Rating: 
Summary: A quick read
Review: I don't normally like books about rock artists, but this one was pretty good. Entertaining and realistic...not the typical rags to riches pop star story at all. I liked the fact that the ending was a little ambiguous. My one problem with this book was that Laurie (the main character) was a little vague...I never really felt much for her character.
Rating: 
Summary: A solid tale of 90's Rock and Roll
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal--it's a solid, well written book that gives the reader an inside view of the record industry and the struggling artists who sometimes get a break. Shiner has a great facility for communicating to the reader the "feel" of a scene, like the description for how a music track should be laid down with the different instruments. For those of us whose contact with the music industry is from buying CD's, Shiner is able to effectively communicate the business (ie, non-glamourous) side of the business very well. I particularly liked the description of how Laurie's music videos got shot--now I better understand why Fiona Apple was upset about how her first video turned out. My quibbles are few--towards the end of the book, it seems everyone in "the industry" that has some sort of power is always described as being about 40 something in age. I guess there no 30 or 50 somethings that have any type of power. Also, the final few chapters seem to be rushing to the conclusion; it might have been useful to go a bit more into Laurie's life over the past year. But, I am definitley going to recommend this book to others as a great story that describes what it takes to break into the music business today. The characters really come to life...
Rating:
Summary: A solid tale of 90's Rock and Roll
Review: I enjoyed this book a great deal--it's a solid, well written book that gives the reader an inside view of the record industry and the struggling artists who sometimes get a break. Shiner has a great facility for communicating to the reader the "feel" of a scene, like the description for how a music track should be laid down with the different instruments. For those of us whose contact with the music industry is from buying CD's, Shiner is able to effectively communicate the business (ie, non-glamourous) side of the business very well. I particularly liked the description of how Laurie's music videos got shot--now I better understand why Fiona Apple was upset about how her first video turned out. My quibbles are few--towards the end of the book, it seems everyone in "the industry" that has some sort of power is always described as being about 40 something in age. I guess there no 30 or 50 somethings that have any type of power. Also, the final few chapters seem to be rushing to the conclusion; it might have been useful to go a bit more into Laurie's life over the past year. But, I am definitley going to recommend this book to others as a great story that describes what it takes to break into the music business today. The characters really come to life...
Rating:
Summary: Rock music fans - read this!
Review: I enjoyed this book very much. I'm not a musician myself, but I always dreamed of being one. This book provided me with the opportunity to live Laurie Moss' life! There were also loads of references that I smugly enjoyed "getting" - if you love rock and roll, and are in your thirties - this is for you. Being a woman, I of course wanted more relationship stuff, but maybe in your sequel, Mr. Shiner? Please, I love Skip - and I want to know all about him!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Another great Shiner novel
Review: Lewis Shiner, once again writes a great novel. Possibly my favourite fiction writer, period, Shiner remains a hidden gem in a literary world populated by too many words and not enough stories. 'Say Goodbye' deserves a wide readership, maybe it will take another scene like the rock scene for him to get that audience.
