Set in 1960s London, we meet four separate and struggling musicians, Dean, Elf, Griff and Jasper, and then the honorable agent-to-be with a keen eye for talent, Levon, who brings them together to form a band called, you guessed it, Utopia Avenue. I agree with one reviewer who said that like Black Swan Green, it’s is a coming of age novel, but in this case a coming of age of a band. This book is such a wonderful treat! I am a big fan of David Mitchell’s work (loved Cloud Atlas, Number Nine Dream and my favorite Black Swan Green). But both books require attention and thought as all good art makes us do-and this is all to say that I didn’t write about them here on the blog on time as I intend each month because I simply didn’t have any more bandwidth.īut now, here I am, ready to say just a little something about each novel-and even better, give you a few goo links to real reviews which fill in the details. Both writers use language that flows easily and beautifully. May and June ended up featuring two BIG BOOKS for this little reading project, especially considering the fact that I felt like I had to re-read Egan’s first novel, A Visit From the Goon Squad again because The Candy House is essentially a sequel to it, and it’s true, they do fit together as one story-one VERY long story. And if you want to join me, here are links to places you can find digital and physical books. You can find my thoughts for each of the other books so far for my Read with Me Project page.

Today I want to report back on the last two books I haven’t had a chance to talk about yet, Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell and The Candy House by Jennifer Egan.

Utopia avenue review