Book Review: Breath to Bear by Paula Dombrowiak

In Paula Dombrowiak’s rock and roll novel Blood and Bone we were introduced to rock musician Jack O’Donnell. Haunted by his past, Jack was still tormented by the death of his bandmate, Mia Stone, a woman Jack regarded as his soulmate. Jack was trying to revive his tattered career and deal with a rather messy relationship with his ex-wife Amber and their daughter, Hayley, a budding musician herself.

And then there was music journalist Erin Langford. At the end of Blood and Bone, Jack and Erin had embarked on a relationship as she got to know more about him and help him with his memoir. But this professional relationship couldn’t help but grow into something quite more romantic. The chemistry between Erin and Jack was electric, and the sex white hot. But was their relationship just a memory of entangled bedsheets and limbs? Or was Erin a promise of love and happiness for Jack? Or would Jack screw things up and cast Erin aside like a used up condom?

Now Jack and Erin, and so many others introduced in Blood and Bone are back in Paula Dombrowiak’s latest installment Breath to Bear. And everyone has quite the story to tell in this crazy rock and roll ride.

As Breath to Bear begins, Jack’s memoir, which he wrote with Erin’s help, has been released. Writing this memoir was an act of laying bare, opening a vein, and bleeding all over the page. Jack is brutally honest about the life he has lived, and how it has lead him this point in time. There is no sugar-coating in Jack’s memoir. And now Jack is dealing with the aftermath of releasing such a blunt tale of his life that may freak out his fans, and ruffle the feathers of those closest to him.

Writing this memoir was cathartic, but Jack isn’t exactly in the best state of mind. As mentioned, he’s still tormented by the memory of Mia. His old band, Mogo, busted up ages ago, and Jack is trying to get his solo career started. If only, he wasn’t dealing with a vicious case of writer’s block. Will the musical muse ever visit him again? Sobriety continues to be a challenge for Jack. His ex, Amber, has announced she’s getting remarried, and his daughter, Hayley, now has a musical career of his own. Being all too aware of the missteps a young person can make in the world of music, Jack has his worries.

And then there is Erin, the woman who helped him string his past and his words into creating his best-selling memoir. When they met, Jack thought Erin was just another irritating journalist, and Erin thought Jack was just another has-been musician. But they connected so much writing the memoir, finding layers and layers beneath both of their surfaces, and yes, the electricity between them was smoking hot. But Erin didn’t want to be just another notch on Jack’s bedpost. And Jack was giving her the time to figure things out.

As mentioned, Jack is trying to finish an album he was originally going to do with Mia. And he’s waiting for the muse to help him writes songs and record them in the studio. His relationship with former bandmates is fractured, and the music business sees him as very damaged goods. And though Jack’s memoir is a huge best-seller, he feels like he exposed too much. But Jack feels it in his bones that he must get his revive his stalled career or else.

Erin was thrilled to get the chance to help Jack write his memoir. However, she didn’t expect to sleep with him and possible fall in love with him, too. Feeling like her journalistic integrity is a bit in tatters, Erin leaves her regular music magazine writing gig and goes freelance. She also hopes to figure out what she and Jack have.

Jack and Erin’s relationship is confusing at best. Jack is a parade of red flags. One of them is his obsession with Mia. How can Erin compete with Jack’s alleged soulmate even if she’s now a ghost? Erin tries to keep Jack at arms length (not always an easy thing to do) and focus on her career as a writer.

Jack tries to revitalize his splintered musical career, make amends with his former bandmates, come to terms with Amber’s impending nuptials, and encourage Haley on her music career. He also can’t stop thinking about Erin. Could he be falling in love with her? As for Erin, she decides to take a road trip, visit various towns, check out their music scenes, and write about them. While on her trip, she befriends a talented budding photographer, Sasha, and Sasha joins her on this road trip.

During this time, Erin acts as a mentor and big sister to Sasha. And it’s wonderful to see two women connect rather than seeing backstabbing and catty behavior. And Jack finds out Hayley has been assaulted by some sleazy toad in the music industry, and deals with this piece of shit in the way you’d expect Jack to act. But you can’t blame him for wanting to protect Hayley. The music business is treacherous.

