Customer Reviews

Never Mind Nirvana: A Novel

5 star:		(33)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This very funny, sharp, and intelligent novel has absolutely the best line ever written about Tacoma in it, but it can't be printed here. People from the Northwest will love this novel because of the local knowledge, but the novel is also quite knowledgeable about universal things like love, lust and music. "High Fidelity" is an obvious comparison, but not a good one. This is a much different, funnier, more intelligent, more subtle, and more stylized book. Recommended to all, but especially to Tacomans and Seattlites.

If there can be a new Richard Ford while Richard Ford is still alive, Lindquist is the guy. This book is Richard Ford with a sense of humor, pop culture sensibility, and a perfect rock music soundtrack. There's also a touch of the Bridget Jones "Is This Really My Life" tone, but Lindquist's hero Pete Tyler is more intelligent, and Lindquist is more literary. Never Mind Nirvana is a great summer book if you happen to be in an existential summer mood. This is commercial fiction that keeps the reader turning the pages, but done with depth and insight.

I read about this book in the Wall Street Journal's "Biggest Buzz of the Summer" Issue or whatever it was called, and I've heard a lot of hype that reminded me of when Jay McInerney's "Bright Lights Big City" was published, but I finally broke down and bought this slickly packaged book anyway. And I'm glad I did, because it's exceptionally smart and surprisingly genuine. There's a date rape plot as the lead character Pete has to prosecute someone who, like himself, was once in a grunge band, but what the book's really about is what it means for a guy to be a grown-up these days as everything's changing, and how music helps, and doesn't help. It's a hip contemporary version of Richard Ford's "The Sportswriter," but the writing has the wit of Jay McInerney as well as the depth of Richard Ford, and a totally original style that is engaging and modern (postmodern?). This book is one of the few that lives up to it's hype (and to its blurbs from R.E.M. guitarist Peter Buck and Brat Pack writer Bret Easton Ellis).

Mark Lindquist's novel, Never Mind Nirvana, is about several things, really. It's about sex. It's about drugs. It's definetely about rock and roll. But it's also about a few other things. Soul searching. Being lonely. Growing up. Knowing what your next turn off on the freeway of life should be but not being sure you want to know, or have the guts to take the exit.

The book takes the reader on a whirlwind of experiences. The well-written dialogue makes you feel as if you are actually sitting with the characters and listening to their conversations. This could be sitting with them at a table in a well-known Seattle restaurant, at a music-filled strip club in a very different part of downtown, lying on a futon in a spartan Seattle apartment, smoking a cigarette at the Crocodile, hanging out on a bar stool with a Rainier in Pete's mother's sun-drenched kitchen. Be it the neighborhood Seattle bar, a live music show, an "ascetic" loft apartment with a view of the much loved Seattle skyline, a car late at night in the rain with some live Nirvana in the background, a courtroom, a church confessional, or walking the streets of Seattle watching people walking by, you feel as if you are there, experiencing all of it.

The "characters" in this novel are much more than one-dimensional, much more than written words. They are brought to life...breathing, heart-pounding, sweat on the forehead and smoke smell in their hair life. This is not so much accomplished with extensive descriptions of their physical characteristics as it is with a real infusing of personality into each person, which shines through their experiences and their conversations, both the words, and the pauses between them.

I know what people have said about the book being not completely fiction. And I would agree in part, having met the author briefly and having known as acquaintances a couple of other people upon whom characters in the novel are based. But perhaps this is what lends the characters their very real feel. And I don't think it really matters where the punch in the book comes from, because readers everywhere will be able to enjoy it, and feel as if they are a part of the action, ie: authentic, live, late '90's Seattle.

The main character, Pete, is looking for love in all the wrong places. He is an ex-grunge musician who has traded in life in a band for a job as a Deputy County Prosecutor and a Burberry's suit. He's 36 years old, and quite successful as a lawyer. Along comes a date rape case, which on an average day, would be an "easy" case to try. But this one is different. This one accuses a well-known Seattle rock figure of date-raping a young girl (18 yo) who also knows many musicians, but is mainly friends with the new, younger Seattle scenesters. The case asks a lot of Pete. He has to own up to who he is, who he has become, with the knowledge that his own past and current private life really put him on both sides of the case. This plot serves as a background to various escapades and nights out, dates with a couple of his current girlfriends (one of whom is a stripper), encounters with young women in real-life Seattle hot-spots, nights out with friends. As he wanders through these experiences, he faces the growing realization that he may be, deep inside himself and hidden by his partying, live-for-the-moment/beat the sunset ways, aching for lasting love and harboring a desire to find a suitable companion for his later years.

