Scan barcode
A review by gilmoreguide
Wonderland by Stacey D'Erasmo
4.0
In fact, I was in wonderland then, but only in some hazy amber of memory. At the time, I wasn’t anywhere. I was reaching for the train as it disappeared, flash of silver, around a curve. Now I’m trying to go back to a place I’ve never been.
Anna is a rock star. Not the classic variety but the indie variety. On her way to the top, with a record deal in hand and three albums to her name, she stepped off the ladder and went silent, but now she’s back, in Europe launching a new tour. Wonderland is Stacey D’Erasmo’s look at the journey, from its beginnings when the adrenaline and newness fuel the music to the decidedly unglamorous weeks of exhaustion, aimless hook-ups, bad food and ennui that infiltrate the passion, leaving only a painful sense of dislocation as day and night blend and everything begins to look the same.
Anna was introduced to the arts at an early age by her parents. Her father creates massive sculptures by taking large structures and cutting them apart, leaving them where they stand. It meant a childhood of travel and excitement but little stability. This artistic sensibility translated itself into music for Anna and meant that her emotional connection with her father deepened even as they saw less and less of each other.
I have had the conviction for quite some time that if I could do in music what my father did in space by sawing the train in half, then I could solve the mystery of my life.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/05/wonderland/
Anna is a rock star. Not the classic variety but the indie variety. On her way to the top, with a record deal in hand and three albums to her name, she stepped off the ladder and went silent, but now she’s back, in Europe launching a new tour. Wonderland is Stacey D’Erasmo’s look at the journey, from its beginnings when the adrenaline and newness fuel the music to the decidedly unglamorous weeks of exhaustion, aimless hook-ups, bad food and ennui that infiltrate the passion, leaving only a painful sense of dislocation as day and night blend and everything begins to look the same.
Anna was introduced to the arts at an early age by her parents. Her father creates massive sculptures by taking large structures and cutting them apart, leaving them where they stand. It meant a childhood of travel and excitement but little stability. This artistic sensibility translated itself into music for Anna and meant that her emotional connection with her father deepened even as they saw less and less of each other.
I have had the conviction for quite some time that if I could do in music what my father did in space by sawing the train in half, then I could solve the mystery of my life.
The rest of this review can be read at The Gilmore Guide to Books: http://gilmoreguidetobooks.com/2014/05/wonderland/