As Breath to Bear reaches its conclusion, it looks like Jack might get his career back on track and Erin just might be the true blue love he’s been searching for, but it takes a lot of soul-searching to reach this point. Will Jack release an album that goes platinum? Will Erin’s writing career flourish now that she’s freelance? Will Jack and Erin end up at the Chapel of Love? Only time will tell.

Dombrowiak has written another richly detailed and gripping tale. Sure, she covers the usual tropes of sex, drugs, and rock and roll, but Breath to Bear also covers family, friends, redemption, and renewal, issues so many of us faced even though the closest we’ve gotten to the music biz is our Spotify lists. Dombrowiak definitely knows her stuff when it comes to the world of rock and roll, and she builds characters that are complex and enthralling. Breath to Bear is a worthy successor to Blood and Bone.

Reading to Reels: The Commitments

Back in 1991, charming Irish film was released. It was called The Commitments. Based on the 1987 novel of the same name by Roddy Doyle, The Commitments was about a band trying to make it the gritty and struggling city of Dublin, Ireland.

Meet Jimmy Rabbitte (Robert Arkins). Jimmy is on the dole and lives with his parents on the northside of Dublin. But that doesn’t mean he’s a total slacker who lacks ambition. He wants to manage a band, an no, this band won’t follow in the footsteps of their fellow Irish citizens like U2 or Sinead O’Connor (RIP). Instead, Jimmy wants the band to follow the 1960s’ soulful musical stylings of Black American singers and musicians.

At first, Jimmy puts an ad in the local newspaper asking for aspiring singers and musicians. He holds auditions in his parents’ parlor. Unfortunately, these auditions are not fruitful. Nobody can fill Jimmy’s soulful aspirations. Jimmy then looks to his friends to make the band, which includes lead singer Deco Cuffe (Andrew Strong), keyboardist Steven Clifford (Michael Aherne), bassist Derek Scully (Kenneth McCluskey), lead guitarist Outspan Foster (Glen Hansard), sax player Dean Fay (Felim Gormley), and drummer Billy Mooney (Dick Massey). Three local girls, Bernie McGloughlin (Bronagh Gallagher), Natalie Murphy (Maria Doyle), and Imelda Quirke (Angeline Ball) are brought onboard to be back-up singers. Jimmy soon meets an older man by the name of Joey “The Lips” Fagan (Johnny Murphy). Johnny has been playing music for decades and boasts about meeting many musical legends.

It is Jay who comes up with the band’s name The Commitments. But it is a long road before hit records and sold-out shows at famous arenas through out the world. The Commitments have a lot of work to do to reach musical greatness.

First the band has to procure musical instruments. Steven’s grandmother sells them a drum kit and a piano. And Duffy procures the rest of the instruments through some rather dodgy maneuvers. The Commitments find a rehearsal place to hone their musical stylings. The Commitments get their first gig at a local church’s community center. The band claims its a benefit to combat drug addiction (heroin was a huge problem in 1980s Ireland).

The Commitments draw a sizable crowd, but the gig doesn’t quite go as well as planned. Equipment malfunctions causing a power outage. And it doesn’t exactly help matters when Deco accidentally beams Derek with his microphone stand. Oops.

Though the Commitments are tight on stage, things aren’t exactly harmonious behind the scenes. Deco becomes an out-of-control diva. After one brawl between Deco and Billy, Mickah Wallace (Dave Finnegan), who had been acting as security for the band, takes over on the drums. Billy has had enough. And then there is also a scuffle when Jimmy is confronted about paying for the instruments he procured for the band. Mickah beats up Duffy, who is then escorted out of the gig. Meanwhile, Joey manages to woo and bed Bernie, Natalie, and Imelda. No, not at the same time. It’s not that kind of movie. But how do you think Joey “The Lips” Fagan got his nickname? Wink, wink.

However, despite all the backstage chaos and romantic shenanigans, The Commitments are gaining a considerable following and more and more gigs. They are local musical heroes. Then Joey tells them some interesting news when the band gets yet another gig. Joey tells his bandmates that the Wilson Pickett will be in Dublin for a concert, and because he and Joey are tight, Wilson can join The Commitments for a performance. Jimmy is so excited, he tells some local journalists this juicy tidbit and convinces them to come to this gig. It will be major. Will Wilson show up? Things do look doubtful, and Deco and Jimmy get into a row. And this also causes quite a bit of of protest amongst the audience, but they are placated once the band plays the Wilson Pickett classic, “In the Midnight Hour.” Things don’t go very well for the band after the gig. Big fights break out and thus, it looks like The Commitments are over when they are just beginning.

