Paul Simon marked his 80th birthday on Wednesday by announcing the new audiobook Miracle and Wonder: Conversations With Paul Simon, Variety reports.
The five-hour audiobook (find it here), is named after a line in the Graceland track “The Boy In the Bubble,” and features new music titled “Seven Psalms” — his first since 2018’s In the Blue Light. It also includes previously unreleased live studio versions of beloved songs from his catalogue like “The Sound of Silence” and “The Boxer.”
Simon collaborated with author Malcolm Gladwell and Bruce Headlam for Miracle and Wonder, recording over 30 hours of interviews over nine sessions. The biography traces Simon’s upbringing in Queens, New York, his rise to fame as one half of Simon and Garfunkel, his solo career, and more. Cameos include Sting, Jeff Tweedy, Herbie Hancock, Rosanne Cash, and more. The audiobook arrives November 16th.
“Over my career, I must have given hundreds of interviews on various projects, but speaking and collaborating with Malcolm on this was especially enjoyable,” Simon said in a statement. Added Gladwell, “He’s the most un-rock-star rock star. Paul is surprisingly down to earth and approachable. Even if he wasn’t the most successful musician of his generation he’d be the same person.”
From Rolling Stone US
