instrument. That didn’t stop the singer-songwriter duo of Forster/McLennan becoming one of the most acclaimed partnerships in Australian music history. Just as The Go-Betweens always defied categorisation, Grant & I is like no other rock memoir. At its heart is a privileged insight into a prolific artistic collaboration that lasted three decades, and an extraordinary friendship that rode out the band’s break-up to remain strong until Grant’s premature death in 2006. Unconventional in lineup and look, noted for near misses and near hits, always a beat to one side of the mainstream – the band’s unusual beginnings were followed by twists that often confounded its members as well as fans and record companies. The story of The Go-Betweens is also the story of the times, and Grant & I is a wonderfully perceptive look at the music industry and a brilliantly fresh take on the sounds of the era. As distinctive a writer of prose as he is of songs, Robert Forster is wise and witty, intimate and frank, astute and knowledgeable. There could be no better tribute than Grant & I to this partnership and band who remain loved and revered. 'The truest and strangest poet of his generation.' Nick Cave 'An odyssey of friendship, ambition and the struggle of art. Clear-eyed and compelling.' Paul Kelly 'Grant & I is a beautifully written book . . . You long to hear McLennan’s voice, to view the band, and Forster, through his eyes. There is still, even after McLennan’s death, a sense of potential about this relationship.’ Los Angeles Review of Books. ‘Forster’s account is melancholic, cheery, and self-deprecating all at once. It is often unruly and mischievous as well. Rather than presenting a stock-standard Australian success story, Grant & I offers up the tangled lives of two kindred spirits who decided to make music together.’ Doug Wallen, Australian Book Review 'As a survey of a sui generis carrer, as a glimpse into the formation and working methods of a superlative songwriter, and as an ultimately poignant chronicle of a friendship, Grant & I weaves a memorable story with wit, art and heart.' Readings Monthly ‘The main focus is as admirable as it is surprising. Forster’s topic is rarely himself or McLennan. Instead, it’s the stuff of which their days were made, the music of The Go-Betweens . . . Forster is not at all sentimental about their friendship, until he has to be . . . And their relationship is not at all dramatic, until, of course, it is, at which point, it is gutting, sudden and tragic.’ The Saturday Paper ‘The Go-Betweens were fascinating for teaming two very different singer-songwriters – the sweetly melodic Grant McLennan and ragged rock poet Robert Forster. Robert’s account of their journey is as compelling as it is sprightly.’The Weekly Review ‘This moving memoir . . . is a fascinating glimpse into a life richly lived and a key friendship along the way . . . [Forster] has gone on to honour his departed friend in many ways and now, importantly, with this warm, witty and at times searingly honest book.’ The Courier-Mail ‘His writing is sharp, with an undercurrent of ironic humour but, when it comes to the big moment with which the book climaxes, he handles it with emotional precision . . . You can read this as a book about the music industry. You can read it as a book about the mysterious synergies of art. Or you can read it is a book about the non-erotic love that can exist between men.’ The Age ‘An engrossing, textured insight into [Forster’s] friendship with his fellow, but more introverted, singer-songwriter while documenting the highs and lows of The Go-Betweens’ battles with record labels in the UK, US and at home. The book is also a wonderful insight into the punk, post-punk and ’90s music scenes, detailing the band’s brushes with REM, Nick Cave’s The Birthday Party, Lloyd Cole and Scottish cult act Orange Juice.’ The Advertiser (Adelaide) ‘[A] beautifully documented account . . . The heart of Forster’s story is deeper and more poetically drawn than simple band autobiography, however. It’s the unveiling of a friendship, a partnership, even a love affair, of sorts, that ended in tragic circumstances . . . His natural talent for the written word blossoms from almost every page of this colourful account of his relationship with McLennan . . . Forster writes from the heart.’ Weekend Australian ‘Forster’s half of the tale is passionate, funny, unflinchingly honest and ultimately very moving in the hours of his friend’s strange, tragically premature passing . . . What we have in The Go-Betweens is a beautiful puzzle that invites imagination to rule.’ The Saturday Age This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.

My Rock 'n' Roll Friend

My Rock 'n' Roll Friend PDF Author: Tracey Thorn
Publisher: Canongate Books
ISBN: 1786898241
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 203

Get Book Here

Book Description
'Entertaining, affectionate and righteous' Guardian 'Says so much about being a woman' Cosey Fanni Tutti In 1983, backstage at the Lyceum in London, Tracey Thorn and Lindy Morrison first met. Tracey’s music career was just beginning, while Lindy, drummer for The Go-Betweens, was ten years her senior. They became confidantes, comrades and best friends, a relationship cemented by gossip and feminism, books and gigs and rock ’n’ roll love affairs. Thorn takes stock of thirty-seven years of friendship, teasing out the details of connection and affection between two women who seem to be either complete opposites or mirror images of each other. She asks what people see, who does the looking, and ultimately who writes women out of – and back into – history.

