THE SICK BAG SONG chronicles Cave's journey with his band the Bad Seeds on a twenty-two-day, North American tour. Inspired by John Berryman's Dream Songs it is an epic exploration of inspiration, creativity, loss, love and death. The book blends poetry, lyrics, memories, musings, flights of fancy and journal entries.
The SICK BAG SONG began life scribbled onto airline sick bags acquired during the internal flights taken by Cave during the tour. These are reproduced in the book alongside the text.
To some degree a companion piece to his feature doc 20,000 Days on Earth, THE SICK BAG SONG further explores and develops the mystique of Nick Cave.
Set adrift by his wife's suicide and struggling to keep a grip on reality, Bunny Munro does the only thing he can think of: with his young son in tow, he hits the road. To his son, waiting patiently in the car while his father peddles beauty wares and quickies to lonely housewives in the south of England, Bunny is a hero, larger than life. But Bunny himself, haunted by what might be his wife's ghost, seems only dimly aware of his son's existence. When his bizarre trip shades into a final reckoning, when he can no longer be sure what is real and what is not, Bunny finally begins to recognize the love he feels for his son. And he sees that the revenants of his world-decrepit fathers, vengeful ghosts, jealous husbands and horned psychokillers-are lurking in the shadows, waiting to exact their toll. At turns dark and humane, The Death of Bunny Munro is a tender portrait of the relationship between a boy and his father, with all the wit and enigma that fans will recognize as Nick Cave's singular vision.
Bunny Munro sells beauty products and the dream of hope to the lonely housewives of the south coast. Set adrift by his wife's sudden death and struggling to keep a grip on reality, he does the only thing he can think of: with his young son in tow, he hits the road.
While Bunny plies his trade and his sexual charisma door-to-door, nine-year-old Bunny Junior sits patiently in the car exploring the world through the pages of his encyclopaedia.
As their bizarre and increasingly frenzied road trip shears into a final reckoning, Bunny finds that the revenants of his world - decrepit fathers, vengeful ghosts, jealous husbands and horned psycho-killers - have emerged from the shadows and are seeking to exact their toll.
A tender portrait of the relationship between a father and a son, The Death of Bunny Munro is a stylish, furious and hugely enjoyable read, bursting with the wit and mystery that fans will recognise as hallmarks of Cave's singular vision.
