Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory by Deborah M. Withers available now!

Now also available on the Amazon Kindle.

'An in-depth labour of love from a genuine Bush fanatic' Mark Radcliffe

Through in-depth readings of the often critically neglected works of Bush's career (The Kick Inside, Lionheart, The Dreaming, The Red Shoes and her film The Line, the Cross and the Curve), Withers guides the reader through the complexity of Bush's art and how it transformed popular culture.

Adventures in Kate Bush and Theory makes theory accessible to new audiences. Drawing on cutting edge feminist philosophy, critical theory and queer studies, the author uses Bush's music to demonstrate how these often abstract ideas can be applied to everyday life.

Through rigorous analysis of the music, film, video and dance of Kate Bush, it breaks down boundaries between the academic and popular, showing that theory can be sordid, funny and relevant - despite what most people think.

I have never in my life laughed out loud while reading cultural theory. Until now! Deborah Withers has created a text that is a dream come true for gender studies, musicology and fandom. This is just what we hoped for, a weaving of theory, historical data, imagination and activism tied with astute observation and wry wit. This intense semi-biographical read through the oeuvre of Kate Bush is something to be proud of. Cultural Studies has met its match in a readable stretch of the boundaries of theory and genres.

Allyson Mitchell, artist and scholar.

As a middle aged, white male who has written about Kate Bush, I am very pleased that Deborah has fought against this cultural/sexual hegemony in her new book. In focussing on the 'lesser known' works, she has done a great job in illuminating aspects of the artist's oeuvre hitherto largely overlooked in the worlds of academia and journalism. The work is an intelligent, challenging and provocative read that will reward those readers and scholars with an open mind, and a love for the music of Kate Bush.

With Lady Gaga and Florence tearing up the charts, it's the perfect moment to remember English pop's original mad-tressed inventress (and her leotards, sigh...). Withers offers not a standard biography, but a provocative tour (gay orgies included!) of the tantalising persona who dances through Bush's music.

Diva Magazine

Withers investigates the mysteries of Bush's music with an academic vision, but intensifies the courageous spirit of the subjects rather than turning them into case studies. It helps if you have a basic knowledge of Bush's music, but if you have yet to lose yourself in the raptures of 'Hounds Of Love' or 'Wuthering Heights', this book will inspire you to undertake your own adventure. Longstanding fans will undoubtedly benefit from hearing time-honoured favourites in a new, more dynamic light, and may even give albums they had missed or songs that they'd had trouble connecting to a new found attention and admiration. Adventures In Kate Bush & Theory is a stimulating and absorbing text, and provides a dedicatedly comprehensive reading of an artist who has been lauded and revered but perhaps never fully appreciated until now.

Charlotte Richardson Andrews, Wears the Trousers magazine.  

Download the press release here.