King Cal
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Trouser Press Books
Published:16th Apr '25
Should be back in stock very soon
In this sensitive and smart coming-of-age rock novel, Atlanta fast food worker Calvin loses his girlfriend, his band and his best friend in a single day. Suddenly, everything he had planned to spend the rest of his life doing seems to have flown away.
Many novels set in the world of rock music depict stardom, debauchery and deceit. King Cal instead focuses on the creative process, the devotion required to choose an uncertain life in music, the inspiration for songwriting and the challenge of making the rent while making art.
Told with insight, sensitivity and deep respect for what it really takes to make a life in music, King Cal is a coming-of-age novel about a determined young man who starts with little, aims to earn a little more and has to decide whether success, or even clinging to his dream, is worth the sacrifice.
"When I am asked by parents of kids who are considering a life in popular music if I would recommend that path, I say that if their child can even imagine doing anything else with their life, they should do that. But if the kid can’t conceive of any future but music, I urge them to offer encouragement. Now, I can just tell them to read this book."
--Elliot Easton, lead guitarist for the Cars and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Member
"Having lived through my own musical coming-of-age, I’m often dismayed by just how wrong most music-themed books get it. Not King Cal. This is one of the few novels about music that have felt utterly real to me. As the book wound its way to a deeply moving end, I was both desperately hoping it would all work out for our unlikely hero and thanking Pete McDade for getting it so right."
--Dan Wilson, Grammy-winning singer (Semisonic) and songwriter (“Closing Time”)
ISBN: 9798989828371
Dimensions: 229mm x 152mm x 16mm
Weight: unknown
250 pages