Wonderkid
A Novel
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
A “hilarious” novel of a rock and roll dream gone awry (The New York Times Book Review).
The Wonderkids are living the dream: sold-out concerts, screaming fans, TV shows, number-one hits. Unfortunately, it’s because the lead singer, Blake Lear, made a deal—wild success in exchange for transforming the band into a children’s entertainment act. Now the seats are packed with grade schoolers instead of cool hipsters, and the television appearances happen on Saturday morning. But hey, rock and roll has always been for the kids, right?
The money is good, and things go very right—until they go very wrong. The temptations of the road are many, and the Wonderkids are big kids, too. Narrated by a boy whom Blake adopts on a whim, who becomes the band’s disciple, merch guy, amateur psychologist, and—eventually—damage control guru, Wonderkid is a delirious and surprisingly touching novel of the dangers of compromise, thwarted ambition, and fathers and sons, told with tremendous humor and energy.
“If Stace’s latest novel, his fourth, rings true, it’s because he is writing what he knows. For 25 years, he performed smart indie rock under the pseudonym John Wesley Harding . . . A great rock ’n’ roll novel.” —The Boston Globe
“Deliciously entertaining.” —The Wall Street Journal
“[Wonderkid is] sweet and funny and knowing—and this is me, holding up my lighter for more.” —Joshua Ferris, National Book Award finalist and author of Then We Came to the End
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Novelist and musician Stace's (Misfortune) newest takes a lighthearted but uninspired look at the music industry from the perspective of a zany children's rock group. The Wunderkinds, a British band led by brothers Blake and Jack, doesn't show much promise, but when their demo tape accidently catches the attention of a producer's child, their slacker agent, Greg, gets a life-changing offer from an esteemed record company. As the group garners success, the delusional Blake, in his 20s, decides to adopt a troubled teenaged orphan named Sweet, who is also the book's narrator. After moving to the States, the band is able to reinvent itself as an edgy children's group with a slightly different name, the Wonderkids. We trail the Wonderkids as they live the expected life of musicians, and Sweet comes of age under Blake's guidance. Other adoptions are made along the way, but tensions and bad publicity leads to the band's demise. Most of the novel's action takes place in the '90s, but continues into present day when the band is scheduled to play a reunion concert at Prospect Park. Sweet fails to evolve as a character, as does most of Stace's cast, and though the dialogue is playful and enjoyable, and the characters almost get the reader to buy in, ultimately the book is repetitive and one-note.
