Description

THE SUNDAY TIMES MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR
A DAILY TELEGRAPH BEST MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR
A TELEGRAPH BEST MUSIC BOOK OF THE YEAR
A NEW STATESMAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

Faith, Hope and Carnage is a book about Nick Cave’s inner life.

Created from over forty hours of intimate conversations with Sean O’Hagan, it is a profoundly thoughtful exploration, in Cave’s own words, of what really drives his life and creativity.

The book examines questions of faith, art, music, freedom, grief and love. It draws candidly on Cave’s life, from his early childhood to the present day, his loves, his work ethic and his dramatic transformation in recent years.

From a place of considered reflection, Faith, Hope and Carnage offers ladders of hope and inspiration from a true creative visionary.

Publisher Review

An extraordinary, uplifting book . . . This is a book you could dip into if you had no knowledge of Cave at all, just to find someone unafraid to ask all the big questions: what is grief? What is forgiveness? . . . Everyday carnage has brought forth a book of hope and freedom and life * * Daily Telegraph * * This beautiful book is a lament, a celebration, a howl, a secular prayer, a call to arms, a meditation & an exquisite articulation of the human condition. It will take your breath away — RACHEL CLARKE * * Observer * * Illuminating . . . a great deal of beauty in Cave’s descriptions of the “strange reckless power” that comes when the worst has happened . . . if it meets a need for Cave, it also feels like a gift to the reader * * Sunday Times * * An absolutely wonderful book. I don’t think I’ve ever read so integrated and searching an engagement with how faith works, how creativity works, and how grief is bound up with both — ROWAN WILLIAMS A masterpiece * * The Age * * Faith, Hope and Carnage redefines the potential potency of a memoir, creating a bold, brave and brilliant book that deserves to be read, reread and cherished as an illuminating reflection of how we haven’t developed the vocabulary to adequately explore death and its aftermath * * Irish Times * * Ultimately enriching . . . suffused with love, teeming with ideas * * Guardian * * The most compelling book of the year – raw pain and struggle thought through and explored with rare courage * * New Statesman, Books of the Year * * Immensely eloquent and wise . . . a tender guide to the transformative potential of grief * * Telegraph, Best Music Books of 2022 * * Cave is one hell of a writer . . . An extraordinary, one-of-a-kind book . . . Cave is a miraculously fluent talker, incapable of a dull line. Many of the sentences have an aphoristic punch . . . It is impossible to overstate how unusual it is to find this depth of self-analysis and wisdom from a rock musician. Faith, Hope and Carnage makes most rock memoirs look like skips full of rusty anecdotes and grudges — DORIAN LYNSKEY * * UnHerd * *