{"product_id":"9781399615532","title":"To Ease My Troubled Mind","description":"Author: Ted Kessler\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781399615532\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Orion\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 10 Sep 2024\u003cbr\u003ePages: 336\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Hardback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn 1977, 17-year-old Steven Hamper was a stonemason in the dockyards of Chatham, Kent. His heart, however, beat in sync with the punk rock tremors of the era, seduced by its celebration of amateurism. So, in a gesture of revolutionary defiance, he took a 3lb club hammer and smashed his hand, vowing to never work again. In doing so, Steven Hamper metamorphosed into Billy Childish, a true renaissance man.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eChildish has since remained steadfastly true to punk's DIY cred, becoming one of the most recognisable and authentic voices in whichever artistic endeavour he undertakes. He has released over one hundred and fifty albums of raw rock and roll, punk, blues and folk, written many volumes of searing poetry as well as several autobiographical novels. But what he is perhaps best known for in recent years is his painting, for which he is now critically, commercially and internationally feted. He hasn't changed course in any of his disciplines, though. The world just caught up with the sheer volume of his brutally honest work.\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003eTo Ease My Troubled Mind\u003c\/i\u003e is a mosaic portrait collated over a year of interviews with Childish, as well as with close family, ex-girlfriends, bandmembers past and present, friends, foes, collaborators, even his therapist. It is an unflinching, yet frequently spiritual and funny portrait of an artist whose obstacle-strewn upbringing formed the backbone of his work: raised in a broken home and abused as a child, Childish was an undiagnosed dyslexic in remedial class at school who is nevertheless now Britain's most prolific and uncompromising creative force.","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46697806069918,"sku":"ADS-9781399615532","price":74.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781399615532.jpg?v=1775719793","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781399615532","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}