Scan barcode
chillcox15's review against another edition
2.0
A swing and a rather large miss from David Hadju on Adrianne Geffel, a fictional oral history of a mysterious, mercurial avant-garde musical icon of pre-Giuliani NYC. The idea is there, sure, and Hadju's prodigious output of nonfiction music writing suggests that he would have a strong grip on the historical knowledge to be able to develop this into something rather knowledgeable. The issue is that he has very little nuance in his character development, so none of these talking heads feel particularly textured or even varied-- they are all airheads of more or less insidious natures. It's fine to have such an obvious villain, the music industry is surely full of them, but there's just so little beyond the broad strokes of characters here. I was very disappointed by this! 1.5 stars.
saliysa's review against another edition
3.0
an odd one, to be sure. someone said “daisy jones and the six but smarter.” yes!
juliemhowe's review against another edition
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
5.0
The format of this book made it so much more interesting, although I would have liked a section with Geffel herself. The main thing that came to mind is that capitalism will find a way to profit off your misery and pain.
lola425's review against another edition
4.0
Prepub. Due out Sept 22, 2020. An interesting character study and a meditation on the way the commercial side of art and the can take something beautiful and unique and twist it without regard for the artist, particularly when the artist is one as fragile as Geffel. Also asks a lot of questions: What if your art is only considered valuable if it makes you miserable? Does happiness = bad art? Is exploitation inevitable when you try to monetize art? Recommended for fans of Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad or Reid's Daisy Jones and the Six.
raelemkesprung's review against another edition
Characters too broad. I usually love a fake oral history, but this didn’t do it for me.
adelineee_graceee's review against another edition
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
didn’t expect this to be queer! it was zany and laugh out loud funny. i will be wondering what and where geffel is for the rest of my existence
howifeelaboutbooks's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. I was so excited to read this book because I loved Daisy Jones and the Six and The Unraveling of Cassidy Holmes, but I couldn't get into this one. The writing was so formal and stilted that I didn't buy people were giving spoken interviews. Just a few pages in and I already couldn't tell Adrianne's parents apart because they sounded like the same stiff person. Gotta have more than that to make me commit to reading an entire book.
drewsof's review against another edition
5.0
5+ out of 5.
So much my kind of thing: an oral history of a musician who burst onto the scene in the late 70s/early 80s in New York, taking the avant-garde SoHo scene by storm. Adrianne suffers from a rare neurological condition that, essentially, makes her hear music ALL THE TIME -- and she's able to translate that music via piano. Hajdu compiles, sometimes wryly and sometimes honestly, stories about Geffel's brilliant rise and sudden disappearance, with all of the things you'd imagine might be found in such a tale: oblivious parents, childhood sweethearts, bloviating critics, and a pair of evil (almost, but crucially not QUITE cartoonishly so; Biran in particular is chilling) men who ultimately take everything Geffel has.
It's a speedy read and it never really settles into what kind of book it wants to be -- the tone veers to the satirical sometimes without ever deciding if its going to live there -- but I loved it even for its rough edges.
So much my kind of thing: an oral history of a musician who burst onto the scene in the late 70s/early 80s in New York, taking the avant-garde SoHo scene by storm. Adrianne suffers from a rare neurological condition that, essentially, makes her hear music ALL THE TIME -- and she's able to translate that music via piano. Hajdu compiles, sometimes wryly and sometimes honestly, stories about Geffel's brilliant rise and sudden disappearance, with all of the things you'd imagine might be found in such a tale: oblivious parents, childhood sweethearts, bloviating critics, and a pair of evil (almost, but crucially not QUITE cartoonishly so; Biran in particular is chilling) men who ultimately take everything Geffel has.
It's a speedy read and it never really settles into what kind of book it wants to be -- the tone veers to the satirical sometimes without ever deciding if its going to live there -- but I loved it even for its rough edges.
More...