In the end, The Commitments don’t reach the musical heights they had hoped for, and the film ends with a montage narrated by Jimmy of where the band members are post-The Commitments. Imelda gets married and is forbidden to sing by her husband, but Natalie becomes a successful solo singer and Bernie is in a country band. Steven is now doctor. Outspan and Derek are street buskers. Dean formed a jazz band. Joey claims on a postcard to his mother that he’s touring with Joe Tex. Too bad Joe Tex is dead. Mickah is the singer of a punk band. And as for Deco, well, he got a record deal and is still a diva and a royal pain in the arse.

Directed by Alan Parker (who also directed the original Fame movie released in 1980), The Commitments wasn’t necessarily a huge hit when it was initially released in 1991. But since then, has become a beloved cult classic. The movie spawned two soundtracks that were big hits and introduced iconic soulful songs and sounds to a new generation. And the cast is still involved in acting and/or music. Glen Hansard is probably the best known. He was in another Irish charmer, Once, and one an Oscar for the song “Falling Slowly.”

I loved The Commitments. The cast has incredible chemistry, the music is fabulous, and Parker truly captures the grittiness of Dublin back in the day. The Colm Meaney nearly steals the show as Jimmy’s Elvis-loving father. The Commitments is a delight!

I Read It So You Don’t Have To: Groupies by Sarah Priscus

“Josie, who’d be covered in blood on the bathroom tiles in nine months.”

This is the opening line to the novel Groupies by Sarah Priscus. And with an opening line like that, a total attention grabber, you would think Groupies would be an amazing read. Sadly, the opening line is the only part of this novel that I liked. From that moment, Groupies went severely downhill.

It’s the late 1970s, and main character, Faun Novak, has dropped out of Mount Holyoke and her mother has just died. Feeling a bit directionless, Faun moves out west to California to live with her high school best friend, Josie. Josie has a fledgling modeling career, and is dating Cal Holiday, the lead singer of the rock band Holiday Sun.

Faun quickly gets caught up in the sex, drugs, and rock and roll of being in Holiday Sun’s orbit. She also fancies herself as some type of photographer even though her “art” consists of taking mostly quick snaps with her Polaroid camera. To make some money to fund her rock and roll habit, Faun gets a job at a mall photo studio, but proves to be too lazy to develop any type of work ethic.

Wanting to be a photographer, you would think Faun would try to hone her skills, buy an actual professional SLR camera, study her craft, and learn how to navigate a dark room (remember this was the 1970s; digital photography was a long way off). But no, Faun would rather wing it with her Polaroid camera and somehow believes her amateurish snaps should be taken seriously by the rock and roll press. I seriously doubt magazines like Rolling Stone, Creem, and Circus would talk Faun seriously. But somehow she is considered a serious artiste by Holiday Sun and the local music scene.

There is a lot of drug taking and mindless casual sex in Groupies, but Josie and Cal seem to be a true blue couple. They even get married. But sadly, Cal is abusive towards Josie. And after Faun releases some photos of Josie in a less than favorable light, it leads towards a violent altercation between Josie and Cal, which is why Josie ends up covered in blood. But is it Josie or Cal who dies?

Who cares? By the time Groupies reaches its climax, I just didn’t care. Groupies is completely shallow and sleazy. It’s as if Priscus only watched Almost Famous a few times, and figured she knew everything about the rock and roll scene in 1970s Los Angeles. Yes, she’s a young author; she just graduated from college. But she should have put more research into writing Groupies. She makes no mention of the rising punk scene, and disco was a brief mention when she name drops Studio 54. Plus, I can assure you there were no Vietnam war protests or women wearing mini-skirts in the late 1970s. Believe me, I was there.

Plus, Faun is a charisma-free character who you can never root for, and she shows no growth throughout the novel. And it’s disgusting how she betrays Josie. Sure, I can understand the rock and roll excess of the 1970s, but it was never conveyed why Holiday Sun was the type of band people wanted to hang out with. They weren’t exactly the Rolling Stones.

In an age where vinyl is making a comeback, Groupies has all the relevance of a dusty 8-track found in the glove compartment of a Ford Pinto.

