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James Brubaker's novel is ostensibly about an aging music writer investigating the death of a long-lost cult singer-songwriter, but it quickly explodes, fractal-like, splintering the narrative into the different points of view of the people who were affected by the enigmatic Jim Toop. The narrative is experimental, but grounded, and serves to best explore the idea that we may never fully understand life, and the multitude of forces that shape us and our understanding of the world.
I could not put this book down! Maybe it was the nostalgia of having grown up watching the X Files and listening to my parents folk music but this novel takes you to a place in the past and when it’s finished, you can’t help but feel the past lingering. It is a riveting story about the search for truth and the capacity we have as human beings to believe only what we want or even need to believe. You will be on the edge of your seat. No question.
I was surprised at this book, it is a work of fiction, but I really could've believed everything had actually taken place. If you are a music buff or pop culture junkie you will really enjoy this read, it is funny, creative, and it pulls on the nostalgia heart strings. A few things that I wish were just a little different is the change in narrator, I wish it would've stuck to only two different perspectives instead of the three or four, two of them were really, really well done and I felt close