Sheena Is A Punk Writer
May 4, 2011 11:46 AM Subscribe
I am looking for literature in which punk rock is part of the backdrop. The Buddha of Suburbia is a good example.
I'd prefer books that are set at the time of the original punk rock explosion or just after. It's more important that the quality of the writing is high as opposed to a high punk rock quotient. Thanks!
I'd prefer books that are set at the time of the original punk rock explosion or just after. It's more important that the quality of the writing is high as opposed to a high punk rock quotient. Thanks!
There's a darned interesting novel by Keith Maillard called MOTET that you may find of interest. It's all about music -- classical, jazz, really obscure historical stuff, 60s psychedelic and, as it it's set in Vancouver in the 1980s, inevitably hard core punk.
posted by philip-random at 11:55 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by philip-random at 11:55 AM on May 4, 2011
Also (having taken time to read the whole question), there's Jonathon Coe's THE ROTTER'S CLUB, which though it spends most of its time in the early/mid 70s does engage the very English explosion of punk. And it's fun.
posted by philip-random at 11:58 AM on May 4, 2011
posted by philip-random at 11:58 AM on May 4, 2011
Years ago when I worked in a store a customer randomly gave me Dreams of Sex and Stage Diving. It's not what I would call high lit since the prose and style is underdeveloped (even for a non-reader like me), but the story is nice and feels warm and familiar in some way.
posted by GEB's fun world at 12:08 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by GEB's fun world at 12:08 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
The punk content is very low, but part of recent Pulitzer Prize winner A Visit From the Goon Squad is about punk rock in California in the 70s. The punk quotient is low, but the writing is really tremendous.
posted by SoftRain at 12:22 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by SoftRain at 12:22 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Nancy Rommelmann's new book, The Bad Mother, has Top Jimmy as a character, but it's not really about punk rock.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:23 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by Ideefixe at 12:23 PM on May 4, 2011
The Time Traveler's Wife (book; not movie) begins at a punk concert and has references to punk music here and there.
posted by jander03 at 12:30 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by jander03 at 12:30 PM on May 4, 2011
The recent Pulitzer Prize winner, A Visit from the Goon Squad, has seveal bands in it, including a punk band.
posted by rtimmel at 12:31 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by rtimmel at 12:31 PM on May 4, 2011
The title story of Girl With Curious Hair by the late David Foster Wallace?
posted by Oxydude at 12:38 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by Oxydude at 12:38 PM on May 4, 2011
Response by poster: Thanks for all the great answers!
I guess the aspect I am most interested in is how characters reacts to the punk movement. As a seemingly new movement does it repulse them or do they take to it like a fish to water.
Looking forward to eventually curling up with all of these books!
posted by ericthegardener at 12:47 PM on May 4, 2011
I guess the aspect I am most interested in is how characters reacts to the punk movement. As a seemingly new movement does it repulse them or do they take to it like a fish to water.
Looking forward to eventually curling up with all of these books!
posted by ericthegardener at 12:47 PM on May 4, 2011
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen includes a character named Richard Katz who is a punk/post-punk musician.
posted by chinston at 1:21 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by chinston at 1:21 PM on May 4, 2011
Oh man, Aaron Cometbus is right up your alley. Double Deuce is a (probably semi-fictional) novel about living in a house full of punks. A pretty recent issue (number 42) called The Spirit of St. Louis is (I guess a short novel?) about growing up and watching your idols die or sell out. A lot of his other stuff isn't exactly novels, but they're all pretty great.
posted by wayland at 1:39 PM on May 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by wayland at 1:39 PM on May 4, 2011 [4 favorites]
Seconding Dreams of Sex and Stage Diving, as well as other books by Martin Millar. I think some other others are a bit better, especially Suzy, Led Zeppelin, and Me--which may not be quite punk-oriented enough, however. I have read (and proofread!) several of them. In general, the characters (including, I suspect, some semi-autobiographical ones) are very much in favor of punk.
posted by mlle valentine at 1:42 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by mlle valentine at 1:42 PM on May 4, 2011
Martin Millar's Lux the Poet captures a quiet, clueless boho in the background of the Punk-era Brixton Riots.
posted by bendybendy at 2:21 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by bendybendy at 2:21 PM on May 4, 2011
Seconding Jonathan Coe's The Rotters' Club, though it is, for the most part, slightly before punk rock per se.
posted by lewedswiver at 3:13 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by lewedswiver at 3:13 PM on May 4, 2011
Not exactly the right timeframe, but:
tales of a punk rock nothing is pretty great, especially if you're familiar with the dc scene/dischord.
joe meno's "hairstyles of the damned" is good as well.
posted by dubold at 3:26 PM on May 4, 2011
tales of a punk rock nothing is pretty great, especially if you're familiar with the dc scene/dischord.
joe meno's "hairstyles of the damned" is good as well.
posted by dubold at 3:26 PM on May 4, 2011
Seconding Jonathan Coe's The Rotters' Club, though it is, for the most part, slightly before punk rock per se.
