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A Dream About Lightning Bugs
- A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons
- Narrated by: Ben Folds
- Length: 8 hrs and 34 mins
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Publisher's summary
New York Times best seller • From the genre-defying icon Ben Folds comes a memoir that is as nuanced, witty, and relatable as his cult-classic songs.
"A 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 "Brick", "You Don’t Know Me", "Rockin’ the Suburbs", and "The 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, "A 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 "Measure Twice, Cut Once", he learns to resist the urge to skip steps during the creative process. In "Hall Pass", he recounts his 1970s North Carolina working-class childhood, and in "Cheap 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
"Besides 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)
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"Delightful.... Singer-songwriter Folds explores the ways in which music shaped his life and offers glimpses into the process of making music.... Folds’s fans will take great pleasure in this charming and insightful memoir.” (Publishers Weekly)
“A memoir of sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll that’s long on wry humor and short on - well, sex, drugs, and rock ’n’ roll.... A pleasure for fans and encouragement for novices to tune in.” (Kirkus Reviews)
"A Dream About Lightning Bugs reads like its author: intelligent, curious, unapologetically punk, and funny as hell. This intimate look at his life from his own unique perspective is a rare and unforgettable gift that does what Ben Folds always has done for me as an artist and a friend: encourages me to be more myself, with a lot of swear words.” (Sara Bareilles)
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- A Memoir
- By: Brandi Carlile
- Narrated by: Brandi Carlile
- Length: 10 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Brandi Carlile was born into a musically gifted, impoverished family on the outskirts of Seattle and grew up in a constant state of change, moving from house to house, trailer to trailer, 14 times in as many years. Though imperfect in every way, her dysfunctional childhood was as beautiful as it was strange, and as nurturing as it was difficult. At the age of five, Brandi contracted bacterial meningitis, which almost took her life, leaving an indelible mark on her formative years and altering her journey into young adulthood.
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I have almost 2000 audible books and ...
- By M. Lynn on 04-22-21
By: Brandi Carlile
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The Wrecking Crew
- The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret
- By: Kent Hartman
- Narrated by: Dan John Miller
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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If you were a fan of popular music in the 1960s and early '70s, you were a fan of the Wrecking Crew - whether you knew it or not. On hit record after hit record by everyone from the Byrds, the Beach Boys, and the Monkees to the Grass Roots, the 5th Dimension, Sonny & Cher, and Simon & Garfunkel, this collection of West Coast studio musicians from diverse backgrounds established themselves as the driving sound of pop music - sometimes over the objection of actual band members....
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Left Guessing
- By Patrick King on 04-29-14
By: Kent Hartman
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Power Chord
- One Man's Ear-Splitting Quest to Find His Guitar Heroes
- By: Thomas Scott McKenzie
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Power Chord is the story of one man’s epic pilgrimage to gain rock enlightenment from the gods and guitar heroes of the Golden Age of heavy metal. Author Scott McKenzie set off to make contact with the legendary metal superstars he worshipped in his rural Kentucky youth - men like George Lynch of Dokken, Glen Tipton of Judas Priest, and Ace Frehley of KISS - hoping to gain wisdom and a better understanding of the electric guitar mystique.
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Such a fun read, especially for metal-heads
- By Jack on 04-01-23
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Down the Highway
- The Life of Bob Dylan
- By: Howard Sounes
- Narrated by: Peter Markinker
- Length: 20 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Down the Highway is an essential biography for Bob Dylan fans and all music enthusiasts, delivering the full, fascinating story of the life and work of this great artist. Author Howard Sounes interviewed more than 250 key people in Dylan’s circle, and gained access to previously unseen documents, to create a fresh and compelling book that takes the reader on a journey from Dylan’s childhood in a Minnesota mining town, through his rise to fame in the 1960s, to his current status as the senior figure in popular music.
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I'm a little late to the party
- By BrassHat on 06-05-17
By: Howard Sounes
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Your Song Changed My Life
- From Jimmy Page to St. Vincent, Smokey Robinson to Hozier, Thirty-Five Beloved Artists on Their Journey and the Music That Inspired It
- By: Bob Boilen
- Narrated by: Bob Boilen
- Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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From the beloved host and creator of NPR's All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others - published in association with NPR Music.
