Review:
Praise for "Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer"
"A tremendously imaginative novel that's really several novels in one, for beneath its sparkling surface there are some very murky depths. A wonderfully disquieting read." --Sarah Waters, author of "Fingersmith"
"Wesley Stace's tale of music and murder is a baroque intellectual thriller, wittily erudite and psychologically acute. Charles Jessold joins Thomas Mann's Adrian Leverkuhn and Randall Jarrell's Gottfried Rosenbaum in the gallery of memorable composers in fiction." --Alex Ross, author of "The Rest Is Noise: Listening to the Twentieth Century"
"I read "Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer" in the white noise of a long plane ride; afterward I felt as though I had spent hours listening to symphonies, snatches of music in the midst of being composed, and a low persuasive voice telling me about bad behaviour and surprising sins. This is one of the few novels I have read that is truly musical. Wesley Stace is a brilliant and intensely original writer and this is his most unusual book yet." --Audrey Niffenegger, author of "The Time Traveler's Wife"
"Highly pleasurable. And unusual, not least because this is a rock and roll novel written by someone who actually knows what he's talking about."--Peter Carey
""Wonderkid" is a gem, a rock and roll novel written from the inside, with an insider's knowledge of music and the music business, and all the exhilaration and indignities that come with the territory. Wesley Stace is a wise and witty guide to the career of Blake Lear and the Wonderkids, a fictional band that becomes so real over the course of the novel that you'll think you heard them on the radio."
--Tom Perrotta, author of "Little Children"
"Highly pleasurable. And unusual, not least because this is a rock and roll novel written by someone who actually knows what he's talking about."--Peter Carey
"Rock and roll is an infantile business, but never more so than in the hands of the Wonderkids, a group of post-teens, playing music for pre-teens, whilst living chaotic adult lives. In "Wonderkid", Wesley Stace absolutely captures the band experience: the triumphs, the letdowns, the sell-outs, the success, and the scandal, with an extra helping of absurdity. There were times reading this book that I could actually smell the dank dressing rooms, or feel the bus rolling down the highway to the next gig." --Peter Buck
""Wonderkid" is a gem, a rock and roll novel written from the inside, with an insider's knowledge of music and the music business, and all the exhilaration and indignities that come with the territory. Wesley Stace is a wise and witty guide to the career of Blake Lear and the Wonderkids, a fictional band that becomes so real over the course of the novel that you'll think you heard them on the radio."
--Tom Perrotta, author of "Little Children"
"Highly pleasurable. And unusual, not least because this is a rock and roll novel written by someone who actually knows what he's talking about."--Peter Carey
"Wesley Stace has always been the only genuinely gifted fiction writer who also happens to be a rock star, but "Wonderkid" is the book he was born to write. And if you prefer your novels brazen, poignant and hilarious, as I do, you were born to read it. Like a great show, this will stay with you long after the last cymbal crash and power strum." --Sam Lipsyte, author of "The Ask"
"Wesley Stace's "Wonderkid" is a marvelous satiric mashup of rock and roll and pack and plays. It's sweet and funny and knowing--and this is me, holding up my lighter for more." --Joshua Ferris, author of "The Unnamed"
"Wesley Stace has always been the only genuinely gifted fiction writer who also happens to be a rock star, but "Wonderkid" is the book he was born to write. And if you prefer your novels brazen, poignant and hilarious, as I do, you were born to read it. Like a great show, this will stay with you long after the last cymbal crash and power strum."
--Sam Lipsyte, author of "The Ask"
"Rock and roll is an infantile business, but never more so than in the hands of the Wonderkids, a group of post-teens, playing music for pre-teens, whilst living chaotic adult lives. In "Wonderkid," Wesley Stace absolutely captures the band experience: the triumphs, the letdowns, the sell-outs, the success, and the scandal, with an extra helping of absurdity. There were times reading this book that I could actually smell the dank dressing rooms, or feel the bus rolling down the highway to the next gig." --Peter Buck
""Wonderkid "is a gem, a rock and roll novel written from the inside, with an insider's knowledge of music and the music business, and all the exhilaration and indignities that come with the territory. Wesley Stace is a wise and witty guide to the career of Blake Lear and the Wonderkids, a fictional band that becomes so real over the course of the novel that you'll think you heard them on the radio." --Tom Perrotta, author of "Little Children"
"Highly pleasurable. And unusual, not least because this is a rock and roll novel written by someone who actually knows what he's talking about." --Peter Carey, author of "Parrot and Olivier in America"
"Finally, a sex, drugs and rock and roll book for Dan Zanes fans! "Wonderkid" also happens to be one of the best books about fathers and sons since Turgenev." --Gary S
"Wesley Stace writes with verve, pace and great good humor. "Wonderkid" is a flamboyant novel about rock 'n' roll, sex and drugs, broken dreams, and Brits on tour in America. Buy it at once."--Patrick McGrath, author of "Asylum"
"Wesley Stace has written one of the very few novels about rock bands and the music business that doesn't have a single false note or outsider-wannabe pretensions. It's a relief--and a joy--to read about the weird particularities of the lives of musicians by someone who knows the world so intimately. He deconstructs, with an elegant and sharp eye, the heightened sense of the unreality of fame, the relentless grind of touring, and the Ego and the Id made deliciously manifest in the Wonderkids (my favorite new band). He is both ruthless and compassionate, but never cynical. I thought about these characters even when I wasn't reading the book, and the story will stay with me for a very long time. "Wonderkid" has both enormous entertainment value and serious literary worth, a very hard trick to pull off." --Rosanne Cash
