Four ex-lovers/current bandmates jam together amidst today's cutting-edge music scene, in this fresh, funky novel of love lost and fame gained by the celebrated author of "Spinsters".
This charming novel charts the last days of rock as seen through the eyes of the four members of the Exes, a painfully hip Boston-area indie alterna-pop band. Each of the four chapters takes on the tale of the band's conception and fruition from the perspective of a different member, producing an omniscient Rashomon-like narrative that weaves pop reference and nerdy rock-geek sensibility into a combination Harlequin Romance/Celebrity Tell-All. Author Pagan Kennedy is best known for her zine Pagan's Head and her handbook of all things '70s, Platforms. She puts that subcultural know-how to work in this fast-moving story about rockers who love their own images more than the notes and tempos of the music they play. --James DiGiovanna
Customer Reviews:
Avg. Customer Rating: 3.5 / 5.0
An Album You Hear With Your Eyes:
Pagan Kennedy must have either been in a slacker band or hung with dopes from bands. A LOT. In this brief novel she knows her stuff and tells it with a spark that would have even the dullest Frankenstein's monster up and rocking. Kennedy's story concerns four "exes" (former lovers) who have joined forces to rock the world and this book is neatly divided into consecutive quarters and each of the four "books" rolls from one four bitter-sweet (and completely believable) tongues, and in the end the reader is... more info
A great novel from an evolving writer:
The review is for four-and-a-half stars, actually. After having reading Spinsters, I tackled this book, expecting that it would be more developed and much deeper. And I was right. The Exes is a great book, a charming and friendly little novel that was well worth my time. The story revolves around a band made up of two couples that were previously in relationships, and it follows the story of how they form into a dynamic performing unit while also trying to make sense of themselves and each other.... more info
acceptable Exes:
I've re-read this slim volume a number of times because it's a quick, effortless and enjoyable enough read; I just re-read it again after getting it back from a friend to whom I'd loaned it, and i thought i'd comment. I should say that this is the only novel of Kennedy's that I've cared for. The structure with the four chapters, each dedicated to a single band member, is a clever device and gives the reader a chance to get into the mind of each character separately. The character that i felt was... more info
THIS BOOK ROCKS!:
Ms. kennedy is an artist and she creates a masterpiece of language everytime she decides to use a pen. I am a huge fan and I hope she continues to write amazing novels. You can feel the emotion of the characters, as if they were your own.
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