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Cool if you know all interviewed artists
- By Farfield on 12-05-16
By: Bob Boilen
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My Appetite for Destruction
- Sex, and Drugs, and Guns N' Roses
- By: Steven Adler, Lawrence C. Spagnola - with
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 9 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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From Steven Adler, the original drummer for Guns N' Roses, comes My Appetite for Destruction, the inside story of GNR. Offering a different perspective from the bestselling Slash, Adler chronicles his life with the band, and own intense struggle with addiction, as seen on Dr. Drew's Celebrity Rehab and Sober House.
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TERRIBLE NARRATION
- By SNAFU666 on 02-04-21
By: Steven Adler, and others
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All These Things That I've Done
- My Insane, Improbable Rock Life
- By: Matt Pinfield, Mitchell Cohen
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 7 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Matt Pinfield is the ultimate music fan. He's the guy who knows every song, artist, and musical riff ever recorded, down to the most obscure band's B-side single on its vinyl-only EP import. As a child, music helped Pinfield make sense of the world. Later he would approach his music idols after concerts and explain why he loved their music. As an adult, rock music inspired his career, fueled relationships, and, at times, became a life raft.
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great listen
- By nilda v. on 08-28-20
By: Matt Pinfield, and others
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Your Band Sucks
- What I Saw at Indie Rock's Failed Revolution (But Can No Longer Hear)
- By: Jon Fine
- Narrated by: Jon Fine
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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Jon Fine spent nearly 30 years performing and recording with bands that played various forms of aggressive and challenging underground rock music. And, as he writes in this memoir, at no point were any of those bands "ever threatened, even distantly, by actual fame". Yet when members of his first band, Bitch Magnet, reunited after 21 years to tour Europe, Asia, and America, diehard longtime fans traveled from far and wide to attend those shows.
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Life in a band-the ups, downs and truth!
- By C Christopher Taylor on 07-10-18
By: Jon Fine
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My Life in Dire Straits
- The Inside Story of One of the Biggest Bands in Rock History
- By: John Illsley
- Narrated by: John Illsley
- Length: 9 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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One of the most successful music acts of all time, Dire Straits filled stadiums around the world. Their albums sold hundreds of millions of copies and their music - classics like “Sultans of Swing”, “Romeo and Juliet", “Money for Nothing”, and “Brothers in Arms” - is still played on every continent today. There was, quite simply, no bigger band on the planet throughout the '80s. In this powerful and entertaining memoir, founding member John Illsley gives the inside track on the most successful rock band of their time.
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An excellent autobiography about a wonderful time in music. I highly recommend it.
- By Laguirre on 06-25-24
By: John Illsley
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The Never-Ending Present
- The Story of Gord Downie and the Tragically Hip
- By: Michael Barclay
- Narrated by: George Stroumboulopoulos
- Length: 17 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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From our talent-rich neighbor to the north comes this biography of one of the most successful Canadian rock bands, The Tragically Hip, which announced a year-long tour after sharing the news of lead singer Gord Downie’s inoperable cancer. Now available to US listeners, The Never-Ending Present details what led up to the memorable night when music fans all over the world watched Downie’s heroic final performance.
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Hometown Heroes
- By Tommy Garou on 12-13-18
By: Michael Barclay
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My Life with Earth, Wind & Fire
- By: Maurice White, Herb Powell
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 11 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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The late Grammy-winning founder of the legendary pop/R&B/soul/funk/disco group tells his story and charts the rise of his legendary band in this sincere memoir that captures the heart and soul of an artist whose groundbreaking sound continues to influence music today. With a foreword by David Foster.
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Maurice--Earth, Wind and Fire
- By Linda Ealey on 02-28-17
By: Maurice White, and others
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Unchained
- The Eddie Van Halen Story
- By: Paul Brannigan
- Narrated by: Mike Lenz
- Length: 8 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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From the moment their hugely influential 1978 debut landed, Van Halen set a high bar for the rock 'n' roll lifestyle, creating an entirely new style of post-'60s hard rock and becoming the quintessential rock band of the 1980s. But the high-flying success was fraught with difficulty, as Eddie struggled with alcohol and drug addiction while simultaneously battling David Lee Roth over the musical direction of the band, eventually taking the band in an entirely new direction with Sammy Hagar and scaling new heights, before that iteration of Van Halen disintegrated.