Book Review: Mary Jane by Jessica Anya Blau

It is the summer of 1975 and Mary Jane is 14 years old. She lives with her lawyer father and homemaker mother in an upscale Baltimore neighborhood. Shy, naïve, and lacking a huge group of friends, Mary Jane’s life consists of going to her parents upper crust country Waspy country club, attending church services and singing in the choir, listening to Broadway show tunes (rock and roll is verboten), and helping her mother make the nightly dinner. But Mary Jane’s life is about to go through a huge transformation in some major ways in Jessica Anya Blau’s superb novel Mary Jane.

Mary Jane procures a job acting as a nanny for the Dr. and Mrs. Cone’s daughter, Izzy. Because Dr. Cone is a psychiatrist and he and his family live in the neighborhood, Mary Jane’s mother assumes they are the “right people” so she initially has no problems with Mary Jane’s new job.

But the Cones couldn’t be any different the Mary Jane’s family. Whereas Mary Jane has grown up in a household with with rigid ideas and rules, the Cone family is free-spirited, raucous, and quite sloppy. Dr. Cone works from home, and though Mrs. Cone is a homemaker she doesn’t do a whole lot of homemaking. She doesn’t cook, the house is cluttered, and the refrigerator is filled with food that has seen better days. However, Mrs. Cone is kind, friendly, open-minded, and like her husband, clearly loves her daughter, Izzy. The Cone family makes Mary Jane feel completely welcome from the moment she enters their house.

The Cones are about to have some special guests at their house, Jimmy and Sheba. Jimmy is a mega rock star and Sheba is an actress who once had a top-rated TV show. Jimmy is a drug addict, and he and Sheba are hoping Dr. Cone can help Jimmy with his addiction and get back on the right path even though the 1970s was a time of debauchery. Sex, drugs, and rock and roll were truly a thing.

Though Mary Jane is sheltered, she is aware of Jimmy and Sheba and how famous they are. And she’s about to get a glimpse behind the curtain of glitter and glamour that is celebrity. She learns about what it’s like to deal with addiction, the intricacies of marriage (both Jimmy and Sheba’s and the Cones), and how to take care of a rambunctious, precocious, and clingy five-year-old like Izzy.

Mary Jane is also gets more acquainted with rock and roll, and she is even asked to sing along with Jimmy and Sheba, and they are impressed with her vocal talents. Despite being a bit nerdy, everyone is taken by Mary Jane. She brings some semblance of normalcy to the the lives of the Cones and Jimmy and Sheba. Mary Jane is devoted to Izzy. She also is a whiz in the kitchen, using her mom’s recipes to feed everyone.

Mary Jane continues to get an education while working for the Cones. Her world is changing from a strict black and white to a kaleidoscope of color. She begins to realize how rigid her home life is and is appalled over her parents thinly veiled anti-Semitism (Dr. Cone is Jewish) and racism (Mary Jane’s mom flips when her daughter is photographed with the gang at a record store in predominantly black neighborhood and it ends up in the local newspaper).

But Mary Jane also sees that just because Jimmy, Sheba, and the Cones aren’t totally square like her mom and dad doesn’t mean they are perfect as Jimmy falls off the wagon, adulterous acts are committed, and marriages aren’t always “until death do us part.” And maybe Mary Jane’s mother will prove to be not such a stick in the mud after all.

I absolutely loved this book. I found the characters richly drawn and as someone who is of Izzy’s generation, Generation X, I completely recognized the time and place of the mid 1970s, which Blau captures with utter perfection. Mary Jane was a character I rooted for, smart and sensible, but so willing to learn about different worlds. I also appreciated how Blau didn’t turn Mary Jane’s story into a cliché, getting hooked on drugs or getting seduced by either Jimmy or Dr. Cone. Mary Jane is a wonderfully original and entertaining coming-of-age story.

Book Review: The Words to Every Song by Liz Moore

Books about the music industry and show business can be tricky. Either an author has to do a lot of heavy research or he or she just tries to wing it, hoping one’s imagination will help fill out the pages of a book. But Liz Moore is a former musician turned writer. So she has a lot of inside knowledge and experience within the rarified world of the music industry and the people who make it tick, which may be why her novel, The Words of Every Song is such an insightful and compelling read.

