Days of Miracle and Wonder
Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland
Will be published approx. on 13. August 2026
Book
Hardback
320 pages
978-1-3996-4596-6 (ISBN)
Description
The definitive story of the making and legacy of Paul Simon's Graceland
In 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His marriage was failing, his career was in danger of declining and the music scene was shifting to a world of synths, drum machines and music videos. But a chance encounter with the sounds of South Africa created a spark, recalling the joy of the early rock and roll days and inspiring a bold new direction.
Simon travelled to Johannesburg in 1985 to record with South African musicians, a bold and risky step on a musical journey that would lead him to New York, Los Angeles, Louisiana and London, culminating in Graceland, a global phenomenon that won multiple Grammys, sold millions of records and helped redefine popular music.
Days of Miracle and Wonder is the first book to tell the full story, offering a richly detailed account of artistic collaboration, technical innovation and cultural exchange, alongside the controversies that the album raised and which remain today. It sheds light on a rare cultural moment when America opened its doors to global sounds and a masterpiece emerged from a complex and divided world.
In 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His marriage was failing, his career was in danger of declining and the music scene was shifting to a world of synths, drum machines and music videos. But a chance encounter with the sounds of South Africa created a spark, recalling the joy of the early rock and roll days and inspiring a bold new direction.
Simon travelled to Johannesburg in 1985 to record with South African musicians, a bold and risky step on a musical journey that would lead him to New York, Los Angeles, Louisiana and London, culminating in Graceland, a global phenomenon that won multiple Grammys, sold millions of records and helped redefine popular music.
Days of Miracle and Wonder is the first book to tell the full story, offering a richly detailed account of artistic collaboration, technical innovation and cultural exchange, alongside the controversies that the album raised and which remain today. It sheds light on a rare cultural moment when America opened its doors to global sounds and a masterpiece emerged from a complex and divided world.
Reviews / Votes
Ashley Kahn's Days of Miracle And Wonder-like its subject, Paul Simon's Graceland-represents a pinnacle of its form: a syncretic work of art that shows its author's mastery of all of popular music's moving parts: the musical, the technological, the historical, the socio-political, the commercial, the biographical. Like its subject, it delivers nuance and provocation. In the midst of larger struggles for rights, it asks what rights artists themselves have. And it shows that great art has unintended consequences beyond the conceptions and intentions of its creators * Dan Charnas * A great American songwriter, a joyful South African music, a repressive government, international protests and 1980s attitudes produced a clash of art and ethics thoroughly documented by Ashley Kahn * Nelson George * Graceland remains one of the most intriguing (and misunderstood) of the blockbuster 1980s albums. It is immediately accessible, universally adored and likely to endure forever. Ashley Kahn asks every question - political, musical and aesthetic - that you might want answered about the record, its reception and its legacy, with sensitive attention to detail, nuance and the artistic process * Matt Thorne * Great stories come alive with details and Kahn has a gold-digger's eye for the gems that make this a gripping and inspiring book. Graceland is now part of the world's soundtrack, but learning how Simon brought it to life on disc and on stage, and how he dealt unflinchingly with the attacks and setbacks, is extraordinary and very moving * Joe Boyd *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Orion Publishing Co
Target group
College/higher education
Professional and scholarly
Product notice
Trade binding
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 156 mm
Thickness: 17 mm
Weight
464 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-3996-4596-6 (9781399645966)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
E-Book
approx. 08/2026
White Rabbit
€16.08
Not yet available
Person
Ashley Kahn is a Grammy Award-winning music historian, author and producer. He cowrote Carlos Santana's autobiography The Universal Tone, and has written books on such legendary recordings as Kind of Blue by Miles Davis and A Love Supreme by John Coltrane. He was a member of the Graceland tour production team, and tour manager for Ladysmith Black Mambazo. He teaches at New York University's Clive Davis Institute for Recorded Music.