Beneath the layers of references and unconventional structures lie lucid narratives. His sentences can be lyrical, but his prose is propulsive. His eight novels are experimental but approachable. ''s work has been compared to that of Haruki Murakami, Thomas Pynchon and Anthony Burgess. Can we really change the world, or does the world change us? Emerging from London's psychedelic scene in 1967, and fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss and guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet, Utopia Avenue embarked on a meteoric journey from the seedy clubs of Soho, a TV debut on Top of the Pops, the cusp of chart success, glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American sojourn in the Chelsea Hotel, Laurel Canyon, and San Francisco during the autumn of '68.ĭavid Mitchell's kaleidoscopic novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue's turbulent life and times of fame's Faustian pact and stardom's wobbly ladder of the families we choose and the ones we don't of voices in the head, and the truths and lies they whisper of music, madness, and idealism. Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you've never heard of.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post - NPR - USA Today - The Guardian - The Independent - Kirkus Reviews - Men's Health - PopMatters Making your way through this novel feels like riding a high-end convertible down Hollywood Boulevard.'- Slate Mitchell's prose is suppler and richer than ever. New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice - 'Mitchell's rich imaginative stews bubble with history and drama, and this time the flavor is a blend of Carnaby Street and Chateau Marmont.'- The Washington Post This review is available to non-members for a limited time.Description NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - The long-awaited new novel from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks. I was truly saddened on reaching the novel's conclusion, knowing that I'd never again encounter these new friends.

I can honestly say I can't remember another book where I so completely fell in love with the characters, even though each is flawed (some more than others) and at times behaves unwisely. The core of the novel is the characters as they grow and change, each learning about who they are and what they want out of life. Everything you'd expect to encounter in a book about the 1960s is present – the drugs, parties, sex, anti-war riots, elevation of rock stars to near godlike status – and yet it's so skillfully portrayed that the setting feels entirely fresh, if not revelatory. Its time period seems a little too recent to label it 'historical fiction,' but it has all the hallmarks of a truly outstanding historical fiction novel nonetheless. Utopia Avenue defies easy categorization.

Utopia avenue by david mitchell