Buy Flying Saucer Rock 'n' Roll
Jonathan Cape trade paperback
Sample chapter
It’s the dawn of the
nineties in suburban Quirely. Chris and Neil go way back,
but now, as they enter their teenage years, Chris is no
longer sure he wants Neil as his friend. Neil is
embarrassing. Neil is odd. Neil talks about strange things
that nobody else knows about, or wants to. And Chris just
wants to be popular now that it’s time to be seen hanging
around outside the gates of the local girls’ school.
Still, Chris has other interests. He’s fallen in love with
the instrumental rock stylings of Joe Satriani, and is
learning guitar at school in order to emulate his hero, if
only he can get the hang of Streets of London
first. But there’s another boy in his guitar class who’s
miles ahead of everybody. He’s a natural at it, if a bit
lazy when it comes to anything else. His name is Ben.
It’s only a matter of time before Chris and Ben find
themselves in a band, Animal Magnets. On drums is Jase,
sure of himself and easy-going. The bass player is Thomas
Depper, ginger and spectacled, bad-tempered and violent.
But who can they get to be their front-man? Although they
hate to admit it, there’s really only one boy for the job…
Flying Saucer Rock ‘n’ Roll follows Chris and
Neil, Ben, Thomas and Jase through the years, into their
teenage golden age and out the other side, where between
them they face disillusionment and determination, the
nine-to-five grind and art college, Britpop and Brighton.
It is a tale of those who are alienated and those who
belong, their childhoods lost and adulthoods found, and the
fine line they walk between belief and madness. Most of
all, it defines a generation, its music and mindset, a
reminder of a time just gone, a world lost forever.