Customer Reviews

Petal Pusher: A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story

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This is a fascinating, memoir of an unusual journey. Laurie goes from overcoming a debilitating diagnoses of a chronic illness to achieving rock success with a national tour. This is a truthful assessment of the real world of rock and roll in all it's raw, gritty glory. In a country obsessed with fame, it is refreshing to remember people who play music and compose music because they love it. It is a love story, to rock, to her husband and her family. Laurie shows a mastery of nonfiction. I love this book! Check out this cd A Pregnant Pause

just finished a page turner. It's called "Petal Pusher" and "it's a A Rock and Roll Cinderella Story". I always wanted to be in a band, but only watched curiously from the sidelines. )Unless, of course, you count my 15 minutes to fame as one of many backup singers to a famous girl band, a couple of times...) This book is tough to put down and easy to read. It's gritty and real and puts you right there. No bull. I give the author kudos for following her dreams and going after it. That takes guts! While reading it, I could almost feel the sludge of being on the road. I could smell the lingering beer and smoke in the clubs, and the hangovers of one's youth. I was a fly on the wall, and I enjoyed the challenging ride.

I'll admit to reading this book because of Paul Westerberg but Lindeen MORE than holds her own. She is an articulate writer who paints a vivid picture of band life in the early 90's for a band that always seemed to fly below the radar. She struggles with a lot of issues women struggle with-school,men,career, family-and all of these through a lens of her own health concerns. While sometimes her motivations for doing something (moving, starting a band) are a bit vague and not fully explored, this is a good read and refreshing from the 'I'm with the Band' to I AM the band from a female p.o.v.
And yes, this totally made me get out my Zuzu's Petals cds (yes, I have them BOTH) and play 'Johanne" and you'll want to as well.

As a former female rocker wannabe, I found Laurie Lindeen's journey through rock music sobering and enlightening, and completely compelling to read. I played a bit of electric guitar as a teenager, but after going along for a ride through Laurie's exploits, I'm glad I chose a different career path. Life for a struggling female punk rock band is anything but glamorous. Hilarious at moments, yes, but the dark, gritty side of playing night after night in sleazy clubs is anything but alluring. Laurie's band, Zuzu's Petals, had moments that seemed to indicate they were on the verge of hitting it big, but despite an intense level of commitment and hard work for many years, their dream was never realized.

I'm glad to vicariously live the rock lifestyle through Ms. Lindeen's words. You can tell she's a musician, for her writing has a wonderful rhythm. The author's candor and willingness to reveal less-than-perfect parts of her personality made her story extremely universal. I could totally relate to Laurie's lack of self-confidence, and self-deprecating humor.

If you want to read a well-written, intelligent, poignant, and funny-as-hell rock story, look no further. This is definitely not a chick-only book either. My husband heard me laughing so hard, he wants to read it too. Highly recommended.

This is probably the first book I've read about a rock band that seemed utterly real -- no self-mythologizing, just an unvarnished look at what it takes to pick up a guitar, make a record, go out on the road. Laurie doesn't let herself off easy, and her utter candor about her actions and emotions along the way is sometimes very moving. It makes me wish I had gone to see Zuzu's Petals when they finally made it to CBGB's. (Where was I that night?) Petal Pusher was heartbreaking at times, but also funny and sweet and full of the kind of unstoppable youthful bravado that would allow three women to jump in a van and drive and drive and drive to often thankless gigs.

I'm glad she survived it all with her memories, perspective and sense of humor intact and decided to share them with us. Petal Pusher reads like a diary and feels like the truth.

This book took me back to the local band bar days and all the people I once hung out with. I could picture myself through some of the same situations, especially at the bar. What a fantastic read! After reading it, I immediately gave the book to a girlfriend that could relate.

Laurie Lindeen is truly a gifted writer. The story mixes personal life stories with her dream of becoming a girl rocker. I hope she continues to share her talent.

I remember listening to ZuZu's Petals and then wondering where they went. I also grew up in Madison, WI and went to some of the same schools as the Lindeens, this book brought back lots of Madison's fixtures (people and places). The story gave me a vivid picture of life on the road as a new band and added to my belief that the more you experience, the harder it is to come home again. Her tone isn't one of "why me" but rather "give it all, all the time." I sent it on to another friend who was active in the Minneapolis music scene. I'd love a record by Laurie and Paul someday.

This is a truly amazing book. I've read and loved it before, but reading it this time it really made me inspired, sad, greatly amused, and a whole lot of other intense things. It's really brilliantly written--hell, if it was a work of fiction it would be just as potent. I think I lived a an almost parallel life to Laurie's, only with more drugs and less touring. I think it should have been the other way around....

A big THANKS to Lindeen for taking me back to a time that I had forgotten in Madtown, WI and parts of the Midwest during the 80's/90's of our innocence. Anyone who has attended college (University of Wisconsin and the like) in this time period will remember the cover bands and the clubs that made these women famous. The descriptions of the travel in Europe and the U.S. made you wonder why you idealized their lives as band members. Times were hard in the climb to the top - especially for a "girls group".

The dynamics of the band members and their lives outside of the band was a brilliant canvas painted with all sorts of characters. I have never read a book like this that ties together my partying days, my love for the college days and the gypsy way bands have to try to make it big!

BRAVO Lindeen - a must read for anyone trying to succeed in the music biz and for the midlife crisis women who want a trip down memory lane!