About this item
Highlights
- "I'd be twenty-nine at the end of the year," the narrator of Panic Years announces, "and playing bass was the only thing I was good at.
- Author(s): Daniel Difranco
- 344 Pages
- Fiction + Literature Genres, Literary
Description
About the Book
Fueled by positive online reviews and a minimum of introspection, Paul and his bickering bandmates-beautiful Laney, hard-drinking Jeff, despairing drummer Gooch-soldier unquestioningly through a gruelling and open-ended quest to play gig after gig in the seamy nightclubs and questionable dive bars of indie-rock America.Book Synopsis
"I'd be twenty-nine at the end of the year," the narrator of Panic Years announces, "and playing bass was the only thing I was good at." Fueled by positive online reviews and a minimum of introspection, Paul and his bickering bandmates--beautiful Laney, hard-drinking Jeff, despairing drummer Gooch--soldier unquestioningly through a gruelling and open-ended quest to play gig after gig in the seamy nightclubs and questionable dive bars of indie-rock America. As the band stoically makes its calamitous way cross-country from Texas to New York, its journey is struck repeatedly by theft, drug use, foot infections, gastrointestinal distress, crooked promoters, and the hatred of rival bands. In his earnestly deadpan account of the claustrophobic daily grind of life on the road, newcomer Daniel DiFranco has created a brutally realistic record--not only of the underground music scene, but of everyday existence in its purest form.
Review Quotes
"DiFranco has done his time in the vans and clubs and convenience stores of rock and roll's minor leagues, and his experience shows on every page of this fantastic and engrossing first novel." -- Dave Housley, author of Massive Cleansing Fire and co-founder of Barrelhouse
"Draws back the curtain on the rock life that most people fantasize about." -- Bruce Warren, Executive Producer of World Cafe on NPR Music
"Panic Years is loud, high as hell, and loves you back with a heart as big as an elusive white whale." -- Bud Smith, author of F250 and Dust Bunny City
"In Panic Years, Daniel DiFranco brings us inside the world of touring musicians, the ones who haven't made it big, who aren't sure if they will, and who therefore face a great struggle every day just to keep playing. With precise prose, vivid characters, and wonderfully dry humor, DiFranco strips away the polish of studio albums and the romance of concerts, revealing conflicts and passions to which we can all relate." -- Joshua Isard, author of Conquistador of the Useless