Gary Benchley, Rock Star

By Paul Ford

Before I moved to New York from Albany, I wrote out a careful, step-by-step plan: 1) Rock out; 2) No more data entry.?Gary Benchley, recent college grad and aspiring rock star, left his dead-end life in Albany to seek his fortune in that hotbed of hipsters?Williamsburg, Brooklyn.Earnestly optimistic and completely confident in his fate, Gary writes of his trials and tribulations securing a roommate, a girlfriend, and even a band?the world?s most inclusive band??complete with a gay synth player, a hot chick drummer, and a cool black bassist. Calling their not- quite-musical sound indie prog,? they combine the most pretentious music of the 1970s with the most pretentious music of today. But after a dozen shows and even an album, the band begins to fall apart, and Gary finds himself increasingly disillusioned with his rock star fantasies. In Gary?s world, though, the glass is always half full.Gary Benchley, Rock Star is a hilarious, satirical debut that grew out of Ford?s popular column on TheMorningNews.org.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0452286638
• ISBN13: 9780452286634
• Release Date: September 2005
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 291 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Clever, current bildungsroman

This tightly-written and humorous novel uses backdrop of very current (i.e. 2005) musical genres, movements, and bands to tell the story of a young man who moves to New York and starts a fictional band of his own. The book is very funny, but I imagine it would be especially so if you were tuned into current alternative and rock music of that period (as I am). Otherwise some of the in-jokes might have you scratching your head or going over to the library to check out the latest copy of CMJ. And if you don't know what CMJ is, you may still like the book, but you'll miss out of many of the clever editorial asides the writer makes along the way of the narrative about music he obviously either loves or hates. The descriptions of band life on the road are dead on and he's clearly done his homework. This book was apparently first "published" online as a blog under the premise that the narrator was in fact a real person. The fact that many people believed it gives you some idea how specific and accurate the real-life references are. Though I wonder why people didn't catch a clue when the band in the book never seemed to really play anywhere in New York . . . Highly recommended for any alt/pop/rock music fan, especially those of us who've tried our hand at rock stardom ourselves.

Terrific pseudo-memoir of the ultra-hip indie lifestyle

Gary Benchley is a hip indie scenester stuck doing data entry in upstate NY. His fictional memoir opens as he moves to New York city with dreams of becoming an indie rock star. He does have to learn more then five chords on his guitar, but he also has to assemble the right cast for his band. He succeeds at assembling his dream lineup-a gay synth player, a hot chick drummer, a cool black bassist, and no lead guitar player. The process of uncovering his stereotypical bandmates makes for deliciously wicked reading (the hot chick can be obtained via ads, but he has to racially profile black men on the street to find his dream bass player). Benchley's rise and plateau with his band is filled with elements familiar to any NY hipster--a girlfriend whose blog he reads to try to gain insight into their relationship, alternative art and media shows, mindless blogger get-togethers (why do bloggers hand out business cards?), the local music scene, and the name-dropping of ultra-new indie bands (Gary has great fun making up fake names and trying to catch scensters lying). Of course, we also have the process of getting a band to gel, learning to perform live, getting a record deal, and touring. Gary Benchley tries his damndest to be the Rock Star his business card claims his occupation is, and it makes for hilarious reading (especially his quest for groupies). I'm waiting for Volume 2!

No more data entry!

If you've ever dreamed of making it big or searched for the right someone to love, Ford's novel is for you. A goofy, genuine, endearing character, Benchley will crack you up and show you parts of yourself you've forgotten. Many of the indie rock references may get lost on the less hip (like myself). Regardless, the story is so engaging it halted my life for two days. I simply couldn't put it down. It was just too easy to get lost in the adventures of a 20-something taking on New York City with empty pockets, priceless comical insight and a dream - to ROCK OUT. I'm ready for the next installment. Gary Benchley, Rock Star part 2, please.

everybody wants to be a rock star

Ford's breezy first novel about an ambitious indie rocker trying to make it in the big apple is wiseguy funny, hip to the silly pretensions of post-adolescents longing desparately for idolization. If you don't see a lot of yourself in Gary Benchley, you're not really being honest! Some familiarity with the New York hipster music and blogging scene will enhance the appreciation.

Thinking of moving to the Big City?

This is a hilarious and alarmingly accurate account of trying to 'make it' in post-millennial New York. Sort of Midnight Cowboy for the L-train set. See for yourself by reading some of the original installments on The Morning News. [...] Also recommended, if you've already landed somewhere, as a great (and only faintly salacious) gift that will make your teen/college-age niece or nephew think you're slightly edgy. Give it a spin.