A longstanding member of rock journalism's elite, author Sylvie Simmons here dives into the longform for her third book. Based on a series of imaginary characters, musicians and bands and the people who accompany them, the book is tied together with these various figures who end up in the different short stories.
The difficulty in writing a book like this is the mixing of fact and fantasy. The book is peppered with real life references - MTV, The Carpenters, Willie Nelson - and the cast of fictional characters. You're not sure if you've truly ascertained who the mythical character is, and if you don't really hold that reference in front of you, the pieces tend to fall apart.
This is a fun read if not necessarily a great one. Tom Shepard, the author of a recent collection of short stories called Love And Hydrogen, has written a piece called "Won't Get Fooled Again." Based on The Who, it is a remarkable story that blends perfectly fact - the band members, history - with the made-up story. Read this and understand where Simmons' book falls short.