Autobiography

Simone Reference Works

The original Nina Simone autobiography, written with Stephen Cleary, is I Put A Spell On You. The Autobiography. Published by Ebury Press in London, 1991.  

The American edition is published by Da Capo Press, New York and Pantheon Books, New York . See some reviews and the Herb Boyd's review on Black Enterprise. You can buy this book by Amazon.  

The French translation is Ne me quittez pas published in Paris by Presses de la Renaissance, 1992.  

The German translation Meine schwarze Seele: Erinnerungen includes a discography compiled by Manfred Scheffner. The book is published in Hamburg by Hoffmann und Campe Verlag, 1993.  

Other sources of information about Nina's life and work

The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock : Trouble Girls, Random House, 1997 has 6 pages about Nina. Buy this book by Amazon.  

She Bop, The definitive history of women in rock, pop and soul, by Lucy O'Brien, Penguin Books, has a section (5 pages) about Nina. Buy this book by Amazon.  

Motel Chronicles, the 1982 book by Sam Shepard on which Wim Wenders based his film Paris, Texas, has a passage about Nina Simone. Buy this book by Amazon.  

The Sound of Soul, a 1969 book by Phyl Garland, has a 22-page chapter dedicated to Nina; there is an interview also. This book is out of print, but you can try to buy it by Amazon.  

See also the Interviews page and the Information Link page of this web site.  

(German) The Rock Lexicon by S. Schmidt-Joos and B. Graves (1973) has an entry about Nina.  

(Italian) There is an entry about Nina Simone in each of the three volumes of the Enciclopedia Rock Arcana, devoted respectively to 60s, 70s and 80s.  

(Italian) The personality and artistry of Nina Simone is described on two pages in the book Rock: 500 album da collezione by R. Casalini and P. Corticelli published by Mondadori.  

(Italian) In its issue no. 32, Blues Collection devoted 12 pages with text and photos to Nina Simone. This issue also came with a CD.  

(Italian) There is a short entry about Nina Simone in the Dizionario Jazz by Carles, Clergeat and Comolli published by Curcio.  

(Italian) In the book Le Grandi Voci della Musica Americana, Luciano Federighi (1997) has a page about Nina.  

(Italian) In the booklet La Musica Jazz Franco Fayenz ranges Nina in the 15 most representative voices of jazz.