"A gritty, lyrical ode to Jersey."
—Neal Pollack, author of Never Mind the Pollacks
"Bauman writes with precision, in prose that reverberates...strong, compelling work." -Robert stone
“... a tour de force.” —The Newark Star–Ledger
As the son of a folk singer whose suicide gained him cult status, Thatcher has a leg up on New York's music scene. Instead, he decides to keep his parentage secret and take his guitar across the river to working class Hoboken, New Jersey to form a band. There, amidst the tenements and dive bars and all–night diners, Thatcher and his friends struggle to make meaningful music in a culture turning away from it. A wicked sense of humor turns out to be key for the motley crew: manager Marsh, the beloved, polio–stricken local rock and roll kingpin; lesbian singer/songwriter Lou, to whom Thatcher is deeply attracted; James, guitar virtuoso and daytime World Trade Center employee, not to mention owner of the floor Thatcher is sleeping on; and locals such as Orris, the overweight, half–blind, prophet of Hoboken's west side, and patient at the mental health clinic where Thatcher is a clerk. As in Roddy Doyle's The Commitments and Nick Hornby's High Fidelity, the music is at the heart of it all. But in In Hoboken the place and the people turn out to be just as inspiring.
Anonymous
Posted May 26, 2008
OK, if books with lines such as 'Thatcher pouts his pouty lips now, eyeballing James's restricted sausage' get you excited, then this is probably not the book for you. But, if you enjoy fiction that steps beyond the realm of 'novel', fitting more comfortably into the realm of 'literature', then you will do yourself a favor by picking up a copy of 'In Hoboken'. Bauman's characters are so real, I almost felt as if I actually knew them. Do I? I think maybe I do. It is a book about friendships, life-changing events, and music. Folk music. This insider's perspective will be familiar to anybody who lived through the mid-1990s contemporary folk scene as it existed in the northeast. Strength in numbers as a group of friends with music in common try to stay true to their craft, with a perpetual disdain for the ever-necessary day job. Flirting with fame, and running from fame. At the same time, the book isn't about music at all. If Jack Kerouac were stuck in the mile-square city, he might have written something like this book.
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Overview
"A gritty, lyrical ode to Jersey."
—Neal Pollack, author of Never Mind the Pollacks
"Bauman writes with precision, in prose that reverberates...strong, compelling work." -Robert stone
“... a tour de force.” —The Newark Star–Ledger
As the son of a folk singer whose suicide gained him cult status, Thatcher has a leg up on New York's music scene. Instead, he decides to keep his parentage secret and take his guitar across the river to working class...