Grant and Twain

Grant and Twain PDF Author: Mark Perry
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN: 0812966139
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Get Book Here

Book Description
In the spring of 1884 Ulysses S. Grant heeded the advice of Mark Twain and finally agreed to write his memoirs. Little did Grant or Twain realize that this seemingly straightforward decision would profoundly alter not only both their lives but the course of American literature. Over the next fifteen months, as the two men became close friends and intimate collaborators, Grant raced against the spread of cancer to compose a triumphant account of his life and times—while Twain struggled to complete and publish his greatest novel, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.In this deeply moving and meticulously researched book, veteran writer Mark Perry reconstructs the heady months when Grant and Twain inspired and cajoled each other to create two quintessentially American masterpieces. In a bold and colorful narrative, Perry recounts the early careers of these two giants, traces their quest for fame and elusive fortunes, and then follows the series of events that brought them together as friends. The reason Grant let Twain talk him into writing his memoirs was simple: He was bankrupt and needed the money. Twain promised Grant princely returns in exchange for the right to edit and publish the book—and though the writer’s own finances were tottering, he kept his word to the general and his family. Mortally ill and battling debts, magazine editors, and a constant crush of reporters, Grant fought bravely to get the story of his life and his Civil War victories down on paper. Twain, meanwhile, staked all his hopes, both financial and literary, on the tale of a ragged boy and a runaway slave that he had been unable to finish for decades. As Perry delves into the story of the men’s deepening friendship and mutual influence, he arrives at the startling discovery of the true model for the character of Huckleberry Finn. With a cast of fascinating characters, including General William T. Sherman, William Dean Howells, William Henry Vanderbilt, and Abraham Lincoln, Perry’s narrative takes in the whole sweep of a glittering, unscrupulous age. A story of friendship and history, inspiration and desperation, genius and ruin, Grant and Twain captures a pivotal moment in the lives of two towering Americans and the age they epitomized.

Come, Thou Tortoise

Come, Thou Tortoise PDF Author: Jessica Grant
Publisher: Vintage Canada
ISBN: 0307373924
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 434

Get Book Here

Book Description
A delightfully offbeat story that features an opinionated tortoise and her owner who find themselves in the middle of a life-changing mystery. Audrey (a.k.a. Oddly) Flowers is living quietly in Oregon with Winnifred, her tortoise, when she finds out her dear father has been knocked into a coma back in Newfoundland. Despite her fear of flying, she goes to him, but not before she reluctantly dumps Winnifred with her unreliable friends. Poor Winnifred. When Audrey disarms an Air Marshal en route to St. John’s we begin to realize there’s something, well, odd about her. And we soon know that Audrey’s quest to discover who her father really was – and reunite with Winnifred – will be an adventure like no other. Excerpt: Winnifred is old. She might be three hundred. She came with the apartment. The previous tenant, a rock climber named Cliff, was embarking on a rock-climbing adventure that would not have been much fun for Winnifred. Back then her name was Iris. Cliff had inherited Iris from the previous tenant. Nobody knew how old Iris was or where she had come from originally. Now Cliff was moving out. He said, Would you like a tortoise. I would not say no to a tortoise, I said. I was alone in Portland and the trees were giant. I picked her up and she blinked at me with her upside-down eyelids. I felt instantly calm. Her eyes were soft brown. Her skin felt like an old elbow. I will build you a castle, I whispered. With a pool. And I was true to my word.

If You're Not First, You're Last

If You're Not First, You're Last PDF Author: Grant Cardone
Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
ISBN: 047064592X
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 279

Get Book Here

Book Description
During economic contractions, it becomes much more difficult to sell your products, maintain your customer base, and gain market share. Mistakes become more costly, and failure becomes a real possibility for all those who are not able to make the transition. But imagine being able to sell your products when others cannot, being able to take market share from both your competitors, and knowing the precise formulas that would allow you to expand your sales while others make excuses. If You’re Not First, You’re Last is about how to sell your products and services—despite the economy—and provides the reader with ways to capitalize regardless of their product, service, or idea. Grant shares his proven strategies that will allow you to not just continue to sell, but create new products, increase margins, gain market share and much more. Key concepts in If You’re Not First, You’re Last include: Converting the Unsold to Sold The Power Schedule to Maximize Sales Your Freedom Financial Plan The Unreasonable Selling Attitude

