Serge Gainsbourg: A Fistful of Gitanes Book

The first biography in English of the priapic pop genius, drawing on new interviews to capture the debauched heart of the chain-smoking French cultural icon.

Singer, songwriter, filmmaker, poet, and provocateur: Ten years after his death in 1991, Serge Gainsbourg--once known only for his heavy-breathing hit "Je T'Aime, Moi Non Plus"--has emerged as "his nation's most beloved pop export since Piaf" (New York Times). His musical output encompassed a staggering variety of transformations: classical, chanson, jazz, baby pop, rock, reggae, disco, and hip-hop. His lyrics were mind-boggling exercises in Franglais triple-entendres. And his personal life was marked by a singular dedication to cigarettes, alcohol, and seduction.

In this, the first English biography to capture Gainsbourg in all his contradiction and gleeful outrageousness, Simmons tells the fascinating story of the Gallic star. Drawing on hours of new interviews with his intimates-among them Jane Birkin, Sly & Robbie, Marianne Faithfull, and celebrated producer Philippe Lerichomme-Simmons describes in crackling prose the scope of Gainsbourg's achievement while doing full justice to his complicated emotional life. Simmons's work will stand as the definitive take on a dizzying genius.