Niche, Momus
Niche, Momus
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Niche
A Memoir in Pastiche

Author: Momus

Narrator: Matthew Lloyd Davies

Unabridged: 12 hr 30 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Tantor Media

Published: 09/08/2020


Synopsis

Nick Currie, otherwise known as Momus—named for the ancient Greek god of mockery, and described by the Guardian as "the David Bowie of the art-pop underground"—has recorded more than thirty albums, published half a dozen works of speculative fiction, and written articles for the New York Times, Wired, Artforum, Frieze, and the Wire. An unknown band called Pulp once asked him to produce their next album. (He said no.) An unknown band called of Montreal once invited him to go on tour with them. (He said no.) He's collaborated with his fans Vampire Weekend and with the Magnetic Fields' Stephin Merritt. He's had an impression of his penis preserved by the notorious Cynthia Plaster Caster. Maybe you've heard of him. Probably you haven't. This is his story. Or, rather, stories.

Because Niche isn't any old showbiz memoir. Rather than writing a single sincere, avuncular tell-all in his own voice, Momus has structured the narrative of his life as a typically atypical mockery of the rock-biography oral history. Instead of using living witnesses, Momus assumes the voices of 217 dead authors and artists, and forces them to speak for and about him. From these dramatic monologues—sometimes unreliable, often comical—a picture gradually emerges of one eccentric star's life across three continents and in his own remarkable niche.


About Momus

Momus, born Nick Currie, is a Scot who makes songs, books, and art. He is the author of six books of speculative fiction and has released more than thirty albums, the most recent being Vivid. Momus divides his time between Berlin and Paris.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Tosh on July 15, 2020

A really enjoyable memoir, which it's uniqueness is that Momus chooses to use various dead (mostly) writers to witnessed/write about his life as it happens. "Niche" goes from Scotland to Osaka and other places as well. The cities are very character-like, and since I know the landscape of Tokyo durin......more

Goodreads review by Francesco on July 24, 2020

Like Konstantin Raudive, Nick Currie gives the voice back to (notable) dead people to have them recounting his life: someone is annoyed, someone lukewarmly euphoric, all called into question — magically — at the right time. It is a delicately "nouveau" book, a gateway to getting to know more or less......more

Goodreads review by Jacob on March 01, 2020

"Maybe humiliated and compromised artists are a good metaphor for humanity? We’re all working way below our potential."......more

Goodreads review by Jack on December 29, 2023

Haha I've been successfully freed of my interest in Momus! This book was a real failure to me. I understand that this memoir is intentionally muddied by the voices of 200+ people, none of them Momus. Even with that layer of intentional artifice, I gained so little. The narrative distance means that......more

Goodreads review by Nick on March 31, 2025

I just finished the Momus memoir on Hobie beach on my 25th birthday. It was good and funny a lot of the time, but mainly just something to twirl my navel hairs at as a minor Momus fangirl… it’s only 5 stars cause I admire Momus. If I hadn’t known who he was, I wouldn’t have bought it… speaking of wh......more