New Zealand teenager Ella Yelich-O’Connor went from obscurity to fame and fortune as Lorde in less than 18 months. Ella was not a conventional child. “I went to a lot of David Lynch films, I read a lot of strange books, I loved to go to the museum all day. I was that kid.” Ella liked reading short stories and one of her favorite authors was American Kurt Vonnegut. Journalist Bernie Dowling has compiled quotes from Lorde and Vonnegut to tell her story in their own words Also included is Dowling’s entertaining account of the rise of Lorde. ‘I was in a cab home in NYC and Royals came on and I laughed and the driver asked why and I told him it was my song and he said ‘Mine, too.’