The transcendent new album from Ani Di Franco, Revolutionary Love (out January 29, 2021), marks the latest proof of one of her most powerful gifts as an artist: a rare ability to give voice to our deepest frustrations and tensions, on both a personal and political level. Ani DiFranco began playing before audiences at just 9 years old, and 40 years later the musician continues to find ways to reinvent herself. Her new memoir, “No Walls and the Recurring Dream,”. Ani DiFranco has shared both her musical and political voice over the course of her 20-year-plus career, and she's set to share some previously private insight into her life thanks to a new book deal.
Ani Difranco Memoir Reviews
On May 7, 2019, DiFranco released a memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, via Viking Books. It is described as a 'coming-of-age story'. In 2021, DiFranco released the album Revolutionary Love which was largely inspired by Valarie Kaur 's book See No Stranger. Ani DiFranco, RZA, and Steve Albini at The New Yorker festival in September 2005. In her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, Ani DiFranco recounts her early life from a place of hard-won wisdom, combining personal expression, the power of music, feminism, political activism, storytelling, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and much more into an inspiring whole.
Ani DiFranco, “No Walls and the Recurring Dream” (Viking)
Ani DiFranco has spent decades challenging the status quo, standing up for what she believes and creating honest, raw music. Her memoir is an extension of these passions. Looking at her lyrics over the years, it has always been clear: She cherishes the written word. In the pages of her memoir, “No Walls and the Recurring Dream,” she carries on this love affair.
Those familiar with the work of DiFranco_a Grammy Award-winner who founded her own record label and has a career spanning over 20 albums_know she is not one to shy away from her opinions.
It is not uncommon when listening to her work to hear a verse that speaks out against patriarchy, the death penalty or the government’s imperialism. So it comes as no surprise that in her memoir, DiFranco does not hold back.
“No Walls and the Recurring Dream,” is unapologetic, steadfast and vulnerable. It’s as if DiFranco has invited you into the living room of her New Orleans home to have a long discussion about how she got to where she is_from creating her first record to meeting Prince and recording in his home.
Ani Difranco Joyful Girl
Readers who are already DiFranco fans are offered a window through which to better understand her music (just in case you’ve ever wondered about the story behind “Untouchable Face”). She gives you the rich context of her past and passions that have culminated in emotional verses and honest storytelling through the years.
The book also stands alone, for those who haven’t before encountered DiFranco. She is vulnerable in a way that is brave_she recognizes the imperfect moments in her existence just as she acknowledges her own triumphs. The honesty of her introspection encourages the reader to look internally as well. “Whatever the thing is that you are resisting the most, whatever thing will be the most painful, that is the thing you must do,” she writes.
Ani Difranco Now
To her credit, DiFranco meets the reader where she or he is. Yes, she has strong opinions, but she makes it clear from the onset that she is not just someone who talks; she is also someone who listens. You don’t have to be a staunch liberal or feminist to appreciate what she has to stay and the stories she has to tell. DiFranco does a brilliant job of walking this line. She won’t sugarcoat her own opinions, but she also leaves room for a conversation to unfold.
Overview
Ani Difranco Memoir
In her memoir, No Walls and the Recurring Dream, Ani DiFranco recounts her early life from a place of hard-won wisdom, combining personal expression, the power of music, feminism, political activism, storytelling, philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and much more into an inspiring whole. In these frank, honest, passionate, and often funny pages is the tale of one woman's eventful and radical journey to the age of thirty. Ani's coming of age story is defined by her ethos of fierce independence—from being an emancipated minor sleeping in a Buffalo bus station, to unwaveringly building a career through appearances at small clubs and festivals, to releasing her first album at the age of 18, to consciously rejecting the mainstream recording industry and creating her own label, Righteous Babe Records. In these pages, as in life, she never hesitates to question established rules and expectations, maintaining a level of artistic integrity that has inspired and challenged more than a few. Ani continues to be a major touring and recording artist as well as a celebrated activist and feminist, standing as living proof that you can overcome all personal and societal obstacles to be who you are and to follow your dreams.