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Jonathan Cape is wide awake to indie rocker Conor Oberst's authorised bio
Jonathan Cape has acquired the biography of Conor Oberst, indie rock star and frontman of the band Bright Eyes. Željka Marošević, editorial director, bought At the Bottom of Everything by Emma Kemp. This will be "the first and only" authorised biography of Oberst, "telling the story of the music that defined a generation".
Marošević acquired UK and Commonwealth rights from Angelique Tran Van Sang at Felicity Bryan Associates on behalf of Alison Lewis at Francis Goldin, in a pre-empt. US rights were snapped up at auction by Carrie Napolitano at Grand Central. Kemp was born in the UK and is now based in LA, where she is an arts writer and cultural critic.
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Oberst was once declared "indie rock’s reigning poet-prince", with the New Yorker likening him to Bob Dylan in his Noughties heyday. Oberst met Kemp in 2016, after remaining "an enigma" during his time in the spotlight, in the era of "Tumblr and LimeWire, the advent of online fandom and the mainstreaming of emo". The publisher said: "Oberst welcomed Kemp into his world, allowing her to trace his journey from an anxious teenage prodigy to the dizzying heights of fame, love, and music-making—and into the shadowlands of sacrifice made for his art."
Marošević said: "It’s hard to put into words the depth of my fandom for Oberst, which started almost 20 years ago in my best friend’s bedroom as we listened to [the 2005 Bright Eyes album] "I’m Wide Awake, It’s Morning" on her CD player. This has now been matched by my obsession with Emma’s book, a compelling, headily nostalgic behind-the-scenes account of an artist and an era."
