Front cover, back and spine – don’t it look lovely!

katebush_coverforreal

Please click on this link for the cover of Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory, which is being published in March by HammerOn Press.

Thankyou to the amazing Caroline Duffy for all her hard work on this.

Advance praise for the book is coming in already. This week Mark Radcliffe described the book as ‘an in-depth labour of love by a genuine Bush fanatic,’ while the wondrous Allyson Mitchell said these nice things:

‘I have never in my life laughed out loud while reading cultural theory. Until now! Deborah Withers has created a text that is a dream come true for gender studies, musicology and fandom. This is just what we hoped for, a weaving of theory, historical data, imagination and activism tied with astute observation and wry wit. This intense semi-biographical read through the oeuvre of Kate Bush is something to be proud of. Cultural Studies has met its match in a readable stretch of the boundaries of theory and genres.’

I’m getting very excited about this now, I hope you are as well.

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Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory – cover image

Cover image for Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory, coming in March 2010 from HammerOn Press.

Thanks to Caroline Duffy for designing it.

For all you design geeks, Caroline has blogged about the process of making the cover, as well as her thought about the book itself here.

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Sarah Diehl on Adventures in Kate Bush & Theory

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Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory – the film!

On Saturday, December 5th we will be filming a trailer for my book, Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory, being published in March 2010 by HammerOn Press.

If you live in the Bristol area (and even if you don’t!) you are welcome to come and take part in the dance. No experience or skill is necessary. Just enthusiasm and a love of the Bush!

Dancing will take place from 4pm-8pm at 9 Bath Buildings, Montpelier. Hope to see you there!

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I’m so happy about this one…

So last week the word escaped among Kate Bush fans about what will surely be the best book published about Kate in 2010, Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory.

Responses have ranged from the indifferent to the excited, to the passive aggressive to the, er, aggressive. Nevertheless, the news has ruffled some curiosity, as indeed it should do. I’ve been working on this for years, and I tell you guys, it’s going to be amazing.

Ever since I had the KB idea (c.2003 in the form of a PhD, not the same as the Adventure opus, but a skeletal ally), I’ve dreamt of a press feature on the book when it hits the critics’ laps. The title of the piece would be, of course, ‘Withering Heights.’

Thankyou to Tannis on ‘The Sensual World of Kate Bush’ forum for this post:

Yes, Paul, Withers’ Kate Pod could be an interesting read, or, as you say, it could be a “car crash” with the author merely ‘body-snatching’ KaTe for her own queer agenda! 😎 Still, it will be interesting to see Kate Bush as you have never seen her before, through the eyes of Debbie Withers’ personal response… Withering Heights… 😀

It seems the dream can’t be far away. My name was made for a Kate Bush related pun, if nothing else. Bring it on.

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Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory, press release draft 1

This is the first press release for Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory, which will be published by HammerOn Press in March 2010. Let me know what you think!

A new book, Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory by Deborah M. Withers, that provides the first in-depth engagement with the philosophy of Kate Bush’s music, is being published in March 2010.

Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory will present Kate Bush as you have never seen her before. Here is the polymorphously perverse Kate, the witchy Kate, the queer Kate; the Kate who moves beyond the mime.

Since Bush burst into the public eye in 1978, her fans and admirers have been fascinated by the endless mysteries of her music. She is a pop star whose brain and imagination have inspired, delighted and comforted millions. Former Sex Pistol John Lydon recently said that Bush ‘supplies me with all the clues and it’s up to me put the answers together.’ Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory is one personal response to these clues. Written by a queer woman in her late 20s, its answers are delivered in a unique way.

Through in-depth readings of the often critically neglected works of Bush’s career (The Kick Inside, Lionheart, The Dreaming, The Red Shoes and her film The Line, the Cross and the Curve), Withers guides the reader through the complexity of Bush’s art and how it transformed popular culture.

Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory makes theory accessible to new audiences. Drawing on cutting edge feminist philosophy, critical theory and queer studies, the author uses Bush’s music to demonstrate how these often abstract ideas can be applied to everyday life. Through rigorous analysis of the music, film, video and dance of Kate Bush, it breaks down boundaries between the academic and popular, showing that theory can be sordid, funny and relevant – despite what most people think.

Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory is being published by HammerOn Press, a publishing company set up by Withers herself. She is capitalising on the latest developments in print-on-demand (POD) technology and the economic recession, two important factors which are seeing more and more aspiring authors turn to self-publishing as a way to get their work published and widely read.

Self-publishing using POD technology is also attractive since it carries a low carbon footprint – books are literally only printed when somebody orders one. Simply put, with POD technology, publishing books has never been cheaper, easier or more ethical.

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