The first half of Simon & Garfunkel has marked his 80th birthday with some exciting news: his life story has been made into an audiobook.
Titled Miracle and Wonder: Conversations With Paul Simon, the five-hour audiobook is from Malcolm Gladwell and New York Times journalist Bruce Headlam. It will be released November 16 by Gladwell’s Pushkin Industries, Variety first reported.
Miracle and Wonder is named after a line in the Graceland track "The Boy In the Bubble." The audiobook will talk about Paul Simon's life and career while teasing some new material - like the project "Seven Psalms" Simon has been working on. The music is his first since 2018’s In the Blue Light. The audiobook also includes previously unreleased live studio versions of songs like “The Sound of Silence” and “The Boxer.”
Simon recorded over 30 hours of interviews over nine sessions for the biography. It details Simon’s upbringing in Queens, New York, his rise to fame in Simon and Garfunkel, his solo career, and more. The audiobook also explores how Simon’s work, specifically his 1987 Grammy-winning album Graceland, has endured for decades and influenced other major artists. Cameos include Sting, Jeff Tweedy, Herbie Hancock, Rosanne Cash, and more.
In a statement about the audiobook, Simon said, “Over my career, I must have given hundreds of interviews on various projects, but speaking and collaborating with Malcolm on this was especially enjoyable.”
“Miracle and Wonder: Conversations with Paul Simon” (out 11/16) is unlike any artistic portrait you’ve ever heard before. The intimate audio biography by @Gladwell is brimming with never-before-heard music and conversation. Pre-order your copy now! https://t.co/g0NBc44ZT0 pic.twitter.com/AWZyBKkMmE
— Paul Simon (@PaulSimonMusic) October 13, 2021
“The puzzle is, this guy was relevant in every decade since the 1960's. I was trying to answer the question, ‘What is different about Paul Simon?'” Gladwell said, eventually adding, “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,”
Over Simon's lifetime, he's received 16 Grammy Awards and has been twice inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. He is also a member of the Songwriters Hall of Fame, a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, and was presented the Library of Congress’ inaugural Gershwin Prize for Popular Song. Among other honors, his hit track “Mrs. Robinson,” from the 1967 Dustin Hoffman film The Graduate, was named No. 6 on the AFI’s “100 Years, 100 Songs” list.
Miracle and Wonder: Conversations With Paul Simon is available to pre-order on audiobook stores including Audible as well as Pushkin.fm. To those buying: it's worth noting the listing price on Pushkin's site is reduced.
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Article Image: Paul Simon in a bright yellow shirt performing at a 2008 concert. (dbking [CC BY 2.0] via Wikimedia Commons.)
