THE SICK BAG SONG chronicles Cave's journey with his band the Bad Seeds on a twenty-two-day, North American tour. It is a highly personal account that blends memories, musings, poetry, lyrics, flights of fancy and road journal.

Drawing inspiration from Leonard Cohen, John Berryman, Patti Smith, Sharon Olds, folk ballads and ancient texts, THE SICK BAG SONG takes the form of an epic quest, turning over questions of inspiration, creativity, loss, death and romantic love. It is also a companion piece to his feature documentary 20,000 Days on Earth. THE SICK BAG SONG explores and develops the mystique of Nick Cave.

The book began its life scribbled onto airline sick bags, which are reproduced in the book alongside the text.

"An epic narrative poem about his travels across North America . . . Cave is experimenting with a new literary form - a mash-up of prose, poetry, song lyrics and autobiography" - * New York Times *

"Nick Cave goes the distance with The Sick Bag Song" - * LA Times *

"Far from your typical diary; snapshots of mundane reality (traffic jams, reading in a park) melt into disturbing visions peppered with flashbacks from his childhood. There are heated exchanges between Cave and his muses, and unsettling encounters with a few of his musical heroes (Bryan Ferry, Bob Dylan) that cause Cave to ponder the "vampiric" nature of creativity" - * Rolling Stone *

"The narrator's obsessive thoughts about his young self facing death juxtaposed with the illusions of fame . . . offer an interesting perspective on mortality" - * Sunday Herald *

"Biblical, slightly manic and distinctly berserk; it's also touching, poignant and utterly absorbing" - * The Age *