But punk rock does definitely hit toward the end of the book, and hard. So you get a really good sense of just how REVOLUTIONARY it was to be there (Britain in particular) when the change came.
posted by philip-random at 3:50 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
But punk rock does definitely hit toward the end of the book, and hard. So you get a really good sense of just how REVOLUTIONARY it was to be there (Britain in particular) when the change came.
posted by philip-random at 3:50 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Well, technically it's non-fic, but I'd go for Rotten: No Irish, No Blacks, No Dogs by John Lydon.
posted by Artw at 4:20 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by Artw at 4:20 PM on May 4, 2011
For a different perspective on reactions to the punk movement, check out Taqwacore. The book, about fictionalized Muslim punk kids, allowed real Muslim punk kids to come together in a community that eventually met and toured the country (and to Pakistan) as seen in the awesome documentary of the same name, downloadable here and also traveling around the country.
posted by ChuraChura at 4:39 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by ChuraChura at 4:39 PM on May 4, 2011 [1 favorite]
Freaking Milk Sulphate and Alby Starvation, my favorite book.* I'm not so sure it's "classical punk rock", but the main character is a Fall fan and spends lots of time in arcades and being chased by the Milk Marketing Board. That says punk rock to me.
*And not just because I love The Fall too.
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 5:14 PM on May 4, 2011
*And not just because I love The Fall too.
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 5:14 PM on May 4, 2011
Also, if you like non-fiction, Please Kill Me: An Oral History of Punk.
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 5:16 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by lhude sing cuccu at 5:16 PM on May 4, 2011
Michael Patrick MacDonald's Easter Rising is autobiographical, but a eally good story of growing up in Southie and finding Punk and using it to escape a pretty bleak life.
posted by pupdog at 5:17 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by pupdog at 5:17 PM on May 4, 2011
For slightly later punk, Cut My Hair by Jamie Rich is good.
posted by bibliogrrl at 5:19 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by bibliogrrl at 5:19 PM on May 4, 2011
Francesca Lia Block wrote several novels with a slightly out-of-time feel to them, but 'Weetzie Bat', 'Witch Baby', and 'Missing Angel Juan' mention punk rock and hard rock as part of the lives of the teenage characters.
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:39 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by Multicellular Exothermic at 5:39 PM on May 4, 2011
Twisted Kicks by GQ columnist Tom Carson was published in '81 but set in mid-to-late '70s suburban D.C. (where Carson went to high school). Highly recommended.
posted by doncoyote at 6:40 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by doncoyote at 6:40 PM on May 4, 2011
Response by poster: Once again thanks for all the great suggestions! I was able to find a few of them this afternoon at my local Half-Price Books. I will probably start with The Rotter's Club. The only other ones I could find were the Richard Hell book and the Joe Meno book.
The Martin Millar stuff looks like I might like it no matter what the amount of punk content but it looks like I'll have to make an order with amazon.co.uk to get it. Can't find his stuff around here at all. Twisted Kicks looks like it will be hard to find too but worth it.
With enough time I will work my way through most everything mentioned. Already read the Rotten book and Please Kill Me. Both were really good reads!
posted by ericthegardener at 9:33 PM on May 4, 2011
The Martin Millar stuff looks like I might like it no matter what the amount of punk content but it looks like I'll have to make an order with amazon.co.uk to get it. Can't find his stuff around here at all. Twisted Kicks looks like it will be hard to find too but worth it.
With enough time I will work my way through most everything mentioned. Already read the Rotten book and Please Kill Me. Both were really good reads!
posted by ericthegardener at 9:33 PM on May 4, 2011
The totters club is one of my all time favorite novels. I. Genuinely hope you enjoy it
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 9:36 PM on May 4, 2011
posted by ThaBombShelterSmith at 9:36 PM on May 4, 2011
The Rotter's Club was also made into a TV mini-series, I notice.
But read the book first.
posted by philip-random at 9:40 PM on May 4, 2011
But read the book first.
posted by philip-random at 9:40 PM on May 4, 2011
Many of Adrian Mole's peers dabble with punk in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4.
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:16 AM on May 5, 2011
posted by The corpse in the library at 8:16 AM on May 5, 2011
Not the exclusive backdrop but a part of Zeroville by Steve Erickson, which is a book I'd recommend.
posted by pynchonesque at 3:09 PM on May 28, 2011
posted by pynchonesque at 3:09 PM on May 28, 2011
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One of my favorite movies but I still haven't gotten around to reading the book.
posted by mannequito at 11:54 AM on May 4, 2011