Utopia Avenue
The ‘wildly entertaining’ (Spectator) rock ‘n’ roll novel, by the bestselling author of CLOUD ATLAS
-
-
4.3 • 3 Ratings
-
-
- €5.49
Publisher Description
'ONE OF THE MOST BRILLIANTLY INVENTIVE WRITERS OF THIS, OR ANY, COUNTRY' INDEPENDENT
The Number One Sunday Times Bestseller
'Wildly entertaining'
SPECTATOR
'A stand-out triumph'
SUNDAY TIMES
'Superb'
LITERARY REVIEW
'Impressive'
NEW YORKER
'Highly entertaining'
TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT
A story of music and dreams, drugs and madness, love and grief, from the acclaimed author of Cloud Atlas
The year is 1967 and word is spreading about a new band on London's psychedelic scene - an unlikely combination of a female folksinger, a blues bassist, a jazz drummer and an electric guitarist. Strangers to each other and from widely different backgrounds, together they create magic. Meet Utopia Avenue.
This is the story of a unique band's brief, blazing journey from Soho dives to chart success and on to the promised land of America, just when the Summer of Love was giving way to something much darker - a tale of dreams, drugs, sexuality, madness and grief, and of fame's pitfalls. Capturing a time when youthful idealism collided with jaded reality, this bewitching novel celebrates the power of music to connect across divides, define an era and thrill the soul.
PRAISE FOR DAVID MITCHELL
'A thrilling and gifted writer'
FINANCIAL TIMES
'Dizzyingly, dazzlingly good'
DAILY MAIL
'Mitchell is, clearly, a genius'
NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW
'An author of extraordinary ambition and skill'
INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY
'A superb storyteller'
THE NEW YORKER
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
This unique novel tells the whirlwind story of the eponymous band, Utopia Avenue, from 1967 inception in a seedy Soho bar to its chart-topping peaks. David Mitchell plays with the elasticity of language to mimic music and his rhythmical prose parallels the psychedelic rock ’n’ roll world we are so vividly transported to. But the power of Mitchell’s writing lies not only in how he dances between plot and poetry but in his ability to create fully realised characters. With passages of intense stream of consciousness which are sometimes dark and uncomfortable, we dive into the minds of the four band members. These unforgettable characters are the reason we are still thinking about Utopia Avenue long after the final page.