The book, then, covers a lot of ground in a straight-forward, simplistic style which keeps the reader interested from page one straight through till the end. Even the chapter titles are clever, lending quiet commentary on the occurences in the novel, like drumbeats keeping time. Never Mind Nirvana is a must-have for any true music lover, 20-30-something soul-searcher, or anyone who loves the beautiful town that Lindquist so clearly does, Seattle.

The author Mark Lindquist is one of People magazine's '100 Most Eligible Bachelor' guys and it's not hard to figure out why. Pete Tyler, the hero, apparently has a lot in common with the author and he - Pete - is the ultimate bachelor. It's kind of scary. He decides to get married when he doesn't even have a steady girlfriend and shows no ability - no ability at all - to keep one. But Pete is intelligent and introspective, and basically a good guy, very witty. So you end up liking him the same way you could like Bridget Jones even though she was nutty. I recommend this book to women for its honest and entertaining portrayal of men.

Not only did I find this book to be one of the most if not THE most entertaining modern book I've ever written, but as a huge Nirvana fan, it's nice just to see what a fabulous author we have respresenting us and paying homage to Nirvana. Unlike High Fidelity, I found this book beyond bearable (Nothing against Hornby, I loved About a Boy)and found it both amusing and realistic. The fact that it's centered around my favorite band doesn't hurt. In fact, I ended up enjoying this book so much that I e-mailed Mark Lindquist immediately upon reading it, and I assure you, he is as nice as man as he is skillful an author. I certainly recommend this book to any lover of music or anyone else who just wants to be entertained by a clever and insightful modern novel.

This reminded me of Douglas Coupland but better. Like Coupland there's the de riguer hip dialogue, pop culture-y references, and sense of hungry souls searching. But unlike Coupland, Lindquist can write a story and develop a diverse group of characters. And there's a guy's guy attitude about living life, enjoying each moment, even the sad ones, that reminded me of Hemingway. The cover's obvious homage to Nirvana fits because this book has the same hard-soft tone.

Pete Tyler can't make up his mind whether he wants to grow up and get married (But to whom) or try to continue to live the adolescence life he dropped out of eight years ago when he was a member of a Seattle grunge band. Now a deputy prosecutor he likes his new life but still longs for the days when he was free to hang out at the clubs, and date all the girls he wants. Will Pete settle down and find the right girl to marry or will he continue to wander in the clubs aimlessly?

A well-written story if you are into the alternative rock scene in Seattle or if you can relate or identify with these characters and their lives. There are endless quotes of different songs and alternative bands. I enjoyed this story although at the end I couldn't relate to its conclusion. The story sounds almost autobiographical. If you loved "Nirvana" you love this book. Enjoy.

I like to read thrillers, which means that this isn't my type of read. But my sister recommended this title and said that I could relate to the story (actually, her exact words were, "it's a guy book"). I rather enjoyed this book because it describes precisely the life of a reluctant bachelor. I, too, have had my fair share of girlfriends, and even though I am in no rush to get married (well, gee, I am only 20 years old!), I've had moments in which I hoped for more intimacy. I like the story of a former Seattle musician that has traded his wild lifestyle in favor of a career. I also enjoy the fact that Pete is sincerely hoping to find a bride, even if he spends nights with different women. I agree with my sister when she says that this is a guy book, but it is definitely a book that anyone could read. Give it a whirl, it's worth it.

This is the best book I've read all year and there's only a month left to go this year! The writer totally gives a picture of everything, and the book keeps moving like a good movie, from image to image without too much explaining, and it's never boring. It'll make a great movie. Other reviewers have said what the story's about, so I won't, but I must say this: KEANU REEVES would be better than Vince Vaughn as Pete Tyler!