The Words of Every Song is a collection of short stories that work out as a full novel. All of them intermingle (though many can stand on their own). This book tells the various tales of different people within the confines of the music industry in New York City. There is Jax Powers Kline, a high level executive at Titan Records, and her secretary, Cynthia, a failed musician nursing a broken heart. There is up and coming singer, Lenore Lamont, Cynthia’s former girlfriend who is touted the next big thing. (There’s a giant billboard of Lenore in Time’s Square promoting her soon-to-be released debut album). Tommy Mays is a seasoned rocker finding more solace with his devoted wife and their two daughters. On the other hand, one of his bandmates, Jeffrey, is nearly going insane, living in debauchery, banging underage groupies, and feeling soulless and empty.

Theo is the A & R guy, always on the hunt for the next great thing in music, and he’s hoping the latest band he signed, The Burn, will be the next great thing in music. At the helm of The Burn, is Siobhan, still mourning the death of Kurt Cobain and her late mother, gone too soon. There is Tony, the sound engineer, dealing with bands and musicians who are often too strung out to properly record their music. There is a budding girl group, Hype Girlz, dealing with a member who thinks she’s too fat to be a star and her demanding stage father. And then there is the music fan, Gregory, coming to grips with his homosexuality, believing his life would only be complete if he could meet his favorite rock star, Tommy Mays.

All the stories and the characters interweave seamlessly and come across as very true. Yes, there are clichés of rock and roll excess and corporate dirty tricks, but the characters show layers that make them compelling. Jax, usually in control, finds herself regressing when she visits her parents for her mother’s birthday. And Tommy, despite his jadedness, remains a devoted family man. He’s not sneaking off with giggling groupies. And I really liked the how Moore used the lyrics of various artists-Bruce Springsteen, PJ Harvey, Natalie Merchant, Billie Holiday, and The Cure at the beginning of each chapter.

Whether you’re fan of music and want to learn more about the industry, or just in search of good book, you can’t go wrong with The Words of Every Song.

Book Review: Surrender-40 Songs, One Story by Bono

Single named rock and pop stars-Sting, Cher, Madonna- are rarely willing to stay in the background. They are often larger than life. And U2 frontman, Bono, is no different, despite being only 5;6″. There are many books about U2 front man Bono. Bono in Conversation by Michka Assayas is one of my favorites. But never has there been a book about Bono written by the man himself until now-Surrender: 40 Songs, One Story. In Surrender, Bono tells his life story by using 40 different U2 songs for each chapter, songs that will be familiar to any U2 fan.

Bono was born Paul David Hewson on May 10, 1960 in Dublin, Ireland. His father, Bob, was Catholic, and his mother, Iris, was Church of Ireland Protestant. This may not sound like a big deal today, but in Ireland 60 years ago, a mixed marriage was monumental. But it may have also inspired Bono (who was raised in his mother’s faith) to build bridges among different religions, opinions, and ideas.

Sadly, tragedy visited the Hewson family when Bono was a mere 14 years old. His mother died of a stroke she suffered at the funeral of her own father. Bono mentions she was rarely spoken of again, and the Hewson household was of three very angry men who could not quite articulate and comfort themselves in Iris’s heartbreaking absence.

Bono was on a bad path when two major things occurred. He started dating his lovely wife Ali (they’ve been married for over 40 years!). And he joined a little rock group that became U2.

Bono tells of U2’s early days, long before sold out stadium concerts, platinum records, and trophy cases filled with Grammys. U2 really had to struggle to get a record deal and gigs. Bono even shows a rejection letter from one record label. Hmm, I bet that label is kicking themselves these days.

Of course, U2 have gone beyond being a hugely popular band. Whereas many rock stars are happy to top the charts, play sold out gigs, and bang a few groupies, U2, and especially Bono, wanted something more. They wanted to change the world. As many people know, Bono has been involved in activism back in the 1980s when he was involved with the Band Aid single “Do They Know It’s Christmas?” and the Live Aid mega concert on behalf of the Ethiopian people. For Bono, activism is a megaphone. He knows being a celebrity can bring attention to important causes. And Bono has been very involved with issues facing the African continent for a very long time, issues like the AIDS crisis, debt relief, and fair trade. Yes, Bono has some naysayers, but I believe he’s truly a very committed person. Bono doesn’t need to “Shut up, and sing.”