The Man Who Saved the Union

The Man Who Saved the Union PDF Author: H. W. Brands
Publisher: Anchor
ISBN: 0307475158
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 754

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist, bestselling historian, and author of Our First Civil War—a masterful biography of the Civil War general and two-term president who saved the Union twice, on the battlefield and in the White House. • “[A] splendidly written biography ... Brands does justice to one of America’s most underrated presidents.” —Dallas Morning News Ulysses Grant emerges in this masterful biography as a genius in battle and a driven president to a divided country, who remained fearlessly on the side of right. He was a beloved commander in the field who made the sacrifices necessary to win the war, even in the face of criticism. He worked valiantly to protect the rights of freed men in the South. He allowed the American Indians to shape their own fate even as the realities of Manifest Destiny meant the end of their way of life. In this sweeping and majestic narrative, bestselling author H.W. Brands now reconsiders Grant's legacy and provides an intimate portrait of a heroic man who saved the Union on the battlefield and consolidated that victory as a resolute and principled political leader. Look for H.W. Brands's other biographies: THE FIRST AMERICAN (Benjamin Franklin), ANDREW JACKSON, TRAITOR TO HIS CLASS (Franklin Roosevelt) and REAGAN.

The Book of Unconformities

The Book of Unconformities PDF Author: Hugh Raffles
Publisher: Verse Chorus Press
ISBN: 1891241745
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 415

Get Book Here

Book Description
From the author of lnsectopedia, a powerful exploration of loss, grief, endurance, and the absences that permeate the present. Unconformities are gaps in the geological record, physical evidence of breaks in time. For Hugh Raffles, these holes in history are also fissures in feeling, knowledge, memory, and understanding. In this endlessly inventive, riveting book, Raffles enters these gaps, drawing together threads of geology, history, literature, philosophy, and ethnography to trace the intimate connections between personal loss and world historical events, and to reveal the force of absence at the core of contemporary life. Through deeply researched explorations of Neolithic stone circles, Icelandic lava, mica from a Nazi concentration camp, petrified whale blubber in Svalbard, the marble prized by Manhattan's Lenape, and a huge Greenlandic meteorite that arrived in New York City along with six Inuit adventurers in 1897, Raffles shows how unconformities unceasingly incite human imagination and investigation yet refuse to conform, heal, or disappear. A journey across eons and continents, The Book of Unconformities is also a journey through stone: this most solid, ancient, and enigmatic of materials, it turns out, is as lively, capricious, willful, and indifferent as time itself.

The Gift Inside the Box

The Gift Inside the Box PDF Author: Adam Grant
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1984815474
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 40

Get Book Here

Book Description
Adam Grant, the bestselling author of Give and Take, teams with his wife, Allison, to share the lighthearted tale of a gift in search of a giver--a classic in the making and the perfect conversation starter about thoughtfulness. This delightful book--one of Amazon's 2019 Holiday Gift Picks and Most Anticipated Books--is designed to start conversations with kids about generosity. In the tradition of Goodnight Gorilla, the words are intentionally spare. The book is meant to be read interactively, with adults posing questions so kids can guess what's happening (and why). Praised by both parents and teachers for sparking imagination and eliciting discussion, the story can be interpreted differently in every family, by every child, and reinterpreted many times over. Give the gift of this clever, earnest book about generosity--a new and nourishing fable for every child's library (and one that includes a delightfully innovative cover approach that requires the reader to unfasten the Velcroed cover for a fun unboxing effect!). It's a gift that keeps on giving. "Truly phenomenal . . . Kristen [Bell]'s favorite book we've read to the kids in a year." --Dax Shepard of the podcast "Armchair Expert"

The 100 Best Australian Albums

The 100 Best Australian Albums PDF Author: John O'Donnell
Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing
ISBN: 174273555X
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Get Book Here

Book Description
Australian music has a proud, colourful and successful history. In 2008, Australian rock and roll turned 50. This book names the best Australian albums of the last 50 years. It places each album in order (from 1 u 100) and discusses why each album deserves its place. It tells the story behind the making of the album, where the album fits in the artist's career and the album's impact on the local and world stage etc. The entries will feature new interviews with the artists and the producers/managers involved in the recording and the release of the album. It wouldn't be a good list if it didn't polarise people and we hope that this list will. We also hope that it will get people sitting around comparing their favourites and discovering or re-discovering these great albums and others. With 70 years of loving and writing about Australian music between us, we shamelessly believe we've earned the right to write this book. And we think we've got it right. Let the debate begin.o u John O'Donnell, April 2010 Finally, here is a much-needed list of argument-starting top 100 seminal/ influential/essential Australian albums of all time. Let the fight begin!