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Stories from the Nerve Bible: A Twenty-Year Retrospective

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This inspiring retrospective covers a twenty-year period from her "Institutional Dream Series" in 1972, where she would sleep in various public places (a library restroom, a night courtroom, a seaport) to see how it affected her dreams, up to her live shows of "Stories from the Nerve Bible" in 1992. While the material is generally presented in a linear fashion, images and texts from different stages of her career are juxtaposed to underline the many recurring themes in her work (dreams, speech, time, technology). Various entertaining stories, observations and anecdotes are interspersed with stage directions and song lyrics. There's an annotated chronology at the end to help keep things straight. Anderson's performances have often utilized the violin, and her numerous modified versions of it are explored (the Tape Bow Violin, the Self-Playing Violin, the digital violin, the neon violin, the Viophonograph). Many of her other innovations are also touched upon, including her projects with the pillow speaker, the Handphone Table, the Acoustic Lens, the video clone, and the body drum-suit. Filled with countless photos and stills from her installations and presentations, this book will grab your interest whether you read it cover to cover or just open it up at random. It's a magnificent look at the "performance artist," and essential for fans of her work.

This book is the definitive companion. Laurie's work can often resemble a slowly realized puzzle. You flip a few pieces over, notice this one resembles that one, while at the same time appreciating each piece for itself. Reading this book is like seeing the box the puzzle came in. It's not quite cheating; it sheds new light on each individual piece and inspires a new appreciation. Balanced with nearly an equal amount of pictures and text, it is accessible as a coffee table book and essential for a Laurie Anderson fan, examining her work as a sculptor and early experiments before United States I-IV. Perhaps the most memorable bit in this volume is reading in print that all the stories within are true.

This book is the definitive companion. Laurie's work can often resemble a slowly realized puzzle. You flip a few pieces over, notice this one resembles that one, while at the same time appreciating each piece for itself. Reading this book is like seeing the box the puzzle came in. It's not quite cheating; it sheds new light on each individual piece and inspires a new appreciation. Balanced with nearly an equal amount of pictures and text, it is accessible as a coffee table book and essential for a Laurie Anderson fan, examining her work as a sculptor and early experiments before United States I-IV. Perhaps the most memorable bit in this volume is reading in print that all the stories within are true.

I allways wanted this book, filled with the most amazing texts and images. A journey in to the backstage of the performance an much more from Laurie anderson.