GARY BENCHLEY, ROCK STAR

a novel by PAUL FORD

Like all fine novels, Gary Benchley, Rock Star
is best appreciated on a bed of dark fabric.

The Book

Gary Benchley, Rock Star
by Paul Ford
published by Plume Books.
291 pp., trade paperback, $14.00.

Originally serialized on The Morning News, now greatly expanded and even funnier.

Available from:
Penguin/Putnam
Powell's Books
Amazon.com
Barnes & Noble
& your local bookseller.

What happens?

Gary Benchley, recent college grad and aspiring rock star, left his dead-end life in Albany to seek his fortune in that hotbed of hipsters—Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Earnestly optimistic and completely confident in his fate, Gary writes of his trials and tribulations securing a roommate, a girlfriend, and even a band—the “world's most inclusive band”—complete with a gay synth player, a hot chick drummer, and a cool black bassist. Calling their not- quite-musical sound “indie prog,” they combine the most pretentious music of the 1970s with the most pretentious music of today. But after a dozen shows and even an album, the band begins to fall apart, and Gary finds himself increasingly disillusioned with his rock star fantasies. In Gary's world, though, the glass is always half full.

Gary Benchley, Rock Star is a hilarious, satirical debut that grew out of Ford's popular column on TheMorningNews.org. If you'd like a taste of the book, click that link to The Morning News--but remember that the only way to find out how the story ends is to buy the book. This is cold reality of a capitalist society.