Written by Ibi Kaslik, Penguin 2008By: Sheena Lyonnais
Toronto author Ibi Kaslik’s profound novel the Angel Riots centers around a 19-piece music group divided across two Montreal bands connected by one crazy manager with big ambitions and an even bigger cocaine habit. It follows closely the relationships between four members of the Angel Riots, a Broken Social Scene-esque group of torn individuals who struggle to make it in the indie music scene.
Written in such delicate prose, the novel serves more as a character study told partially by young female prodigy violinist Jim and troubled trombonist Rize. It documents the trials on their first and only American tour and follows them as they rise to fame and fall apart. Adultery and hard drugs paired with alcoholism and miscarriages creates special bonds and ruins between characters and relationships. It plays on human emotion and fear while providing a backstage pass into the Riots unsettled lives.
The Angel Riots is the kind of story that makes you realize just how much we don’t know about each other and how little we know about the individuals who comprise the soundtracks to our lives.
This is a definite must read for anyone whose ever wondered what it’s like to dream for anything and lose everything. A striking depiction on how life on the road can turn the strong into the fragile, it’s a novel that can be appreciated by any indie fan.
The Angel Riots is the kind of story that makes you realize just how much we don’t know about each other and how little we know about the individuals who comprise the soundtracks to our lives.
This is a definite must read for anyone whose ever wondered what it’s like to dream for anything and lose everything. A striking depiction on how life on the road can turn the strong into the fragile, it’s a novel that can be appreciated by any indie fan.
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