Event Information

Kristin Hersh Sings and Signs her New Book Paradoxical Undressing

Thursday 27 January 2011
7:30 pm

Kristin Hersh, an American songwriter and guitarist, was a preternaturally bright teenager, forming her band, Throwing Muses, in 1981 when she was fourteen, playing rock clubs she was too young to frequent and starting university at fifteen. Her new book, Paradoxical Undressing (Atlantic, £18.99) is based on her teenage diary entries from 1985 to 1986, a period during which she was living in her car, in empty apartments and on... friends’ floors, unable to sleep for the torment of strange songs swimming around her head – the songs for which she is now known. When she was eighteen she attempted suicide, was diagnosed schizophrenic and then bipolar.

Paradoxical Undressing chronicles the unravelling of a young woman’s personality, culminating in a suicide attempt; and then her arduous yet inspiring recovery, her unplanned pregnancy at the age of nineteen, and the birth of her first son. Playful, vivid and wonderfully warm, this is a visceral and brave memoir by a truly original performer, told in a truly original voice.

Admission is by ticket (£4, redeemable if you buy her book), available from David's Bookshop / Music.

**THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT!**