Completeness of the Soul
Oct 2, 2012
The Life and Opinions of Jay Breeze, Rock Star
Edited and Arranged by his friend, Charles D. Beagle
Assisted by Jim Booth
Paperback: 194 pages
Publisher: Queen's Ferry Press (August 21, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0983907188
ISBN-13: 978-0983907183
Description:
Like other rock stars before him, Jay Breeze has been relegated to "the dustbin of history." Consigned there even before his car hit a tree, Jay's reality was fan-dictated: the embodiment of a past that "the future thought it was." His literary executor, Charlie Beagle, journalism professor, Rolling Stone contributing editor, and former bandmate, retrieves the scraps-what seems the detritus of his friend's life-and composes the ballad of Jay Breeze, Rock Star. Bridging audience and artist, persona and man, musician and muse, reader and unflinchingly rendered character, Beagle arranges Jay's woeful, passionate lyrics into a haunting, heartbreaking song.
Idgie Says:
First off, it took me a while to figure out if this Jay Breeze was a real person or not. I admit to resorting to Google. :)
Jim Booth has the background experience being in bands himself and also now running an independent record label to really dig into the true lifestyle of a musician and pulls together a story that is incredibly realistic - showing the highs and lows of living in that world.
This is an interestingly different book in that it tells the story of Jay Breeze through his journal, letters to friends, articles written about him, letters written to him and finally lyrics to songs he's written. Every chapter is a different piece of information that slowly shows who Jay was and what his thoughts were.
A good "behind the scenes" look into being a rock star. A story from another angle than the usual.
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Reviewed by Idgie. If you would like to have the Dew review a book, please contact me at dewonthekudzu@gmail.com
