HI, HOW ARE YOU?
About this book
In this illustrated biography of Daniel Johnston, his life and art are chronicled through extremely rare photos from his early childhood through all stages of his career, along with his own artwork, interviews with the people in his life, and an up to date discography. About Daniel Daniel Johnston has spent the last 20 or so years exposing his heartrending tales of unrequited love, cosmic mishaps, and existential torment to an ever-growing international cult audience. Initiates, including a healthy number of discerning musicians and critics, have hailed him as an American original in the style of bluesman Robert Johnson and country legend Hank Williams. A number of artists -- among them the Dead Milkmen, Yo La Tengo, the Velvet Underground’s songs. And he as collaborated with the likes of Jad Fair (a founding member of Half Japanese, who’ve also done Daniel’s songs), the Butthole Surfers, Bongwater/Shimmydisc guru Kramer, and members of Sonic Youth. Daniel gained his widest public exposure to date when, at the 1992 MTV Music Awards, Nirvana leader Kurt Cobain (who constantly touted Daniel in interviews) wore a Johnston T-shirt. It’s not much of an exaggeration to say that next month is Daniel Johnston Month in New York. The Biennial begins on March 2, with more than a dozen of Mr. Johnston’s recent hallucinatory pen and Magic Marker drawings on view. -- The New York Times