Customer Reviews

The Lonely Planet Boy

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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.