Rating: 
Summary: Fun read of fiction based on the music industry
Review: I picked this book up after reading great reviews by Lou Reed, Elvis Costello and Tom Petty. While this book was a quick and entertaining read, it lacked substance. The story was a nice take on the current situation of the music industry - profit over talent - and the integrity that is challenged by those involved. The characters were believeable and easy to relate to but there was something ultimately missing. The ending was very anti-climatic and left me a bit dissapointed. The book is a good satire on the current state of the music business. Read this now and you'll understand why the music industry will be completely different in less than 10 years.
Rating: 
Summary: Some cool insight on contemporary music culture, or lack of.
Review: I'll admit it, I haven't finnished the book... But i do recomend it, because I do find it entertaining. The author, some kind of executive at VH1, has an inside look at the music business, both the economic and artitic aspects of it. And, i think from the tone of the book, Flannagan is upset that the money involved is becoming more important than the actual art (a fact illustrated by the current music scene today, where Britney Spears's and Nsync's heavily produced garbage gets almost constant radio play while Pearl Jam's incredible album hasn't been so lucky (in my own opinion, of course)). It can be hard to write a book on something so fresh and contemporary, but Flannagan does it well. It does, however, get a little long and slow, but it's all good. the subject matter makes it worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: An A for A&R
Review: I've known Biill Flanagan over the years as a fellow traveler in music (we've written for a lot of the same magazines -- Musician, Rolling Stone, The NY Times, et al). I've always found him to be perceptive and clear-eyed about the music business while remaining a devoted fan of music, rarely cynical and unusually supportive, and those qualities serve him well in this novel. He's an engaging storyteller, and packs enough real adventure into the work--squalls at sea, a kidnapping, some street fights--to make me think that he could turn out some fine novels that have nothing to do with the music industry. But here he has great fun skewering the pretensions of the business while maintaining a genuine affection for his characters. Well done.
Rating: 
Summary: Stick to Television
Review: It was truly enjoyable subject matter that I'm sure only Bill Flanagan (and any other music industry person) could provide. What I could not get past was his ham-handed writing style that led me to think he started a short story for Rolling Stone and then decided to lengthen it to a novel. But maybe I'm not the right person for this book: I've enjoyed reading my entire life, from the classics to contemporary drivel that continously and surprisingly makes Best-Sellers Lists. If I only read Rolling Stone or music biographies, I'm sure this would be one of the best books I've ever read.I don't, and it wasn't. Pleasant, feel free to buy my used copy.
Rating:
Summary: Stick to Television
Review: It was truly enjoyable subject matter that I'm sure only Bill Flanagan (and any other music industry person) could provide. What I could not get past was his ham-handed writing style that led me to think he started a short story for Rolling Stone and then decided to lengthen it to a novel. But maybe I'm not the right person for this book: I've enjoyed reading my entire life, from the classics to contemporary drivel that continously and surprisingly makes Best-Sellers Lists. If I only read Rolling Stone or music biographies, I'm sure this would be one of the best books I've ever read. I don't, and it wasn't. Pleasant, feel free to buy my used copy.
Rating:
Summary: rock and roll after-school special
Review: It's funny that there's no cussing in this "behind the scenes" novel. It took me a while to realize it, but I can't REALLY believe in characters like a back-stabbing corporate honcho who wheels and deals while saying things like "what the frig does that mean?" Of course, profanity isn't absolutely necessary -- Tom Wolfe can generate a hard-boiled feel without 4-letter words. (Or with! Come on, it's a rock and roll book.) The lack of profanity is merely an indicator -- the tone and subject matter are a little out of alignment. An amusing (cute?) but whitewashed presentation of a harsh reality.
Rating: 
Summary: Home truths from a music industry insider
Review: Let's face it, the music industry can be viewed as cash cow that relies on the passion of the masses to fill the pockets of the few. Flanagan paints an accurate picture of music business back biting ,creating strong characters to illustrate how easily dreams can be lost on the road to success. I suspect much of his own experience went into writing this entertaining and engaging book, it's great fun working out who might be the inspiration for some of the darker characters, I'm sure they know who they are! Well worth the shipping cost to the UK.
Rating:
Summary: Fifth Grade Summer Reading
Review: Mr. Flanagan is obviously an accomplished journalist and music executive. But a novel needs more than music industry insight and humorous one-liners to succeed. A&R is written in such a predictable, pedestrian style that I often thought I was reading a script for an ABC after school special. Given the nature of the characters and the industry which it depicts, A&R comes off as a tame tale of human ideals vs. the corporate giant, not the insider's view at the belly of the beast that the jacket copy would lead one to believe. Had his writing style actually been compelling and challenging, as opposed to the kind of bland writing that often passes for music journalism, this book would have been much better. In the hands of another writer, A&R could have been excellent.
Rating:
Summary: Made Me Think
Review: So, as a kid with a guitar and a dream (and hopefully a little business sense), I picked up this book hoping to get a glimpse into the Music Biz. I got a bit more than that. My girlfriend said that this book probably isn't 'great literature' which means, it doesn't "work on lots of levels" (you'll get that when you read the book) it just tells an entertaining story. She may be right, but it sure made me think. So everyone knows the music business is, like all entertainment business, a place where people businessmen (and businesswomen) profit from the sweat and tears of artists. This book is about that friction. How could it not be? By the end of the book I re-thought my own job, my relationship to the people I work with and for, and the necessary, but often abused relationship between art and money. It made me think of the path I was on, and if, in 10 years time I would be happy. As someone once said (I believe it was on page 178) "Why wait? This might be the only chance I ever get." Now let's cast me in the role of A&R guy. This upstart songwriter Bill Flanagan comes to me with his new album "A&R." What goes through my mind as I listen. "Well written. Actually, I couldn't put it down, which hasn't happened in a long time. I thought I was too jaded to get swept up in fiction. This album could be culturally significant - It shows us how we got where we are, but does it shine any light on where we should go next? And if it does, does anyone have the balls to do it?" You can reach me at fourstrings@mailandnews.com
Rating:
Summary: AR is OK
Review: Somewhat entertaining account of the music industry via fiction. Exaggerated episodes of deception possibly in a satirical attempt to illustrate the grandiosity of this business. Readable and entertaining at surface value.
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