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Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
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English
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HORROR STORIES

Liz Phair

A Memoir

From the two-time Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter behind the groundbreaking album "Exile in Guyville" comes a haunting memoir in stories, in the tradition of Patti Smith's M TRAIN.
Liz Phair brings her trademark honesty, precision for language and exquisite storytelling to bear in a landmark collection of deeply personal, linked essays that examines how we become who we are and what it means to be human. She takes readers on a provocative, highly entertaining, take-no-prisoners journey into the horror that permeates our daily livesfrom the minor snubs and indignities we suffer in the rush of a fast-paced modern world to the large-scale traumas of loss and heartbreak.

Each chapter revolves around a central theme of human fallibility. Phair brings often unrecognized, universal experiences of discomfort, pain, shame and fear out into the daylight and unites us in our common humanity. Her deft prose, wit and uncompromising honesty transform her personal accounts into tales about each and every one of us. In speaking about the artists whom she most admires, Phair notes in her overview that "their work helps you focus on important things you've been ignoring."

It is a memoir with special attention paid to the experience of encountering those moments that scare and disorient you at the most intimate, personal level, where none of us are famous or privileged and all of us are a bit broken. Phair's writing finds its energy in the moment-to-moment of life, when we are trapped in our heads, not communicating the moments where real life is lived and that most memoirs avoid or don't see the significance of - especially the memoirs of rock stars. She is fascinating as she shares those moments that have haunted her the most, honestly confronting morality, celebrity, songwriting, art, friendship, and motherhood.

With three million records sold and two Grammy nominations, a new Ryan Adams-produced record on the way and her "Make America Girly Again" world tour continuing into next year, her fans will be eagerly anticipating this book.

Liz Phair has been a recording artist and touring performer for 25 years, paving the way for countless music artists, particularly women, who count her among their major influences. Her debut album, "Exile in Guyville," is considered by music critics to be a landmark of indie rock, and has been ranked by Rolling Stone as one of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time." Her writing has appeared in The New York Times and The Atlantic.
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Book

Published 2019-10-08 by Random House

Book

Published 2019-10-08 by Random House

Comments

Liz Phair's Horror Stories, is a deeply personal narrative about a ground-breaking musician's intense love affair with life, with all its turbulent highs and lows. It is also about those things that have sustained Phair since childhood: the wonder and healing power of nature, music, and family. A compelling blend of riveting prose and soaring lyricism, Horror Stories is as enthralling and as addictive as her music.

[A] uniquely thoughtful, self-aware memoir... bracing and refreshing... Horror Stories is more an archipelago of intense episodes of unknowing with the implicit understanding that life is a wayward, unresolvable business... [A] rigorously open exploration of negative capability. Read more...

HORROR STORIES cracks open the idea of fear itself to see what's inside. Liz Phair's stories are heartbreaking and inspiring, galvanizing and contemplative. This memoir is as much about the poignant luminosity of Phair's gaze as it is about the darkness she shows us. Witnessing her examine the moments that have stayed with her over the years is captivating: a literary triumph by a musical icon.

Liz Phair's songwriting has always had the rare quality of being short story-like. Damn good short stories, too. HORROR STORIES has that unique Liz Phair ability to make you look at something you'd rather not, but once you do, you're glad you did - like any form of honest art. This is why Liz Phair still is, and always will be, a threat.

Honest, original and absolutely remarkable... elegant but unpretentious writing... There are so many things to admire about Horror Stories, it's hard to list them all. It's a memoir with an original and fascinating structure. [Phair] mostly avoids writing about her own songs, and while this may seem to be an odd choice, it's actually quite refreshing - her music, she seems to indicate, can speak for itself. Read more...

A debut memoir as candid as her music... This powerful debut will delight Phair's many fans. Read more...

Spain: Contra Ediciones

In Conversation: Liz Phair On being misunderstood, working with Ryan Adams, and the dawn of Girlville. Read more...

Like a batch of interrelated Phair songs, each chapter a separate and specific story, all together accumulating into an intimate self-portrait... with equal parts elegance, humor, and authenticity. Read more...

Horror Stories is a collection of turning points, plucked free of ongoing time, their original setting. Gathered together, they sparkle eerily, expanding to occupy an entire remembered year -- maybe even an entire remembered self.