Utopia Avenue - David Mitchell

 43%

03.07.23

I'm not sure why I persevered with all 561 pages of this when many more tempting books are literally piling up. For a story about a trendy band enjoying all the subversive aspects of the exciting 1960s, it was incredibly dull. Mitchell can't write convincingly about music - or fame - or women - or mental health issues - and I really dislike fictional characters meeting real people (most of whom are now dead, presumably included to avoid lawsuits). Daisy Jones and the Six was better  - hell, even Songs in Ursa Major was better - and the 'other' David Mitchell is more fun.

Songs in Ursa Major - Emma Brodie

 45%

26.02.23

This was comically badly written in many - too many - places. 'Daisy Jones and the Six' it was not, whatever the copy-cat cover suggests. It was, admittedly, entertaining but, from the terrible metaphors to the trite song lyrics to the awkwardly inserted (sorry) sex scenes to the tiresome main character who can play any instrument just by looking at it, this novel needed several more drafts to be any good.

(Oh, I must add that the reference to a British rock singer's 'Kentish voice' made me laugh out loud whenever it was mentioned. I'm British and have no idea what that might sound like, so I'm pretty sure someone who grew up on an isolated US island 60 years ago wouldn't either.)

Daisy Jones and The Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid

64%
03.06.20

I've often thought 'Deepen Meaningful' would be a good name for a band. Not this band, though - much hyped but there's little profound about the sex 'n' drugs 'n' rock 'n' roll rows, and that's not helped by the ingenious, appropriate yet distancing interview-style narrative. But it still enters pretty high in the charts for simply being such a fun, escapist ride.
Soon to be televised, I believe - that could be interesting.

Just For One Day - Louise Wener

55%
16.05.20

I imagine the target market of Britpop fans is quite specific, but it includes me. I saw Sleeper perform two or maybe three times in the mid-90s so it's fun to go behind the scenes in this memoir. But it's not as enlightening as I hoped. There was a little gossip (probably within legal boundaries) but I'd have liked to know more about the mechanics of writing a song or making a video or planning a tour.

The Infinite Blacktop - Sara Gran

63%
04.09.19

This sequel to the equally weird Bohemian Highway manages to be both lyrical and ridiculous, with an extra hit of philosophy (although it's not at all shocking, as promised on the cover). It does make you suspect that this shady, drug-fuelled life is the unglamorous, unspoken context of other private detective novels.

Claire deWitt and the Bohemian Highway - Sara Gran

59%
08.11.16

Most fictional detectives are dysfunctional but it's a wonder Claire deWitt can do any detection at all. That's the real mystery, as Claire enters a downward spiral of drugs and a tenuous hold on reality. It's certainly an interesting and unusual read, and one that's probably pretty layered beneath all the confusion.