Kirjahaku

Craig is armed with a college degree that has so far brought him nothing, certain that something better is just around the corner but unable to encounter it. He's been cohabiting with Ashley since college, and is caught in the dilemma of whether to break up with her or give in to marriage. Meanwhile, Ashley's efforts to earn a graduate degree seem futile considering that her diploma has taken up residence under the sofa cushions. Stuck in dead-end jobs; weary of commercial, corporate, and parental influences; searching for their own identities; Ashley, Craig, and the other characters of "our noise" find refuge in the brash world of indie rock, thrift stores, coffee houses, zines, and cheap beers. There are Eileen, who ends up in Kitty, Virginia, by accident and forgets to leave, and the members of Bottlecap, Kitty's hometown band, trying to decide whether to sell out and go to the West Coast or continue in the life of a small band. Chipp and Randy start a zine as a way to get their blood flowing for the first time even as Dave, the struggling founder of Violent Revolution Records, works as a waiter to fund his record label. Funny, realistic, perverse, "our noise" captures the lives, loves, and record collections of a thrift-store-clothed group of twentysomethings trying to make their way in a real world that is nothing like what they expected.

"A canny study of split personalities, family and roads not taken." -Kirkus Reviews What would you do if there were three of you? That's the startling question at the heart of Beside Myself, a novel about the decisions that you didn't make, the lives that you didn't lead. Beside Myself presents a world where the author comes into contact with-and eventually meets-three different versions of himself: they are all Jeff Gomez, but each one is different based on choices made at a critical juncture. One is married, one is single, and one has a family. As they each gradually discover the other, their various lives begin to overlap and, ultimately, become intertwined in ways they never thought possible. The three Jeffs also discover that this is not an isolated incident. The chapters of Beside Myself can be read in any order, or the reader can follow one Jeff at a time throughout the story. "You, as the reader, feel like you're in the driver's seat." -Literary Platform Review

Grunge. Flannel. Generation X. In 1993, Seattle was the capital of the world, Nirvana was king, and slackers were everywhere. When the Red Hot organization, a group of activists dedicated to raising money and awareness of AIDS, released their third compilation CD featuring the biggest bands of the era--Soundgarden, Smashing Pumpkins, Beastie Boys, The Breeders, Nirvana and more it quickly became the touchstone of a generation. Rolling Stone called No Alternative a "jaw-dropping compilation of musical gems." This book takes a look back at what happened to the bands involved with No Alternative. It includes new interviews with the musicians and others behind the record, and chronicles the downfall of an industry, the taming of a devastating illness, and the arrival of another global pandemic. It's about growing up, saying goodbye, and proving once more that you can't go home again (even if that's where you left all of your CDs).

Generation X cult classics Our Noise and Geniuses of Crack chronicled a group of friends just out of college who lived in a small town, cared more about their record collections than their careers, and never imagined they’d have to grow up. Losing Our Edge—the sequel to both books—revisits a number of the characters, seeing where they are twenty years later and discovering what’s happened with their lives. There’s Charles and Randy, two old friends and former roommates who reconnect only to discover they now have nothing in common. There’s Craig and Ashley, ex-lovers who contemplate getting back together, even if it means breaking up a marriage. And then there’s the band Bottlecap, reuniting for one last gig and another shot at the dream that was derailed the first time around. For everyone in Losing Our Edge, it’s a second chance to get things right. A tough and honest look at what the passing of time does to romance, friendship, and dreams, Losing Our Edge shows that you can go home again—you just might not like what you find when you get there.

A new retelling of the classic novelInspired by Of Mice and Men, John Steinbeck's timeless tale of Depression-era friendship, Unfamous Men chronicles a different group of doomed dreamers: Mexican fruit pickers in Southern California in the years following World War II. Tom s, a small man with a weakness for women and gambling, is constantly getting into trouble. Juanito, on the other hand, is a gentle giant with limited emotional intelligence who craves only quiet.They're on their way to Los Angeles to live with Juanito's uncle, but first they need to earn money at a ranch near Ventura. Complicating matters is the fact that Tom s has caught the eye of both Dallas, the ranch owner's son, and Celedonia, Dallas's Mexican wife who used to work on the ranch. There's also Santos, the wise field boss and Custodio, a young Bracero disillusioned about life in America.Over the span of just a few days, these characters collide in a way that ends in betrayal and death--but not in the way you might think.

Triple TroubleThree cops went looking for one of their own. What they found was sabotage. Los Angeles. 1978. For a trio of detectives, the City of Angels turns into hell. There's the Chief, a detective who's been around for years and knows all the angles. There's the Rookie, fresh from the streets and still getting used to not being in uniform. And, finally, there's Cochese, a dedicated cop on a frantic search to find his missing partner. From the punk clubs of Hollywood to the gritty docks of San Pedro, the three detectives uncover a conspiracy of drugs, death, and dirty cops. But as the days begin to pile up, so do the bodies until it's finally a race against time before half the city goes up in flames.

Everything looks different underwater. Even murder. Los Angeles 1937. A nasty heat wave and crippling drought set the city on edge. LA desperately needs water, but Hollis Mulwray-the water department's chief engineer-needs answers. Before he'll build a new dam, he has to find out what happened to the old one. Years ago, the Van der Lip Dam collapsed in the middle of the night. More than five hundred people were killed. Trying to solve the mystery takes him to movie sets, nightclubs, and the true political center of the city: Catalina's Albacore Club. Along the way, Hollis discovers a vast conspiracy involving millions of dollars, dead bodies, and his powerful father-in-law, Noah Cross. The richly imagined backstory of a doomed man, Hollis shows that you can't outrun the past. Or the future.

Led by indefatigable singer and songwriter Robert Pollard, GBV have been one of the most important rock groups of the past thirty years. After toiling for a decade in obscurity, they broke onto the scene in the early 90s by delivering generation- and genre-defining records such as 1994 s Bee Thousand and 1995 s Alien Lanes. Pollard and a rotating cast of musicians have kept at it ever since, releasing LP after LP of stadium-worthy rock n roll. Zeppelin Over Dayton: Guided By Voices Album By Album is the first serious and comprehensive look at the band s work. Based on the popular GBV podcast Self-Inflicted Aural Nostalgia, Zeppelin Over Dayton takes an in-depth look at each one of the group s records, looking at who was in the band at the time and how the LP fits into the band s discography, and providing commentary and analysis of every song. Drawing on new interviews and extensive research, Zeppelin Over Dayton offers an honest and thorough assessment of GBV s amazingly sprawling discography, providing ardent admirers with tons of fresh anecdotes and insight, and new fans a way to successfully navigate the group s dozens of LPs.