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'The first volume of the long-awaited, near-mythical biography of Nick Cave, by award-winning writer, Mark Mordue.
'A beautiful, profound, profane and poetic biography of the early formative years of the dark prince of Australian rock 'n' roll, Boy on Fire is Nick Cave's creation story. This is the story of the artist first as a boy, then as a young man. A deeply insightful work which charts his family, friends, influences, milieu and, most of all, his music, it reveals how Nick Cave shaped himself into the extraordinary artist he would become.
'As well as a powerfully compelling biography of a singular, uncompromising artist, Boy on Fire is also a fascinating social and cultural biography, a vivid and evocative rendering of a time and place, from the fast-running dark river and ghost gums of Wangaratta, to the nascent punk scene which hit staid 1970s Melbourne like an atom bomb, right through to the torn wallpaper, sticky carpet and the manic, wild energy of nights at the Crystal Ballroom.' (Publication summary)
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Sound recording.
Works about this Work
-
y
In Conversation with Tim Byrne
Jack Callil
(presenter),
Southbank
:
Australian Book Review, Inc.
,
2021
23440281
2021
single work
podcast
'In today's episode of the ABR Podcast Tim Byrne discusses his review of Mark Mordue's new biography of Nick Cave, Boy on Fire, with ABR Digital Editor Jack Callil.'(Production summary)
-
The Boy from Wang
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , May 2021;
— Review of Boy on Fire : The Young Nick Cave 2020 single work biography'A friend and I are fans of Nick Cave’s iconoclastic band of the early 1980s The Birthday Party. Part of our enjoyment is that we find Cave’s vocal and lyrical posturing hilarious at times. In songs like ‘Release The Bats’ and ‘Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow)’ his shrieks are both terrifying and absurd. At such moments, my friend will occasionally address the stereo with something like, ‘you’re not fooling anyone Nick, we know you’re a good private schoolboy!’' (Introduction)
-
Try a Little Tenderness
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9 January 2021; (p. 14)
— Review of Boy on Fire : The Young Nick Cave 2020 single work biography -
Immortality on His Mind : A Reductive Study of the Young Nick Cave
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January–February no. 428 2021; (p. 32-33)
— Review of Boy on Fire : The Young Nick Cave 2020 single work biography
-
Immortality on His Mind : A Reductive Study of the Young Nick Cave
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Australian Book Review , January–February no. 428 2021; (p. 32-33)
— Review of Boy on Fire : The Young Nick Cave 2020 single work biography -
Try a Little Tenderness
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 9 January 2021; (p. 14)
— Review of Boy on Fire : The Young Nick Cave 2020 single work biography -
The Boy from Wang
2021
single work
review
— Appears in: Sydney Review of Books , May 2021;
— Review of Boy on Fire : The Young Nick Cave 2020 single work biography'A friend and I are fans of Nick Cave’s iconoclastic band of the early 1980s The Birthday Party. Part of our enjoyment is that we find Cave’s vocal and lyrical posturing hilarious at times. In songs like ‘Release The Bats’ and ‘Hamlet (Pow Pow Pow)’ his shrieks are both terrifying and absurd. At such moments, my friend will occasionally address the stereo with something like, ‘you’re not fooling anyone Nick, we know you’re a good private schoolboy!’' (Introduction)
-
y
In Conversation with Tim Byrne
Jack Callil
(presenter),
Southbank
:
Australian Book Review, Inc.
,
2021
23440281
2021
single work
podcast
'In today's episode of the ABR Podcast Tim Byrne discusses his review of Mark Mordue's new biography of Nick Cave, Boy on Fire, with ABR Digital Editor Jack Callil.'(Production summary)
Awards
- 2021 shortlisted APA Book Design Awards — Best Designed Autobiography / Biography / Memoir designed by Hazel Lam
- 2021 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) — Australian Biography of the Year
- 2014 joint winner Australian Centre Literary Awards — Peter Blazey Fellowship as for Tender Prey: The Life and Times of Nick Cave