Customer Reviews

The Last Rock Star Book: Or Liz Phair, a Rant

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Camden eloquently expresses the anger and frustration felt by so many of us today regarding the "genericized" musical industry and the increasing lack of intelligent musical taste. The ultimate symptom of the musical malaise is the pervasive hero worship of _rock_stars_themselves_ in the absence of quality music to adore. In parallel with Camden's disgust with the state of music today there is a clear lingering feeling of his love of rock and roll. I can empathize completely with this dilemma.

This book certainly displays a stark atmosphere of fatalism, but it does so in an unthreatening fashion -- we accept with little emotion that life is not going to be a fairy tale for Camden, and we are not called by his writing to stand up and cheer for a happy ending (although human nature cannot but hope for one). Isn't this an accurate reflection of the cautious and nearly fatalist attitude of many of our youth today?

One great surprise for me is that imbedded within Camden's rather informal dialogue are nuggets of incredible poetry. For example, "Outside the window, stick-bare windswept trees of winter spoke of witch trials". I would love to see Camden further explore his obvious potential for poetic prose in future works.

Camden Joy is a voice that I hope we continue to hear in modern literature. Buy this book.

Camden Joy has written a minor masterpiece here called "The Last Rock Star Book." Joy is the main character of his novel (mostly likely not "really" him), and his past is at times a little cloudy from huffing too much as a teen. But the book is unpredictable. The direction the book takes you lead me to believe that Liz Phair is the love child of Brian Jones (an explanation for the seeming links made between "Exile in Guyville" and post-Brian Jones Stones' masterpiece "Exile on Main Street"?), but you can't be sure. The idea was great, and his prose was simple articulate and at times poetic. The narrator is very likeable at times, but ultimately unlikable. The ending was anticlimatic, but still carried out the authors revisionistic aims.

"The Last Rock Star Book or: Liz Phair, a Rant" alternates between funny and disturbing, deep and superficial. Though I bought it because I'm a Liz Phair fan, the emphasis should really be on "Rant" rather than Phair. Not that there's anything wrong with that.

Joy adequately captures the essense of teenage (or twenty-something, or thirty-something) rebellion, and the allure of sex, drugs & rock n' roll. He takes you along as he probes the recesses of his mind & memory, while sniffing glue and chatting with his pocket tape recorder. At worst confusing and at best intriguing, this is a good read for the original MTV generation.

As a Liz Phair fan, I was disappointed to see that Joy misquoted her lyrics so often, and I don't agree with his interpretation of her Exile in Guyville album. But the book is really fasciniating and I would highly recommend it to any fan, even though it doesn't have much to do with her.

As a genre the "rock novel" is not only still in utero but perhaps to be stillborn since the music itself seems to be on the verge of "hitting the wall," as the saying goes. Yet Camden Joy is one of the finest exponents of this particular genre. Anyone familiar with his broadsheet screeds--the classic brief essays on Souled American come to mind--knows that he knows the music and that he knows how to write. I would say Liz Phair is number two on the Rock Novel list: intense, comprehensive, witty, innovative. And the first on the list? DeLillo's Great Jones Street, naturally. Also Sorrentino's great Sound on Sound, though that book shows nowhere near the level of accomplishment (though Joy shares with Sorrentino the conceit of a narrator working on a quickie bio of a rock star). Highly recommended.

First off, there's not much Liz Phair in here. If that's what you're after, then go and get the rerelease of Exile in Guyville. Otherwise, it's a pretty good read, think airplane or beach novel, not far removed from the craziness of rock and roll. Or at least literary rock and roll.

Camden Joy offers us a book that will make you laugh, or think he's insane! A well writen romp through a dysfunctional relationship, and a mysterious missing kid sister. This book will give you something to think about like "Why would Sting brag about his billard skills in a song?" This book is actually isn't "about" Liz Phair,although she may or not be in there somewhere...
I often wonder..
The pictures (art work) are too hilarious to miss, reminds me a little of Vonnegut's pictures in breakfast of champions
I highly reccomend this book...

The author tells a story about trying to write a story. While he never actually finishes this, we are drawn into his search to find the woman who is the (supposed) subject of his book. Instead we join him in his journey through his past and the present and he enticingly weaves the stories of his life and the lives of the characters he presents. He leads us on a journey. While we are never sure where we are headed, we delight in the journey, not in the supposed destination.

You know, I'm not gay or anything but I'm freaking in love with Liz Phair. Yep, admittedly. There you go, Hugh. It's true. And so when I saw her name attached to a novel, I thought, "Wow, cool, I think I'll read that." Listen, y'all, this dude, Camden Joy, is seriously tripping out here. This book has virtually nothing to do with Liz Phair and is more of his ranting brain-flushing sessions as he drives a hot car across Chicago in search of the greatest indy-rocker of the '90's. This was probably intended to be some sort of Burroughs/Kerouac experience for its time but it's more like a scary description of a non-artistic mental collapse. Good thing it's fiction. And, um, I was mostly kidding about the "in love with Liz Phair" part.

Mostly.

this book ROCKS! a real page turner, the best ive read in awhile. & what an ending! cant wait for the movie!