And yes, like with any celebrity, Bono is quite the name dropper in Surrender. He’s met a lot of famous folks over the years-Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra, Nelson Mandela. He talks about the band befriending supermodels like Helena Christensen, Christy Turlington, and Naomi Campbell (the latter being engaged to bassist Adam Clayton for a short time). But it was heartbreaking to learn about the tragic loss of one of his best mates, Michael Hutchence.

Let’s not forget; there is the personal side of Bono. Bono writes so highly of his lovely wife, Ali. And he’s a devoted father to his three children, Jordan, Eve, Elijah, and John. All of Bono and Ali’s children have turned out top notch, but Bono admits he always wasn’t a very present father between his work with U2 and his activism. But no matter what the Hewson family remains a team.

Throughout Surrender, Bono talks so lovingly of his U2 brothers, relaying stories that are both inspiring and some are that quite sad. U2 have faced their challenges, but remain strong. The way Bono writes about Larry, Adam, and the Edge is quiet heartfelt showing them as the humans they are.

Surrender is not a slim volume. It’s nearly 600 pages long. But this is Bono we’re talking about; he’s quite wordy and loquacious. And he has so much material to cover in his 60 plus years. However, I never felt bogged down while reading Surrender. I kept flipping from page to page wondering what Bono was going to say next.

I have to admit, being a U2 fan for decades, Bono’s life story is very familiar to me. But reading Bono’s life story in his own words is something else.

Book Review: The Hope Raisers-How a Group of Young Kenyans Fought to Transform Their Slum and Inspire a Community by Nihar Suthar

With so many bad things happening in the world, I often want to read books that are positive and uplifting. And positive and uplifting is exactly what I got with Nihar Suthar’s book, Hope Raisers: How a Group of Young Kenyans Fought to Transform Their Slum and Inspire a Community.

Korogucho is a slum in Kenya where life is quite difficult. Extreme poverty, gang violence, environmental degradation, and food and water shortages negatively affect Koroguchos citizens. Some people have to earn a living by going through piles of trash, which is very dangerous. And often, the children of Korogucho have no hope of getting an education or improving their lives for the better. Many of them turn to a life of crime.

Two young men, Daniel Onyango, and his friend Mutura Kuria started a band they called the Hope Raisers. Daniel and Mutura wanted to inspire the children of Korogucho through their music. Little did they know, the Hope Raisers would do so much more.

One day, while going through one of the trash piles, they came across a pair of inline skates, rollerblades, and came up with an idea. Why not learn how to use these rollerblades and and teach the children of Korogucho. Rollerblading became very popular amongst the boys and young men, and soon girls wanted to get involved with rollerblading, too. One of these girls, Lucy Achieng , proved to be quite adept at rollerblading, and figured it would elevate her above and beyond what most girls in were destined to in the slums-a life of early marriage, too many kids, and a life of poverty. After Lucy joined, many other girls joined the rollerblading club, and the club started competing in rollerblade races.

The rollerblade club figures out ways to raise money to purchase more rollerblade and attend rollerblading competitions. Lucy, especially, became a very strong skater, often teaching and mentoring new members along the way. And she often represented Kenya in international competitions where she won both trophies and money, which made her dreams of being a flight attendant so much more realistic and achievable.

Whereas the Hope Raisers and the rollerblading club had a lot of triumphs, they also had to experience defeat, whether it was losing a race or dealing with many obstacles in their way like crime, poverty, or inhospitable environments.

But mostly, The Hope Raisers shows what can be done with a positive spirit, lots of ambition and hard work, and community support can do. I loved learning about Lucy’s travels to China for a rollerblading competition where she flew on a plane for the first time, got lost in trying to find the hotel, and ate frog legs thinking it was chicken. I also loved learning how her friend, Chumbana Omari, also got involved with rollerblading and had dreams of her own. And then there was Mama Bonie, an early supporter of the Hope Raisers. Every community, rich, poor, or somewhere in between needs a Mama Bonie.

Ultimately, The Hope Raisers is a tale one what a committed band of young people can do with a few resources, a lot of community support, and a desire to better one’s self and one’s community. The Hope Raisers is never patronizing; it is wonderful inside look at the beauty of one very special community and it’s people. After reading The Hope Raisers, I wish for a sequel. I truly want to know where Daniel, Matura, Lucy, Chumbana, Mama Bonie, and the people of Korogucho are up to these days.

