The Book of Exodus: The Making and Meaning of Bob Marley and the Wailers' Album of the Century

Follow the Sacred Journey to Create One of the Lasting Musical Masterpieces of Our Time

Bob Marley is one of our most important and influential artists. Recorded in London after an assassination attempt on his life sent Marley into exile from Jamaica, Exodus is the most lasting testament to his social conscience. Named by Time magazine as "Album of the Century," Exodus is reggae superstar Bob Marley's masterpiece of spiritual exploration.

Vivien Goldman was the first journalist to introduce mass white audiences to the Rasta sounds of Bob Marley. Throughout the late 1970s, Goldman was a fly on the wall as she watched reggae grow and evolve, and charted the careers of many of its superstars, especially Bob Marley. So close was Vivien to Bob and the Wailers that she was a guest at his Kingston home just days before gunmen came in a rush to kill "The Skip." Now, in The Book of Exodus, Goldman chronicles the making of this album, from its conception in Jamaica to the raucous but intense all-night studio sessions in London.

But The Book of Exodus is so much more than a making-of-a-record story. This remarkable book takes us through the history of Jamaican music, Marley's own personal journey from the Trench Town ghetto to his status as global superstar, as well as Marley's deep spiritual practice of Rastafari and the roots of this religion. Goldman also traces the biblical themes of the Exodus story, and its practical relevance to us today, through various other art forms, leading up to and culminating with Exodus.

Never before has there been such an intimate, first-hand portrait of Marley's spirituality, his political involvement, and his life in exile in London, leading up to histriumphant return to the stage in Jamaica at the Peace Concert of 1978.

Here is an unforgettable portrait of Bob Marley and an acutely perceptive appreciation of his musical and spiritual legacy.

Author: Vivien Goldman
Publisher: Crown Publishing Group (NY)
Published: 05/01/2006
Pages: 336
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.79lbs
Size: 7.98h x 5.28w x 0.97d
ISBN: 9781400052868


Review Citation(s):
Ingram Advance 08/01/2005 pg. 68
Kirkus Reviews 03/15/2006 pg. 273
Publishers Weekly 04/10/2006 pg. 64
Library Journal 04/01/2006 pg. 96
Booklist 04/15/2006 pg. 17
New York Review of Books 04/09/2009 pg. 34

About the Author
Vivien Goldman is a writer, broadcaster, and musician who has devoted much of her work to Afro-Caribbean and global music. She is the adjunct professor of punk and reggae at NYU's Clive Davis Department of Recorded Music. Originally from London, Goldman now resides in New York City. This is her fifth book.


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