Days of Miracle and Wonder
Paul Simon and the Trials and Triumphs of Graceland
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The definitive story of the making and legacy of Paul Simon's Graceland
In 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His marriage was failing, his career was in danger of declining and the music scene was shifting to a world of synths, drum machines and music videos. But a chance encounter with the sounds of South Africa created a spark, recalling the joy of the early rock and roll days and inspiring a bold new direction.
Simon travelled to Johannesburg in 1985 to record with South African musicians, a bold and risky step on a musical journey that would lead him to New York, Los Angeles, Louisiana and London, culminating in Graceland, a global phenomenon that won multiple Grammys, sold millions of records and helped redefine popular music.
Days of Miracle and Wonder is the first book to tell the full story, offering a richly detailed account of artistic collaboration, technical innovation and cultural exchange, alongside the controversies that the album raised and which remain today. It sheds light on a rare cultural moment when America opened its doors to global sounds and a masterpiece emerged from a complex and divided world.
In 1984, Paul Simon was at a professional and personal crossroads. His marriage was failing, his career was in danger of declining and the music scene was shifting to a world of synths, drum machines and music videos. But a chance encounter with the sounds of South Africa created a spark, recalling the joy of the early rock and roll days and inspiring a bold new direction.
Simon travelled to Johannesburg in 1985 to record with South African musicians, a bold and risky step on a musical journey that would lead him to New York, Los Angeles, Louisiana and London, culminating in Graceland, a global phenomenon that won multiple Grammys, sold millions of records and helped redefine popular music.
Days of Miracle and Wonder is the first book to tell the full story, offering a richly detailed account of artistic collaboration, technical innovation and cultural exchange, alongside the controversies that the album raised and which remain today. It sheds light on a rare cultural moment when America opened its doors to global sounds and a masterpiece emerged from a complex and divided world.
- Published: Aug 13 2026
- Pages: 320
- ISBN: 9781399645966
Press Reviews
- Dan Charnas
Ashley Kahn's Days of Miracle And Wonder-like its subject, Paul Simon's Graceland-represents a pinnacle of its form: a syncretic work of art that shows its author's mastery of all of popular music's moving parts: the musical, the technological, the historical, the socio-political, the commercial, the biographical. Like its subject, it delivers nuance and provocation. In the midst of larger struggles for rights, it asks what rights artists themselves have. And it shows that great art has unintended consequences beyond the conceptions and intentions of its creators
- Nelson George
A great American songwriter, a joyful South African music, a repressive government, international protests and 1980s attitudes produced a clash of art and ethics thoroughly documented by Ashley Kahn
- Matt Thorne
Graceland remains one of the most intriguing (and misunderstood) of the blockbuster 1980s albums. It is immediately accessible, universally adored and likely to endure forever. Ashley Kahn asks every question - political, musical and aesthetic - that you might want answered about the record, its reception and its legacy, with sensitive attention to detail, nuance and the artistic process
- Joe Boyd
Great stories come alive with details and Kahn has a gold-digger's eye for the gems that make this a gripping and inspiring book. Graceland is now part of the world's soundtrack, but learning how Simon brought it to life on disc and on stage, and how he dealt unflinchingly with the attacks and setbacks, is extraordinary and very moving