Better to Beg

The bloody Deserters—the band that belongs nowhere. To no one.

With raw musical talent and wild sexual chemistry, early aughts NYC rock duo The Deserters, comprised of ambitious midwestern feminist Viv and the half-cracked British expat Hux, head west in a stolen jalopy to perform in the seedy bars and sketchy clubs of America’s great cities, hoping to “make it” as crowds grow violent, money dries up, and their trust in each other erodes, forcing them to confront the limits of freedom, faith and creative integrity in an ever-changing post-9/11 America.

“…a rip-roaring, heart-and-soul-gutting tour through the rock-n-roll sleaze of early aughts New York City, the funereal desolation of desert highways, and those many drug-fueled pit stops in between.”—JILLIAN LUFT, author of Scumbag Summer

“…pulses with rebellious energy [and] deftly captures music’s gritty world with wit and hope, making this debut a true muse for those who dare to be different.”—MALLORY SMART, author of I Keep My Visions to Myself

“...smart and irreverent, sexy and unhinged in all the right ways.”—D.T. ROBBINS, author of Leasing

“…an honest, raw, and unsentimental look at what it means to stay true to yourself and your art, and what it can cost you.”—AMY JONES, author of Pebble & Dove

“Two muses, two killers, two heartbroken loners—this duo can’t fly too close to the sun because they’re never awake to see it.”—SCOTT LAUDATI, author of Play the Devil

“Electrifying! One of the best fictitious rock books you’ll ever read—a This is Spinal Tap for early-2000s indie sleazebags.”—BRIAN ALAN ELLIS, author of The Errors Tour

“…conjures a literary Behind the Music that swept me up and sucked me in until I was moving through my days thinking about The Deserters alongside so many real-world bands.”—AARON BURCH, author of Year of the Buffalo

“…will leave you hungover and still longing for more.”—LEXI KENT-MONNING, author of The Burden of Joy

“[A book] for primal-screaming, dumpster-diving, cactus-shaped souls [and the] ones who understand what it means to cage yourself in search of freedom, reject yourself in search of validation, destroy your environment in search of home, and ostracize yourself in search of belonging when all you really need is space to fall apart.”—CLAIRE HOPPLE, author of Take it Personally

“…Meet Me in the Bathroom reimagined as a road novel—a celebration of the beautiful pain that defines creative partnership.”—KEVIN M. KEARNEY, author of Freelance

“...peels back the filthy film overlaying early-aughts rock ’n roll, a world of sweat and grime and drugs and jeans that have been worn for three-hundred-and-eighty-four days, to expose the ambition and heart underneath—unforgettable characters yearning to prove their worth, and the necessary reminder to make art no matter what. ”—EMILY COSTA, author of Girl on Girl