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Please don't read other audible books
- By Mike on 02-01-22
By: Paul Brannigan
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Elton John
- The Biography
- By: David Buckley
- Narrated by: Simon Shepherd
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Elton John is as much loved for his outrageous personality and witty outspokenness as for his music. Such shamelessness and sheer silliness rivals anything uttered by punk rockers, yet it is so typically Elton: honest and intemperate. Tragedy and heartbreak have played a large part in his life. Behind the parties, the hedonism, the lavish stage costumes, and silly glasses lies a more somber story. Between disputes with managers, legal wranglings, public breakups, and divorce, John has been faced with serious health problems and drug addictions.
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Trite!
- By michael mckone on 08-04-22
By: David Buckley
What listeners say about A Dream About Lightning Bugs
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Amazon Customer
- 12-05-19
my hero
I've been listening to Ben longer than I can remember. he has been a personal hero to me as his albums would somehow relate to what was happening in my life (at least how I applied it in my head). it was easy because his music and stories are real, relatable, and always entertaining. this was the first audio book I had listened to and I'm glad I did because it was like getting the story from the man himself. I purchased the book when it came out but my masters program kept me from my side reading. long drives to class made this audible possible. I highly recommend this book to anyone as it's not just for fans of his music, but for human beings in general. give it a go!
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- Gregg Anderson
- 10-30-19
Mr. Ben come here and watch me eat this sandwich
I love Ben Folds' music and now I love his books. Though his beard may have possibly got in his way during the recording of this audiobook, he valiantly persevered and gave us the best reading one could expect. No seriously, the book and the performance are terrific. His father, as you know (former member of .38 special and now blind famous song writer) was the main reason for the audio book so for that... god bless.
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- Jennifer Burns
- 08-27-19
Genius
Growing up with the music of Ben Folds Five and Ben Folds, I was always curious as to the lyrics of some of the songs. This book explains so much. It was funny and descriptive, I couldn’t stop listening. I’m so glad I decided to go with the audible version so I could hear Ben Folds tell his own story. Thank you so much for writing this. Truly enjoyable!
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- Not the Todd
- 12-25-21
Long time fan, great stories
Folds entertains here as narrator. I enjoyed the history, and how he matured in various ways. As a fan, it filled gaps of the song writer and his music that I’ve enjoyed for years.
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- Anonymous User
- 10-23-23
Loved it! Big fan!
This book was very well written, has a lot of personality and soul, and I really enjoyed it
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- Bconn
- 10-08-19
Great read!
Once I started this, it was all I wanted to listen to. It offered so much information on his life and what inspired his songs. Even if you have the physical copy, I recommend listening to this eBook. There are like piano interludes, Ben does some voices and a little singing. It's really great to hear his story from him.
Love love love this book
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- Susie
- 08-31-19
Masterful Metaphors! Even better than expected!
I literally rationed out my listening time of this memoir because I didn’t want it to end! Ben Folds has been a favorite artist of mine for a while, but this glimpse into how his brain works has increased my appreciation for him as an artist and all his work even more. One of the things I’ve loved about his lyrics is the use of metaphors (both subtle and direct), and this book was full of them— relating to music, life, and the connections in between. Not to mention, the author/artist’s personal narration (with snippets of his music included!) is perfect. I could not recommend this listen more highly!
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- That Karl Guy
- 09-03-19
Great Autobiography Read By the Author!
Ben Folds is a great pianist and great guy. My wife and I really enjoyed the book! He recounts the good times and the bad with humor and some occasional music thrown in. Highly Recommend!
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- Cynthia B.
- 06-10-22
A delightful listen!
A Dream About Lightning Bugs is a wonderful listen—both on its merits as an especially well written memoir AND for the author’s insights about life and music and the intersection between. Folds narration gave me an even more vivid picture of the author as a personality—as a character—and in my case, introduced me to his wonderful catalog of music.
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- Amber Jostmeyer
- 01-10-20
If you’re a fan of Ben Folds, this was great!
Really enjoyed this, awesome to hear Ben’s story. It felt a little like sitting down and hearing it across the table which was really fun!
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