The EXES: A NOVEL - Hardcover

This charming novel charts the last days of rock as seen through the eyes of the four members of the Exes, a painfully hip Boston-area indie alterna-pop band. Each of the four chapters takes on the tale of the band's conception and fruition from the perspective of a different member, producing an omniscient Rashomon-like narrative that weaves pop reference and nerdy rock-geek sensibility into a combination Harlequin Romance/Celebrity Tell-All. Author Pagan Kennedy is best known for her zine Pagan's Head and her handbook of all things '70s, Platforms. She puts that subcultural know-how to work in this fast-moving story about rockers who love their own images more than the notes and tempos of the music they play. --James DiGiovanna

In one of the most critically acclaimed novels of recent years, Pagan Kennedy takes readers on a hip and hilarious tour of today's rock 'n' roll world. The Exes, an up-and-coming indie band, is made up of people who used to be lovers. Progressing from jam sessions in a basement to second-rate clubs to a cross-country tour that requires them to share seedy hotel rooms -- with their exes -- the four band members reveal their quirks, their problems, and their fantasies in alternating narratives.

Wickedly funny, realistic, and poignant, The Exes sheds a knowing light on the compromises and connections we all make in avid pursuit of our ambitions and dreams.