Book Review: How to Be Famous by Caitlin Moran

In the book How to Be a Girl (which I reviewed a few years ago) we met one singular character, Johanna Morrigan who prefers to go by her pen name, Dolly Wilde. Dolly has a really great gig writing for the British music publication Disc and Music Echo (D and ME), which is a feather in her teenage chapeau. She’s still living with her family yet desires to move to London where everything is happening. She also has a mad crush on John Kite, a musician on the verge of fame.

Now Dolly is back in Caitlin Moran’s sequel How to Be Famous. Dolly has moved out and is living in a flat in London. She’s still writing for Disc and Music Echo and is having a made flirtation with John Kite. Kite has hit the big time. His songs are climbing the charts and he’s playing sold out concerts. Dolly is young and despite her success she’s still trying to figure things out. But of course, she’s 19. This is understandable.

Now de-virginized, Dolly sees herself as a bit of bon vivant and a “Lady Sex Adventurer,” proud of being a sexual being and ready for anything. Anything, unfortunately, turns out to be a night of nookie with a stand up comic named Jerry Sharpe. Dolly should feel honored to hook up with Jerry. Comics are the rock stars of the 1990s don’t you know. Unfortunately, Jerry is less than gentlemanly, and he video tapes their shagging session.

Other than sex, Dolly is fully immersed in the local music scene. Her friend Zee has a fledgling music label and Dolly gets to know one of his label’s new bands The Branks. At the helm of The Branks is the brash and over the top lead singer, Suzanne Banks who comes across like a British Courtney Love. And when it comes to her family, her father is trying to take up permanent residence in her flat. Dolly is not pleased with this.

When it comes to her writing, Dolly gets a really a job writing for The Face, one of Britain’s premier magazines. Dolly is thrilled with this opportunity and loves being in the world of famous people, but often feels like a total outsider.

And then things get quite complicated for Dolly. The little sex tape that comic Jerry Sharped filmed gets out there and is seen by far too many people. Even though this is in the mid 1990s in a time before everyone was on the internet. Things like sex tapes didn’t exactly go viral but they did get released. Remember the infamous sex tape of Pamela Anderson and Tommy Lee?

Dolly is absolutely mortified about this is turn of events. Sure, Jerry Sharpe is a massive sleaze and douchebag, but she’s the disgraced fallen woman. Will her amazing life in London end just as it’s beginning? And what about her budding romance with John Kite?

Through the support of her new friend Suzanne, Dolly is able to stand up for herself and hold her head high during one highlight during the book. Dolly may be down, but no way is she out. And before she knows it, things heat up with John Kite, and she travels with him on his tour of America.

Though I did think How to Be Famous had it’s high points, I still felt like something was missing. Dolly is a fun and interesting character. I admire her gumption and willing to give everything whether her love life or her career, her all. Yet, some aspects veered to close to the #MeToo movement 20 years too soon, and her relationship with John Kite seemed a bit too unbelievable. Still, How to Be Famous is an entertaining read with lots of 1990s references certainly to make readers misty-eyed with memories. Apparently, How to Be Famous is second in the series. I think it will be quite a ride once Dolly gets older and faces new adventures and challenges as she approaches the 21st century.

I Read It So You Don’t Have To: Pretty Little Dirty by Amanda Boyden

I’m usually a sucker for coming-of-age books, especially those about my fellow Generation X-ers. I was hoping Amanda Boyden’s novel Pretty Little Dirty would appease my love for these types of books. Sadly, this book was a huge disappointment.

Pretty Little Dirty started out promising. Lisa Smith and Celeste Diamond meet as grade schoolers in Kansas City, Missouri. Lisa has just moved from Chicago and Celeste has just moved from New York. Being the new girls in town, they bond immediately and become best friends.

Lisa, who narrates the books, has a bad home life. Her mother is still in the throes of post-partum depression at a time mental illness was barely understood and properly treated. And her father is totally checked out, not there to offer his children support and comfort.

On the other hand, Celeste’s family is picture perfect to young Lisa. Her parents are warm and funny. Lisa finds solace with the Diamond family so much she seems to spend more time with them than with her own family.

Lisa and Celeste bond at summer camp and their friendship continues once they get to high school. These two girls show promise. They take dance classes, get good grades, and sing in the school choir. They also start spending time at the Kansas City Art Institute meeting artsy types. And that’s when Pretty Little Dirty completely goes off the rails.

