The Lonely Planet Boy [Paperback]

Hoskyns (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1997

Kip, a lonely provincial boy, comes to London to enlist as a hack reviewer for a pop magazine and falls in love with Mina, a torch-singing vamp. When Mina's career takes off, Kip finds himself caught up in the general excitement, yet there is a mental and spiritual price to pay.

Editorial Reviews

From Kirkus Reviews

British rock critic Hoskyns (Waiting for the Sun, 1996, etc.) dashes off a breezy ``pop romance'' that begins as a portrait of the critic as young hack and turns into a much darker comment on decadent rock culture. In this easy-reading, somewhat predictable little debut novel, a middle-class nebbish from the provinces goes to London, eventually becomes a rock critic, but ends up as an obsessed fan. The object of Kip Wilson's obsession is Mina, an Austrian chanteuse who combines the vocal and visual styles of Dietrich, Piaf, and Marianne Faithful, all of which she ``deconstructs'' with the help of her back-up band. A dropout from the polytechnic, Kip flops in a London squat, trying to overcome his boring middle-class background. He also begins to write short reviews for a London rock mag. His career takes a turn for the better when he happens upon Mina's first British appearance; her confrontational cabaret act dazzles the young critic. He parlays his initial rave into a series of interviews, reviews of her recordings, and a long article about her tour of the US--each piece reflecting his increasing infatuation with the tough-talking German girl, who reveals a previous life as an abused child and prostitute. Dazzled by her depravity, Kip discovers the depths of her problems on the American tour, where she shoots up constantly and eventually seduces him with coke and emasculating sex. Back in England, Kip's last article proves too wacky for even an alternative magazine, and he spends days in bed brooding over Mina, until news of her drug detox and spiritual conversion sends him over the edge. The novel shifts gears as Kip acts out his confusion over Mina's born-again persona. A transparent narrative that defines all its characters by their musical tastes (with appropriate dress) and perfectly reproduces the clich‚s of rock journalism, sometimes as parody, sometimes quite seriously. Still, a quick and enjoyable read. -- Copyright ©1997, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail (April 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852423870
• ISBN-13: 978-1852423872
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,354,454 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Takes a sharp turn at the end, August 2, 2000

By 

Joe Kenney "buttergun" (Dallas, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Lonely Planet Boy (Paperback)

This book begins as a slight little story about one young man's obsession with pop and rock. It's very British - it takes place in London, after all - and makes many references to early '80s musical artists that the modern reader might never have even heard of. Plus, the characters don't seem to have much going on other than their musical preferences. But despite that, The Lonely Planet Boy is a pretty entertaining read. Plus, it's very short. Kip Wilson, a shy English youth, discovers rock chanteuse Mina (a combination of the VU's Nico and the lead singer from Missing Persons), writes a glowing review of her for the rock magazine that barely employs him, and soon enough both his writing career and Mina's rock career take off. Kip soon becomes nothing more than a slavish fanboy, obsessed with Mina, even flying to the US out of his own wallet to cover her tour. It is here in America that the first of the book's two shocking incidents takes place; the way Mina shows Kip what she thinks of him was pretty jolting. The end comes rather quickly after this, and the second devastating act takes place in the last pages of the book. These two incidents alone change the entire tone of the novel, which started off as an almost nostalgic look at early '80s pop and music journalism, but ends as a grim reflection on the strange relationship between artist and fan, and how some fans can become slightly obsessed, even fanatical. It isn't the feel-good book of the year, that's for sure, but I got a few chuckles out of it. Of course, I got a bunch of laughs out of Moby-Dick, too, so that's not surprising.