Review: Wivenhoe Park

Wivenhoe Park by Ben Vendetta
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

The mid-eighties, London: what kind of tales can a college kid tell about this time? A lot, if you are talking about Drew. Coming from a comfortable home in Michigan where expectations for him are high, Drew comes to find that his passion isn't going to lead him down the academic path like his family hopes, and his love for music starts to turn into a passion that he can see leading him to a great job.

Wivenhoe Park is a book that is deeply immersed in the indie music scene of the eighties. This was an interesting read for me because I know about 60s-70s stuff from my parents and I came to my musical independence during the late nineties, so this is a period of music I'm just not that familiar with, and of course this book leaves me wanting to know more about bands like the Jesus and Mary Chain or Bunnymen.

The places where this book left me less than intrigued is in its execution. This is a book that talks a lot about music, so band and song name abound, but after so many mentions, you kind of get tired, especially if you've never heard the stuff. Also, Drew's description of all his outfits was a little weird, though expected because he wanted to show people what kinds of things he loved. This book is a lot of tell and not much show, so it doesn't have that element that makes you crave reading it, but the plot overall is interesting.

*Received a copy of this book through Goodreads First Reads

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