Want to Be in a Band?

Do you want to be in a band? Well, here's how! First, bug your two older sisters to start a band, and then beg them to join. (It helps if they already know how to sing and play guitar.) Then there are some tricky parts, like getting over STAGEFRIGHT and practicing until the tips of your fingers ache and playing gigs at not-so-big-time music clubs. At least, that's the way our little sister narrator explains it in her "guide" on how to start a band, based on the real-life experiences of author Suzzy Roche.

Children's Books

Roche, Suzzy

Arts, Music & Photography

Schwartz & Wade

Do you want to be in a band? Well, here's how! First, bug your two older sisters to start a band, and then beg them to join. (It helps if they already know how to sing and play guitar.) Then there are some tricky parts, like getting over STAGEFRIGHT and practicing until the tips of your fingers ache and playing gigs at not-so-big-time music clubs. At least, that's the way our little sister narrator explains it in her "guide" on how to start a band, based on the real-life experiences of author Suzzy Roche.From the Hardcover edition.

From a folk-rock legend comes a tender, comic story of family, music, and second chances. "Wayward Saints is funny, smart, poignant, the prose so clear, so direct, so true. This book is a joy." --Jane Hamilton, author of The Book of Ruth and A Map of the World Mary Saint, the rule-breaking, troubled former lead singer of the almost-famous band Sliced Ham, has pretty much given up on music after the trauma of her band member and lover Garbagio's death seven years earlier. Instead, with the help of her best friend, Thaddeus, she is trying to piece her life together while making mochaccinos in San Francisco. Meanwhile, back in her hometown of Swallow, New York, her mother, Jean Saint, struggles with her own ghosts. When Mary is invited to give a concert at her old high school, Jean is thrilled, though she's worried about what Father Benedict and her neighbors will think of songs such as "Sewer Flower" and "You're a Pig." But she soon realizes that there are going to be bigger problems when the whole town--including a discouraged teacher and a baker who's anything but sweet--gets in on the act. Filled with characters that are wild and original, yet still familiar and warm--plus plenty of great insider winks at the music industry--Wayward Saints is a touching and hilarious look at confronting your past and going home again. Praise for Wayward Saints "Wayward Saints is full of wonderful observations about family, fame, guilt, aging, the stupid music business, and the power and glory of performing and creating. Most importantly, Suzzy Roche has written a book about love and redemption. And it's funny! I loved the little details and the big surprises." --Loudon Wainwright, Grammy-winning songwriter "[Roche's] language is dazzling--unpredictable, supremely funny, irreverent, and full of authority. Wayward Saints is the best and most surprising debut novel I've read since I can't remember when." --Rosellen Brown, author of Half a Heart and Before and After "If you've ever had the privilege of hearing Suzzy Roche sing, you know all about her perfect pitch, her angel's voice, her subtle wit. Her masterful debut novel, Wayward Saints, mines these same prodigious gifts. When Mary Saint, a once-promising indie rocker, is invited to perform in her hometown, where her mother, Jean, still holds court, the two are forced into a long-deferred reckoning: with each other and with the demons of their past. This is a golden-threaded tale of redemption, of the transformative powers of art, and of the mysteries, pains, and sacrifices of love." --Deborah Copaken Kogan, author of Hell Is Other Parents and The Red Book "Spoiler alert: this book is wonderful from beginning to end. I loved every page." --Patricia Marx, author of Starting from Happy

Wayward Saints

Literature & Fiction

Genre Fiction

Voice

Compelling, bittersweet novel with memorable characters set in the 1960s in rural Pennsylvania, written by the legendary singer/songwriter/performer/author and founding member of the singing group The Roches The Town Crazy, set in the sleepy town of Hanzloo, Pennsylvania, a suburban Catholic community in 1961, is a novel of passion, absurdity, innocence, and sorrow. A single father moves into town with his young son, which arouses suspicion from the husbands and the interest of the wives, but at the same time one of the wives seems to be losing her mind, and no one knows what to do. A contemporary, often humorous take on a bygone era,The Town Crazy also delves into the terror and cruelty of childhood, the dangerous loneliness of failing marriages, sexual repression and desire, and the intersection of art and religion, all culminating in a tragedy for which everyone in the town bears some responsibility. Reading group guide available to download from publisher's website.

The Town Crazy: A Novel

Literary

Gibson House Press

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Roche, Suzzy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Roche, Suzzy

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Roche, Suzzy. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Want to Be in a Band?

Want to Be in a Band?

Wayward Saints

Wayward Saints

The Town Crazy: A Novel