From Medium:
It comes as no surprise that musicians and writers are of a similar breed. For artists of language mining emotion, penning songs and music is just a step away from poems, stories, and memoirs. Below we’ve rounded up our favorite books by musicians, so put on a record, crack open a book, and fall in love with these artists all over again.
. . . .
Leonard Cohen: Let Us Compare Mythologies, Beautiful Losers
Before becoming the legendary musical icon he is today, Leonard Cohen actually started out as a writer, publishing his first book of poetry, Let Us Compare Mythologies, in 1956 while still an undergrad at McGill University. Beautiful Losers was the last novel he published before embarking on his music career. Filled with folklore and heartbreak, it wasn’t until much later in his career that the book won a cult following and recognition as one of the first postmodernist Canadian works.
. . . .
Nick Cave: The Death of Bunny Munro
Australian artist, musician and performance artist, Nick Cave is known for his dark aesthetic and pioneering influence of “gothic rock” in Australia’s post-punk scene. He’s even been called rock music’s “Prince of Darkness”. The Death of Bunny Munro, Cave’s second novel, earned him solid literary cred and follows in step with his musical influences of death, love, and violence as a sleazy salesman and his son take to the open road after his wife’s suicide.
Link to the rest at Medium
The Article Missed this Jewel:
The recent novel “The Bird Box” was written by Josh Malerman, lead singer of The High Strung and composer/singer of “The Love You Got,” a song that became the theme song of the series “Shameless.” (I give the novel, the song, and the show all five stars.)
I have one of Leonard Cohen ‘s collection of poems & stuff. Love his work.
All of Neil Peart’s books are insightful.