Book: No Alternative
Author: William Dickerson
Published: April 5, 2012 by Kettle of Letters Press
First Line: “Suicide is a universally human phenomenon.”
Rating: 5/5 Stewart Copeland Tama Signature Snare Drums
(A review copy was provided by the author.)
No Alternative is one of those sparkling little independent gems that makes you want to stand up celebrate your literacy….with cake and punch.
Perhaps I feel that way because it’s my kind of read. Or perhaps it’s just a damn brilliant little book, The subject of music in novels, particularly rock, does tend to thrill me, possibly because it delineates bits and pieces of my own experience. And possibly because it’s so rare. I can name, off the top of my head, only two other books that used rock as a theme.
Music is only a vehicle for this book. It is far less about grunge or punk or rap than it is about why this music bubbles to the surface of society the way it does, why it takes hold of you as a teen and becomes a way of life. It isn’t about the music itself, it’s about why we listen to it, how it makes us all feel a little less fragile in a great big scary world, and why we feel so fragile to begin with–ideas that Mr. Dickerson has hidden underneath his, I suspect, deliberately misleading synopsis. While the book takes place in 1994, some months after Kurt Cobain’s death, it serves only as a focal point; Cobain’s spirit serves as a sort of guide. Not in the sense that he’s a character in the book, just as something you’ll keep in the back of your mind as you read. It doesn’t really matter if you’re a child of the ’60s, ’70s, ’80′s, or ’90s, this book will speak to you. The guiding spirit could just as easily be Hendrix or Morrison. As I said, it’s not about the music, it’s about why we need it.
I wont say more than that since this is one of those books where the experience would be ruined by even the most inadvertent of spoilers. And, speaking briefly of spoilers, I should warn you that if you decide to get your mitts on this book and happen to stroll off to Amazon to acquire it, do not, I repeat, DO NOT read the reviews of it therein, unless you enjoy having the whole of a book handed to you on a plate before you even ‘go to checkout’. This is a book that would particularly suffer from any in-depth review. (Cretins. What IS the damn point of reading a book like this, a book that can so adroitly fuck with your perceptions, if some idiot ‘helpfully’ gives you a goddamn book report on it that includes the whole damn plot?) I can be only thankful that I read these silly reviews after I finished it and not before. Go into it cold, people. Trust me, you’ll enjoy it far more.
But now, let’s leave the story, and plots, and stupid reviews, and go briefly to the nuts and bolts of the book.
Characters: every one etched with the brutal clarity of a razor blade and shining as bright as a diamond. These characters breathe. You’ve met them. Convincing, compelling, they are about as real as fictional characters can get.
Humor: sad and cynical, and often painful.
Writing: direct, sympathetic, and not a little cunning. My emotions were engaged from the first line (in fact, the first line pissed me off) and didn’t let up once til the end and all without making me feel as if I were being blatantly manipulated. That’s a personal pet peeve of mine, one that would likely make a good topic for Reading Rage. I don’t like it when my emotions are being jerked around in an obvious way, which Mr. Dickerson does not do. He writes his story and leaves it up to you to feel. Or not. But I did say he was cunning, yes? You won’t notice it though, not til the end.
And when you finish No Alternative, I predict that, as I did myself, you’ll go back to page one and read it all over again.
Oh, goddamnit, Rob. Why’d you have to come back with something I want to read RIGHT MEOW when my list of shit I have to read is already ten miles long?
I’m going to have to pretend I never read this review because I can’t add anything else right now…I just can’t.
(grins) I’m just really mean that way…
Congrats on finding a 5-star book! It’s such a rarity to find something that good that it is definitely worth celebrating!
lol, well, I hope everyone likes it…it’s a huge problem w/ reviews; one person’s 5 stars (or snares) may be someone else’s ‘huh?’ you just never know if something is going to hit someone else the way it hit you…
(grins) but yeah, it’s really great when you do…
You know, Rob, I’m a sucker for your recommendations, especially coming-of-age books. And ones that involve music? Sold. Bought. On the Kindle so I can start reading right away. Plus, it was a great price: $2.99. Yeah, I’ve gone over to the dark side, but I really do like the Kindle, especially when I travel. Thanks for a great review. I can’t wait to get started.
Ooh Alicia, when did you come over to the dark side??
LOL, last year. I bought my mom a Kindle for Christmas, thinking she’d have an easier time reading with the adjustable print. But she hated it & refused to learn it, so I took it back. I couldn’t let it go to waste, could I?!
(blinks innocently) I had just gotten a delivery in for a ton of Green Dust…and Sandy blew it all south…
lol, seems like most people I know are, but I’m afraid I’m going to stay the last holdout…after trying sus’s Kindle and giving B&N’s Nook a whirl, I hate them even more…PAPER FOREVER!
SOO glad you survived Sandy. I was stunned by the pictures of the shore.
Yeah, yeah paper…I still love paper, too, & have no plans to get rid of mine. But there IS something wonderful about being able to get my hands on a book immediately & when it’s cheaper than the paper version, ohh la la. :D
yeah, me and mine didnt do too bad w/ Sandy, we’re all far enough inland, we all just lost power from 3 days to a week, which was none so bad, considering…and my modem got blown out, but will be getting a new one soon…
I know, those pictures were grim as hell…the Seaside Heights rollercoaster was in the fucking water and they lost most of the boardwalk, and all the bungalows got torn to pieces, Lavallette was flattened, the whole boardwalk along Avon, Belmar, and Spring Lake, and the road along side was covered in 20 feet of sand, Pt Pleasant lost the ends of it’s boardwalk and its main street was flooded, and the Manasquan Inlet is completely gone…it’s going to take years to rebuild…
(grins) yeah, the instant gratification is hard to resist, but what always stops me is those tiny screens, I really hate them…
Ooh, snare drums! Y’know what I’d love? If I had a little remote in my pocket, with a button that activates that ba-dum-TISH any time someone (‘specially me) makes a punny joke. That’s right – my own personal snare drum button.
And you know what’s even more annoying than spoilery Amazon reviews? Spoilery Amazon reviews from official literary companies like School Library Journal. Come on, people, if you want to encourage reading, wouldn’t it be better to not give away the whole story before someone even has a chance to experience it for themselves?
Also, O HAI ROB!! :)
HI!
I especially love the reviews where the reviewer gives you a chapter by chapter synopsis, thereby saving you the trouble of reading the damn book…
such a public service they provide (rolls eyes)…
Great review! Thanks. $2.99 was a steal
danke much…and yeppers, it’s a pretty good deal, enjoy!
Ooooh, now I’m kinda dying of curiosity about this book. Thanks for a review that makes me want to read something instead of telling me every damn thing about it, lol. As Nerija mentioned above, spoilery reviews are blech.
you’re welcome…
I guess the reviewers at amazon feel they’re saving us all this money by telling us ALL about the book so we dont have to trouble ourselves w/ buying the damn things…they make so much clutter anyway…