A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER € From the genre-defying icon Ben Folds comes a memoir that is as nuanced, witty, and relatable as his cult-classic songs.

€œA Dream About Lightning Bugs reads like its author: intelligent, curious, unapologetically punk, and funny as hell.€€"Sara Bareilles

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY NPR AND PASTE

Ben Folds is a celebrated American singer-songwriter, beloved for songs such as €œBrick,€ €œYou Don€t Know Me,€ €œRockin€ the Suburbs,€ and €œThe Luckiest,€ and is the former frontman of the alternative rock band Ben Folds Five. But Folds will be the first to tell you he€s an unconventional icon, more normcore than hardcore. Now, in his first book, Folds looks back at his life so far in a charming and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller. 

In the title chapter, €œA Dream About Lightning Bugs,€ Folds recalls his earliest childhood dream€"and realizes how much it influenced his understanding of what it means to be an artist. In €œMeasure Twice, Cut Once€ he learns to resist the urge to skip steps during the creative process. In €œHall Pass€ he recounts his 1970s North Carolina working-class childhood, and in €œCheap Lessons€ he returns to the painful life lessons he learned the hard way€"but that luckily didn€t kill him. 

In his inimitable voice, both relatable and thought-provoking, Folds digs deep into the life experiences that shaped him, imparting hard-earned wisdom about both art and life. Collectively, these stories embody the message Folds has been singing about for years: Smile like you€ve got nothing to prove, because it hurts to grow up, and life flies by in seconds.

Praise for A Dream About Lightning Bugs
 
€œBesides being super talented, and an incredibly poignant and multifaceted musician, Ben Folds is a fantastic author. I couldn€t put this book down€"and not just because I taped it to my hand. Ben takes us into his mind and into his process from the very beginnings of his childhood to where he is today€"one of the greatest musicians and writers that has ever graced the art.€€"Bob Saget