Lisa and Celeste get heavily into drugs and sleep with a lot of guys. Chapter after chapter is about these two girls ingesting illegal substances and having sex with loser guys. This continues when they go to college-Lisa to the University of Wisconsin and Celeste to Berkeley. It’s just a downward spiral of drugs, bad sex, and hanging out with really sketchy people. They also go to a lot of rock shows but they seem to be more into the scene than the actual music. I was wondering how they could afford their lifestyles. The only source of money these girls had were their parents’ credit cards and dealing drugs.

I’m not prude. Drug use and sex in a novel is not going to make me clutch my pearls. But I’m trying to figure out how two young women with such unrestrained drug use could even make a simple cup of coffee in the morning let alone get really good grades in high school and college. And by the early 1980s AIDS was a huge threat so banging random men without condoms is just so unbelievably stupid. Plus, the sex scenes are so soulless and off putting. And the writing of these sex scenes is gag-inducing, makes sex look so unsexy. And in one passage, Lisa talks about plucking crabs from her pubic hair in the bathroom stall of a club. Hmm, how classy.

Speaking of the writing, it’s repetitive, overwrought, and at times, quite dull. In the hands of a much better writer, Pretty Little Dirty could have been good, but it’s not. And when the book concluded with a tragic yet predictable end, I couldn’t have cared less.

In the end Lisa and Celeste aren’t likable and relatable. Sure, teen girls are going to experiment with drugs and sex, but they also have characteristics that make them compelling and interesting. No amount of sex, drugs, and rock and roll could make Lisa and Celeste compelling and interesting. They are vapid, self-absorbed, not very bright, and aren’t as artsy and bewitching as they think they are. They are also mean girls who make fun of other people’s looks and their racism is barely veiled. Pretty Little Dirty is ugly massive dirty waste of time.

Book Review: How to Talk to Girls About Duran Duran-One Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut by Rob Sheffield

I found this book review I wrote for an on-line publication years ago and decided to dust it off and publish it here. Enjoy!

Known for his best-selling memoir, Love is a Mix Tape, music journalist Rob Sheffield is back with Talking to Girls About Duran Duran: One Young Man’s Quest for True Love and a Cooler Haircut . Talking to Girls About Duran Duran is hardly a pick-up manual. Instead, it is a bittersweet look back at the author’s youth and the music that shaped it.

Divided up into 20-odd chapters named for songs, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran starts off with the Go-Gos’ “Our Lips Are Sealed” and ends with Duran Duran’s “All She Wants Is.” Sheffield, despite being the only brother among bossy sisters, couldn’t quite figure out the fairer sex. That’s where music came in. Sheffield claims, “…something in the music keeps promising that if I could only finally figure out Duran Duran, I would finally understand women, and maybe even understand love.”

Adolescence is never a smooth ride, and Sheffield stumbles through the 1980s confused and inept at everything from flirting to sports. He uses the pop hits of the day to describe emotions and feelings he thought only he experienced. He also thought if he could talk to his female classmates about Duran Duran that maybe they’d see him in a romantic light and he’d no longer be the “nice guy” that all the girls liked just as a friend.

Sadly, he was rarely successful.

But Sheffield doesn’t just use music to discuss girls. Music is also the backdrop to his failure as a high school wrestler, driving an ice cream truck one summer, the Roman Catholicism of his youth, and being the grandson of a wizened Irish immigrant. His sisters suffer in vain to make him “cooler,” and Sheffield fantasizes about becoming the only male member of the Go-Gos.

Unlike many male music journalists, Sheffield is no rock snob. He name checks such mainstream music-makers as Hall and Oates, Culture Club and Madonna. He even admits to attending a Debbie Gibson concert.

It’s also music that consoles him years later after the loss of his young wife, Renee. And it’s karaoake that helps him get through the grief of being a widower. For Sheffield, singing was easier than talking, and karaoke also had a way of summing up the cheesiness of over-produced 1980s synth pop.

Talking to Girls About Duran Duran is funny and touching, and you don’t have to remember when MTV actually showed videos instead of the shenanigans of various teen moms to appreciate it.  If you’ve ever been a confused adolescent, and if music has been a huge part of your life, Talking to Girls About Duran Duran is a page-turning soundtrack.