{"product_id":"days-of-miracle-and-wonder-paul-simon-and-the-trials-and-triumphs-of-graceland","title":"Days of Miracle and Wonder: Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland","description":"\n\u003ctable align=\"center\" border=\"0\" cellpadding=\"2\" cellspacing=\"0\" width=\"100%\"\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd class=\"productDetailSmallElements\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"A great American songwriter, a joyful South African music, a repressive government, international protests, and 1980s attitudes produced a clash of art and ethics thoroughly documented by Ashley Kahn.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Nelson George, NBCC finalist for \u003ci\u003eThe Death of Rhythm and Blues\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\" \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e remains one of the most intriguing (and misunderstood) of the blockbuster 1980s albums. It is immediately accessible, universally adored, and likely to endure forever. Ashley Kahn asks every question--political, musical, and aesthetic--that you might want answered about the record, its reception, and its legacy, with sensitive attention to detail, nuance and the artistic process.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Matt Thorne, Booker Prize-nominated author of \u003ci\u003ePrince: The Man and His Music\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eBiographical Note\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAshley Kahn is a Grammy Award-winning music historian, author, and producer. He cowrote Carlos Santana's autobiography \n\u003ci\u003eThe Universal Tone\u003c\/i\u003e, and has written books on such legendary recordings as \n\u003ci\u003eKind of Blue\u003c\/i\u003e by Miles Davis and \n\u003ci\u003eA Love Supreme \u003c\/i\u003eby John Coltrane. He was a member of the \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e tour production team, and tour manager for Ladysmith Black Mambazo. He teaches at New York University's Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music. \n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Quotes\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Ashley Kahn's \n\u003ci\u003eDays of Miracle and Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e--like its subject, Paul Simon's \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e--represents a pinnacle of its form: a syncretic work of art that shows its author's mastery of all of popular music's moving parts: the musical, the technological, the historical, the socio-political, the commercial, the biographical. Like its subject, it delivers nuance and provocation. In the midst of larger struggles for rights, it asks what rights artists themselves have. And it shows that great art has unintended consequences beyond the conceptions and intentions of its creators.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Dan Charnas, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eDilla Time\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \"Great stories come alive with details and Kahn has a gold-digger's eye for the gems that make this a gripping and inspiring book. \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e is now part of the world's soundtrack, but learning how Simon brought it to life on disc and on stage, and how he dealt unflinchingly with the attacks and setbacks, is extraordinary and very moving. I thought I knew most of the story of \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e, but that opinion shrank with every page I turned.\" \n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003e--Joe Boyd, acclaimed music producer and award-winning author of \u003ci\u003eAnd the Roots of Rhythm Remain\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublisher Marketing\u003c\/strong\u003e:\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003eThe definitive story of the making and legacy of \u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e, Paul Simon's still-beloved, career-topping 1986 album, drawn from extensive research and exclusive interviews with nearly 100 participants and witnesses: musicians, producers, engineers, record executives and journalists from Africa, the US, and Europe. \u003c\/b\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His new marriage was failing and his career was in danger of stalling. He was forty-two, navigating a digital age, searching for inspiration in a scene driven by music videos, synthesizers, and drum machines. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Driving around that summer, a bootleg cassette of \"township jive\"--the street music of South Africa--kept him company. Lent to him by a friend, it reminded Simon of the sound and the joy of the early days of rock and roll. He began to invent his own lyrics to the groove, and became drawn to the idea of recording with the musicians on that tape. But South Africa was in the thrall of a racist apartheid system, and with economic and cultural boycotts in place, such an undertaking was risky. He grew determined to find the right conditions to allow for a collaboration. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Simon took a fateful trip to Johannesburg in 1985. It would turn out to be the first step on a musical journey that would lead him to New York, Los Angeles, Louisiana, and London, and eventually to the release of \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e, a critical and commercial triumph, winning multiple Grammys, selling 16 million records, and spawning a five-year, worldwide tour. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eDays of Miracle and Wonder\u003c\/i\u003e is the first book to tell the full story of \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e, offering windows into Simon's creative process, the technical innovations that brought his songs to life, the people and places that made the album possible, the forces that helped the album achieve mainstream reach, and the controversies that the music raised--and which remain today. It sheds light on a period when America opened its doors to the sounds and styles of Africa and other faraway lands. \n\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e This is an informed, heartfelt celebration of Simon's magnum opus, a recording forged in a tense cultural moment, but suffused with hope, change, and a sense of global connection.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations:\u003c\/strong\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/span\u003e 06\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781668206751, Hardcover)\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/span\u003e 07\/01\/2026 pg. 61 (EAN 9781668206751, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\n\u003cspan class=\"italic\"\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/span\u003e 07\/01\/2026 (EAN 9781668206751, Hardcover) - *Starred Review\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eContributor Bio:\u003c\/strong\u003eKahn, Ashley\u003cbr\u003e\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAshley Kahn is a Grammy Award-winning music historian, author, and producer. He cowrote Carlos Santana's autobiography \n\u003ci\u003eThe Universal Tone\u003c\/i\u003e, and has written books on such legendary recordings as \n\u003ci\u003eKind of Blue\u003c\/i\u003e by Miles Davis and \n\u003ci\u003eA Love Supreme \u003c\/i\u003eby John Coltrane. He was a member of the \n\u003ci\u003eGraceland\u003c\/i\u003e tour production team, and tour manager for Ladysmith Black Mambazo. He teaches at New York University's Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music. \n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n","brand":"Atria Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51496086077718,"sku":"9781668206751","price":36.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0857\/9910\/8886\/files\/9781668206751.jpg?v=1783052918","url":"https:\/\/lusper.myshopify.com\/products\/days-of-miracle-and-wonder-paul-simon-and-the-trials-and-triumphs-of-graceland","provider":"Lusperbooks","version":"1.0","type":"link"}