Nabil Ayers has written about music and race for publications including The New York Times, NPR, Rolling Stone, GQ, and The Root. Ayers is the President of Beggars Group US, where he has released albums by many GRAMMY Award-winning artists. He currently resides in Brooklyn, New York.
"Across a soundscape of '70s New York jazz, '90s Pacific Northwest
grunge, and '00s indie rock, Nabil traces the image of his father
through song. With growing fascination and heartbreak, he draws out
meaning from the shadow of absence, and ultimately redefines what
it means to be a family." -Michelle Zauner, New York Times
bestselling author of Crying in H Mart and Grammy nominated
musician Japanese Breakfast
"Ayers writes with a quiet urgency that drove me toward the end of
this book with bated breath. Race, class, inheritance, music,
family, and love are all up for questioning, pulled apart, and
formed with new definitions along the way. The author's curiosity
about where he comes from, who he comes from, and what comes next
are on full display as artistic renderings of
the human condition through a singular lens. It's a unique
life story I am loath to spoil, but happy to recommend you read. My
Life in the Sunshine is more than worth your time. It's worth your
full attention." -Ashley C. Ford, New York Times bestselling
author of Somebody's Daughter
“You’d think it would be enough that Nabil has this first hand and
vital perspective on family, music, and race to offer, but he also
had to go ahead and be an amazing writer to boot—thoughtful,
generous, wise, and essential." –John Hodgman, New York Times
bestselling author, comedian, and actor
"Riveting and relatable, heartbreaking and at times hysterical—
Ayers' rhythmic prose is lyrical, propulsive, spellbinding. I
couldn’t put My Life in the Sunshine down till the end. I already
know this is a book I'll be returning to, again and again."
—Allison Russell, Grammy nominated Musician and Songwriter for
Outside Child
"My life in the sunshine is too fun to be as poignant as it
is. The book reads like music. As another mixed-race Jewish
kid who has shaped his life around music, I had a lot of ways into
this memoir. This story is for anybody who has ever tried to find
the missing puzzle pieces in their own life." - Daveed Diggs,
Grammy and Tony award-winning actor, musician, writer, and
producer
"A thought-provoking, fascinating, delicious read. No matter how
tough and emotional Nabil’s journey is, he has a way of
telling his story so beautifully—it will pull at your emotions very
deeply. My soul feels fed." -Angel Bat Dawid, composer and
musician
“Among his many other talents, Nabil is a really thoughtful,
evocative writer whose well-formed sentences conjure a whole lot
not just within their lines but between them. He knows how to tell
a story and this book is a great one.” –Michael Azerrad,
award-winning music journalist, author, and musician
“In a moving and candid memoir, Ayers memorably probes the meaning
of family while offering unique insight into the racialized world
of the American music industry. A searchingly eloquent memoir of
music and family.” –Kirkus
"Within these passages, and in tandem with his story of self, Ayers
gives the reader a reflection of the times, frequently acting as a
historian and ethnomusicologist. While captivating in their detail,
these moments explode expectations of memoir as a genre and
eloquently weave a personal story through space and time."
–Cleveland Review of Books
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