"Wesley Stace has always been the only genuinely gifted fiction writer who also happens to be a rock star, but "Wonderkid" is the book he was born to write. And if you prefer your novels brazen, poignant and hilarious, as I do, you were born to read it. Like a great show, this will stay with you long after the last cymbal crash and power strum." --Sam Lipsyte, author of "The Fun Parts"
"Wesley Stace has written one of the very few novels about rock bands and the music business that doesn't have a single false note or outsider-wannabe pretensions. It's a relief--and a joy--to read about the weird particularities of the lives of musicians by someone who knows the world so intimately. He deconstructs, with an elegant and sharp eye, the heightened sense of the unreality of fame, the relentless grind of touring, and the Ego and the Id made deliciously manifest in the Wonderkids (my favorite new band). He is both ruthless and compassionate, but never cynical. I thought about these characters even when I wasn't reading the book, and the story will stay with me for a very long time. "Wonderkid" has both enormous entertainment value and serious literary worth, a very hard trick to pull off." --Rosanne Cash, author of "Composed"
"Highly pleasurable. And unusual, not least because this is a rock 'n' roll novel written by someone who actually knows what he's talking about." --Peter Carey, author of "The Chemistry of Tears"
"Rock 'n' roll is an infantile business, but never more so than in the hands of the Wonderkids, a group of post-teens, playing music for pre-teens, whilst living chaotic adult lives. In "Wonderkid," Wesley Stace absolutely captures the band experience the triumphs, the letdowns, the sell-outs, the success, and the scandal, with an extra helping of absurdity. There were times reading this book that I could actually smell the dank dressing rooms, or feel the bus rolling down the highway to the next gig." --Peter Buck
"Fast-paced and full of details
only a music insider would know, novelist and musician Stace's latest is a funny, untamed, highly
pleasurable read, a wise and witty visit to a world few of us have experienced"--"Booklist"
"Stace has a great eye and a lifetime of inside knowledge that he deploys to comic, touching effect."--"Portland Oregonian"
"In all, "Wonderkid" is a work of both great wit and deep tenderness. It's a tale of raucous lost boys written by an author with an exacting eye, but who also truly feels for these misfits."--"Philadelphia City Paper"
"Wesley Stace has always been the only genuinely gifted fiction writer who also happens to be a rock star, but "Wonderkid" is the book he was born to write. And if you prefer your novels brazen, poignant and hilarious, as I do, you were born to read it. Like a great show, this will stay with you long after the last cymbal crash and power strum." --Sam Lipsyte, author of "The Fun Parts"
"Wesley Stace has written one of the very few novels about rock bands and the music business that doesn't have a single false note or outsider-wannabe pretensions. It's a relief--and a joy--to read about the weird particularities of the lives of musicians by someone who knows the world so intimately. He deconstructs, with an elegant and sharp eye, the heightened sense of the unreality of fame, the relentless grind of touring, and the Ego and the Id made deliciously manifest in the Wonderkids (my favorite new band). He is both ruthless and compassionate, but never cynical. I thought about these characters even when I wasn't reading the book, and the story will stay with me for a very long time. "Wonderkid" has both enormous entertainment value and serious literary worth, a very hard trick to pull off." --Rosanne Cash, author of "Composed"
"Highly pleasurable. And unusual, not least because this is a rock 'n' roll novel written by someone who actually knows what he's talkin
"Hilarious . . . Winningly dry . . . Marvelously drawn . . . The Wonderkids' increasingly unhinged antics and eventual . . . flameout, which culminate in Blake's seeming to expose himself onstage at the "Pack 'n' Play Festival" (Stace has a marvelous time with names), are entertaining. And there are some absolute gems in the final chapters." --"The New York Times Book Review"
"Fast-paced and full of details only a music insider would know, novelist and musician Stace's latest is a funny, untamed, highly
pleasurable read, a wise and witty visit to a world few of us have experienced"--"Booklist"
"Stace has a great eye and a lifetime of inside knowledge that he deploys to comic, touching effect."--"Portland Oregonian"
"In all, "Wonderkid" is a work of both great wit and deep tenderness. It's a tale of raucous lost boys written by an author with an exacting eye, but who also truly feels for these misfits."--"Philadelphia City Paper"
"Wesley Stace has always been the only genuinely gifted fiction writer who also happens to be a rock star, but "Wonderkid" is the book he was born to write. And if you prefer your novels brazen, poignant and hilarious, as I do, you were born to read it. Like a great show, this will stay with you long after the last cymbal crash and power strum." --Sam Lipsyte, author of "The Fun Parts"
"Wesley Stace has written one of the very few novels about rock bands and the music business that doesn't have a single false note or outsider-wannabe pretensions. It's a relief--and a joy--to read about the weird particularities of the lives of musicians by someone who knows the world so intimately. He deconstructs, with an elegant and sharp eye, the heightened sense of the unreality of fame, the relentless grind of touring, and the Ego and the Id made deliciously manifest in the Wonderkids (my favorite new band). He is both ruthless and compassionate, but never cynical. I thought about these characterse
About the Author:
Wesley Stace is the author of three widely acclaimed novels: "Misfortune," selected by the "Washington Post" and Amazon as one of the best novels of the year; "By George," one of the New York Public Library s 2007 Books To Remember; and "Charles Jessold, Considered as a Murderer, " one of the "Wall Street Journal" s best fiction books of 2011. He has released fifteen albums under the name John Wesley Harding and has appeared on "Late Night with Conan O Brien, The Late Show with David Letterman," and "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno." He is the founder of the Cabinet of Wonders variety show, which has featured appearances by Rosanne Cash, Colson Whitehead, and Joshua Ferris, among many others, and which can be heard on NPR. He contributes frequently to the "New York Times" and lives in Philadelphia."
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