Hello Sunshine [Hardcover]

Ryan Adams (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1, 2009

"Ryan Adams writes with equal parts precision and recklessness; the blood he draws from the text is easily as unnerving as its unapologetic tenderness. He is proof that poetry will find its writer.”—Mary-Louise Parker, actress

Praise for Infinity Blues:

“Ryan Adams, one of America’s most consistently interesting singer/songwriters, has written a passionate, arresting, and entertaining book of verse. Fans are going to love it, and newcomers will be pleased and startled by his intensity and originality.”—Stephen King

“After reading Infinity Blues, I give Ryan Adams the best compliment I ever got—and the only reason for reading anyone’s poetry. Ryan, I really like your mind."—Eileen Myles, author of Cool for You

“Infinity Blues is Ryan Adams at his personal, unforgettable best.”—Cameron Crowe, filmmaker

Ryan Adams may be acclaimed primarily for albums such as Cardinology, Heartbreaker, Gold (which includes the popular hit songs “When the Stars Go Blue” and “New York, New York”), and Easy Tiger, but the world-renowned singer/songwriter has always been a poet and fiction writer at heart. With the release of Hello Sunshine, Ryan continues to break literary ground beyond what he established with his wildly popular first book, Infinity Blues. Ryan’s new work provides perhaps an even deeper insight into the man than is revealed through the songs that have resonated with his hundreds of thousands of fans.

Ryan Adams is known for his prolific nature, which in the last ten years has resulted in various international hit albums. Ryan has also produced Willie Nelson’s album Songbird and contributed to records by Toots and the Maytals, Beth Orton, the Wallflowers, Counting Crows, and Cowboy Junkies; additionally, he has appeared on CMT’s Crossroads with Elton John.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ryan Adams is among his generation's most gifted and important singer/songwriters. Just into his 30s, Adams has already released a dozen albums jammed with soul-stirring songs and frighteningly precise lyrics about love, loss, and youthful wildness. Unfortunately, these distinctions and qualities do not translate to his poetry, which seems to be more a kind of performative journaling than an attempt at high art. But perhaps that's a kind of poetry too. If so, it's poetry in the manner of late Charles Bukowski—alternately ecstatic, drunken, droll, bewildered, jokey—and will appeal to a similar audience: teenagers looking for a guide through the confusing maze of adolescence. Adams's many rabid fans will find much to enjoy in this second collection, following right on the heels of his poetry debut, Infinity Blues (2009). Adams takes his readers through his crazy days, high on adrenaline (bicyclemad/ born dizzy/ i am/ flying off the cliff of panic hill), praising the beloved (i love her/ my bug/ she knows...) and finding the symbolism in the everyday: the sky.../...just got back from the grocery store, smiling/ new particles to add to the table of contents/ in some lunar book/ written in wishes. (Dec.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

About the Author

Ryan Adams is an alt-country/rock singer-songwriter best known for his song "New York, New York." In addition to releasing 5 solo albums, Adams has also produced an album by Willie Nelson and contributed to albums by Toots and the Maytals, Beth Orton, The Wallflowers, Minnie Driver, Counting Crows, and Cowboy Junkies. Also appeared on CMT's Crossroads with Elton John.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 280 pages
• Publisher: Akashic Books; First Edition edition (December 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1933354968
• ISBN-13: 978-1933354965
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,312,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Reviews from actors = Red flag, July 6, 2010

By 

C. Keller "BluePoet" (Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hello Sunshine (Paperback)

If I were to sit down, drink a fifth, let it sink in until my handwriting was almost completely illegible, then I would start writing things that sounded like what is found in this book.

Of course, I suppose I could avoid the alcohol altogether and, instead, cut and past lines from "The OC" and then break them up into one- or two-word lines.

I am glad there is one more poetry book in the poetry section, and I'm ecstatic if Mr. Adams' poetry turns on a few folks that had previously written off or never considered poetry. I also think it's great that a singer/songwriter cares enough about literature to write a book of poetry.

However, what bothers me is that any poet who is not already established as an actor/singer/anchorperson/political figure/Oprah guest that writes poetry like this would never get one, let alone two, books of poetry published in one year. This is not groundbreaking, this is not exploratory - this was published not because of literary merit, but star power. As a book of poetry, it is better than a high schooler could do, but at times incoherent and at other times repetitive and at other times a diary entry.

But hey, if I can buy it on Amazon for less than ten bucks (including S&H), it's worth it. You can't read the Norton Anthology every day.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars it's alright, December 6, 2010

By 

nonamehere - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hello Sunshine (Paperback)

I am a fan of Ryan Adams, but these two books don't compare to his music. I read Infinity Blues and Hello Sunshine from the library. Hello Sunshine is the same style as you get in Infinity Blues.People are correct in saying that these are basically journal entries. It's like listening to someone talk to themselves, it's incoherent, confusing, and only the person saying it knows what they're talking about, but the reader doesn't often get much of an idea of what its about. I found it a bit too abstract. There were a handful of poems in each book that I liked and were interesting to me, I enjoyed reading it, though not as soul stirring as his music. I'm sure fans will get more out of it, it's interesting to see another side of him through something other than his music, and I'd be willing to read another book if he wrote one.