A Dream About Lightning Bugs

A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons

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A Dream About Lightning Bugs

By: Ben Folds

Narrated by: Ben Folds

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About this listen

From genre-defying icon Ben Folds comes a memoir reflecting on art, life and music that is as nuanced, witty and relatable as his cult classic songs.

Ben Folds is an internationally celebrated musician, singer-songwriter and former frontman of the alternative rock band, Ben Folds Five, beloved for songs such as ‘Brick’, ‘You Don’t Know Me’, ‘Rockin’ the Suburbs’ and ‘The Luckiest’.

In A Dream About Lightning Bugs, Folds looks back at his life so far in a charming, funny and wise chronicle of his artistic coming of age, infused with the wry observations of a natural storyteller. He opens up about finding his voice as a musician, becoming a rock anti-hero, and hauling a baby grand piano on and off stage for every performance.

From growing up in working class North Carolina amid the race and class tensions that shaped his early songwriting, to painful life lessons he learned the hard way, he also ruminates on music in the digital age, the absurdity of life on the road, and the challenges of sustaining a multi-decade, multi-faceted career in the music business.

A Dream About Lightning Bugs embodies what 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.

‘I’m gonna learn to read for this’ Josh Groban

‘I read this in one glorious, giant gulp. As a fan and a musician, this is truly a gift ... moments for me to geek out, moments to laugh and cry and many fragments of pure, hard won wisdom and honesty’ Jamie Cullum

‘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

‘A masterfully written memoir, and so much more. Folds imbues this literary work with keen insight and humor to create an elegant and moving tribute to art and life itself.’ Daniel Levitin, author of #1 New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind

‘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

'A Dream About Lightning Bugs is an insightful, touching and often hilarious look back at [Folds’s] life and career, told with wit and good old-fashioned Southern warmth – like Truman Capote, but with more F-bombs.' People

'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

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Critic Reviews

‘I’m gonna learn to read for this’ (Josh Groban)

'I read this in one glorious, giant gulp. As a fan of your work and as a musician, this is truly a gift ... moments for me to geek out, moments to laugh and cry and many fragments of pure, hard won wisdom and honesty’ (Jamie Cullum)

‘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)

‘A masterfully written memoir, and so much more. Folds imbues this literary work with keen insight and humor to create an elegant and moving tribute to art and life itself.’ (Daniel Levitin, author of #1 New York Times bestseller This Is Your Brain on Music and The Organized Mind)

‘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)

'A Dream About Lightning Bugs is an insightful, touching and often hilarious look back at [Folds’s] life and career, told with wit and good old-fashioned Southern warmth – like Truman Capote, but with more F-bombs.'

'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.'

'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.'

'[Folds’s] journey, beginning with a dream he had at age three, is one of the most rewarding any musician has brought us along for in quite some time.'

'A Dream About Lightning Bugs ... radiates [Folds’s] goofy, brilliant, genuine, deeply empathetic spirit, marked by the kind of amiable self-consciousness with which unboastful genius often shades itself from the harsh stage-glare of attention.' (Maria Popova, Brain Pickings)

'Not your standard rock bio ... A Dream About Lightning Bugs is a mix of personal memoir, a reflection on making art, and a guide to living an authentic creative life.'

'A memoir as entertaining as his songs are catchy.'

'A Dream About Lightning Bugs is the sublimation of the Ben Folds story. His frenetic energy, musical obsession and his penchant for diving headlong into life are served up with trademark wit and honesty.'

Most relevant

Being a Ben Folds fan , I was excited to see he had released a book. Even better that the audio version narrated by the man himself.
Interesting background on his early life, his band life, solo life, the tantrums and sucky behavior and the insights into his songwriting- I really loved this. Whatever and ever ....amen.