Jonathan Lethem is the author of six novels, including the
bestsellers THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE and MOTHERLESS BROOKLYN,
which
won the National Book Critics Circle Award. He is also the author
of two short story collections, MEN AND CARTOONS and THE WALL OF
THE
SKY, WALL OF THE EYE, and a collection of autobiographical essays,
THE DISSAPOINTMENT ARTIST. His stories and essays have appeared in
The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, Esquire, McSweeny's, Tin House, The
New York Times and others. He was recently granted a MacArthur
Genius Award. He lives in Brooklyn and Maine.
“Smart and funny . . . a biting satirical take on the intersection of art and commerce, integrity and façade. . . . A send up of all things cool.” —Los Angeles Times “Fit to be devoured over a weekend.” —Rolling Stone“A gentle and hip romantic comedy [that] breezes through LA's iconoclastic anonymity with a refreshing sincerity.”—The Independent “His best since Gun, With Occasional Music . . . what makes the book sing are Lethem's accounts of what happens when a crowd on the street hears a band inside a building . . . or when for a moment four musicians understand each other better than anyone of them understands him or herself.”—Greil Marcus, Interview
Lethem (Fortress of Solitude; Motherless Brooklyn; etc.) strays from hometown Brooklyn to recount the near-fame experience of a Los Angeles alternative rock band. Its success depends on bass guitarist Lucinda Hoekke, an unwitting femme fatale whose irrational whims torture the artsy Gen-Xers in her orbit. When the novel opens, she's answering phones for a complaint line designed to also function as a "theatrical piece" and is charmed by the eloquent gripes of one serial caller, a professional phrase writer named Carl. (He's responsible for coining "All thinking is wishful," among others.) They embark on a sex-drenched bender that culminates with the band's debut performance-a breakout success. Lucinda is the band's "secret genius," having provided the ideas for the catchiest songs; only she cribbed them from Carl, whose cooperation must be purchased with a token position in the band. Zany disaster ensues in this entertaining but largely insubstantial romantic farce. Lethem tricks out the plot with his usual social wit (music moguls are "unyouthful men in youthful clothes"), but from a writer whose previous books have carved new notches on the literary wall, this measures up as stunted growth. (Mar. 13) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.
"Smart and funny . . . a biting satirical take on the intersection of art and commerce, integrity and facade. . . . A send up of all things cool." -Los Angeles Times "Fit to be devoured over a weekend." -Rolling Stone"A gentle and hip romantic comedy [that] breezes through LA's iconoclastic anonymity with a refreshing sincerity."-The Independent "His best since Gun, With Occasional Music . . . what makes the book sing are Lethem's accounts of what happens when a crowd on the street hears a band inside a building . . . or when for a moment four musicians understand each other better than anyone of them understands him or herself."-Greil Marcus, Interview
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