Rating:
Summary: Life-affirming look about the myth of music
Review: Like many others, I once imagined a world where I was a famous rock star. In high school I wrote songs at the permanently out-of-tune upright piano and Casio keyboard my parents had purchased for me. I even joined a band for a brief shining moment (one 'gig' only). But most of my music career was in my imagination, which I indulged by crafting an entire persona complete with transparent pseudonym (Gil Chase), a wish-fulfillment history and albums complete with titles, tracklists and lyrics. At one point in college, I attempted to turn it all into a short story.I am not unusual in this, as the allure of fictional rock bands has nearly become a sub-genre in fiction, including books such as Iain Banks' Espedair Street, George R.R. Martin's The Armageddon Rag, and Roddy Doyle's The Commitments and movies such as Alan Parker's adaptation of Doyle's novel and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Although the real stories of rock bands have plenty of drama, an entirely fictitious creation allows the author to emphasize a particular theme that history might obscure. Such is the case with Lewis Shiner's Say Goodbye, a meticuously crafted fiction about a female rocker in the mold of Sheryl Crow or Edie Brickell. Shiner, who had previously shown a deep understanding and connection to the music world in his award-winning previous novel, Glimpses, creates his star, Laurie Moss, out of his own small-town Texas experiences and dreams while also distancing himself from the subject by a gender-switch thinly veiled stand-in jounalist narrator. The supporting band cast are convincingly individuals and not just foils to Laurie. While the main plot centers on Laurie's LA musical experience, from opening act in small bars and waitressing in coffee shops through a finished debut album and first tour, it is the framing tale of the narrator's search for the woman behind that song he heard on the radio that has a kind of revealing pathos for those of us for whom music is life-affecting. The book has two climaxes--one for Laurie and one for the narrator--both of which are not exactly the neat little endings of dreams but the bittersweet half-conclusions of life. Reading Shiner's in-progress auto-biographical essay at his website fleshes in some of the details of the lives of all his characters. While not necessary to enjoy the novel, the essay provides a rare glimpse behind the art, like knowing that Sting was a high school teacher before becoming the leader of the Police and singing about a "young teacher the subject / of schoolgirl fantasy." Like much of the best art, Say Goodbye comes from Shiner's real experiences, filtered into order and meaning from which the reader can obtain much more than a simple story or song. This is the kind of book that makes you as interested in the person behind it (hence my visit to his web site and his essay), although at the same time it warns you about creating false pictures of that person based on your own hopes and dreams. I feel the need to throw in a final comment as a disclaimer: I know Lew Shiner, having spent time discussing writing with him both as a student and a peer, as well as drinking a beer or two with him. Even though I haven't talked to him in years, I count him as an acquaintance and quite possibly a friend. I do not feel this colours my impression of this book, although it might be why I found the things not written as interesting as the things present in the text.
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good reading
Review: Shiner has either been or known a struggling musician, I'm sure, because he has captured what it's really like for someone who's trying to get their music in front of audiences. Vivid descriptions of life on the road, conflicts and personality clashes within any group of people who are together too much, power struggles between the Living Legend and the New Blood. Definitely worth checking out if you are a music fan and want a peek behind the scenes!
Rating:
Summary: Pretty good reading
Review: Shiner has either been or known a struggling musician, I'm sure, because he has captured what it's really like for someone who's trying to get their music in front of audiences. Vivid descriptions of life on the road, conflicts and personality clashes within any group of people who are together too much, power struggles between the Living Legend and the New Blood. Definitely worth checking out if you are a music fan and want a peek behind the scenes!
Rating:
Summary: Say Hey Hey, Rock and Roll is here to stay
Review: Shiner started off as a hard science fiction writer, then went into his own style, which is about music. Specifically Rock and Roll. Glimpses was a very good mesh of the two, even though it wasn't "Science Fiction" per se. With Say Goodbye, he's gone from a "good" speulative fiction writer to a phenomenal fiction writer. A quick comparison... Roddy Doyle's The Commitments meets the LA Scene. A band built by a driven young woman builds its way to the top and then self destructs. This book breathes the Rock and Roll society. Shiner's writing capabilities have improved spectacularly, and throughout the book I had glimpses of A Day in the Life in my subconcious. Excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Say Hey Hey, Rock and Roll is here to stay
Review: Shiner started off as a hard science fiction writer, then went into his own style, which is about music. Specifically Rock and Roll. Glimpses was a very good mesh of the two, even though it wasn't "Science Fiction" per se. With Say Goodbye, he's gone from a "good" speulative fiction writer to a phenomenal fiction writer. A quick comparison... Roddy Doyle's The Commitments meets the LA Scene. A band built by a driven young woman builds its way to the top and then self destructs. This book breathes the Rock and Roll society. Shiner's writing capabilities have improved spectacularly, and throughout the book I had glimpses of A Day in the Life in my subconcious. Excellent read.
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