Utopia Avenue: Exclusive Edition
Hardback Published on: 14/07/2020
Price: £20.00
Bookseller Reviews
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A five star David Mitchell treat....
“Utopia Avenue” is one of the most anticipated novels of 2020. Simply it is the story of a four-piece band called Utopia Avenue in the late 1960s.
It foll... READ MORE
Incredible stuff
Another slice of brilliance from Mitchell. I adore all his work but with Utopia Avenue he rediscovers a sense of fun and play derived from his use of late ... READ MORE
Shut Up and Play the Hits
For readers new to David Mitchell, Utopia Avenue arguably rivals Black Swan Green as his most accessible entry to date, sidestepping the global and tempora... READ MORE
The greatest band that never was
'Utopia Avenue' is about the rise of the titular, fictional 1960s band, but more specifically about the lives of the four band members - Dean, Griff, Elf a... READ MORE
WOW WHAT AN ENDING.
For me this is not the usual David Mitchell novel as you have a relatively simple story about a band in the 60's who get together,meet the right people hav... READ MORE
Synopsis
Exclusive Edition contains an exclusive essay by David Mitchell called Dancing About Architecture. A standard edition is available here.
The spectacular new novel from the bestselling author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks, 'one of the most brilliantly inventive writers of this, or any country' (Independent).
Utopia Avenue are the strangest British band you've never heard of. Emerging from London's psychedelic scene in 1967 and fronted by folksinger Elf Holloway, guitar demigod Jasper de Zoet and blues bassist Dean Moss, Utopia Avenue released only two LPs during its brief and blazing journey from the clubs of Soho and draughty ballrooms to Top of the Pops and the cusp of chart success, to glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome and a fateful American fortnight in the autumn of 1968.
David Mitchell's new novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue; of riots in the streets and revolutions in the head; of drugs, thugs, madness, love, sex, death, art; of the families we choose and the ones we don't; of fame's Faustian pact and stardom's wobbly ladder. Can we change the world in turbulent times, or does the world change us? Utopia means 'nowhere' but could a shinier world be within grasp, if only we had a map?
Publisher information
- Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton
- ISBN: 9781529338997
- Number of pages: 576
- Dimensions: 240 x 156 mm
Customer Reviews
View allTurn on, tune in, drop out
If almost any author had written a ‘60s rock band rise and fall novel that ticked off as many ’60’s rock band rise and fall cliches as Utopia Avenue, you’d... READ MORE
Farout Man
Great novels about bands are rare. Of the many that I’ve read, only ‘Espedair Street’ by Iain Banks and ‘The Commitments’ by Roddy Doyle succeed and these... READ MORE
Where passion for music meets exceptional writing
I finished this book, reluctantly, this morning - I say reluctantly because I didn't want it to end. Great writing, in the same way as great music, evokes ... READ MORE
Spectacular
As always, this is spectacular read, the characters and culture portrayed come to life vividly, there are fun nuanced alleyways and homage to hos other wor... READ MORE
Thoroughly enjoyable
Really enjoyed this book, keeps you on your toes with a little of jumping from one character to the next and back and forth in time, but manages to still f... READ MORE
Utopia Avenue
Simply Orgasmic!
Wonderful read
Unexpected but welcome twists lurk around evey corner of this book. Beautifully written and enjoyable to read.
A brilliant, dazzling, compelling read!
If I'm being honest, I thought I would buy this book for my dad for Christmas as he likes this era of music and I'm not really into my music as much as I w... READ MORE
Another excellent dose of David Mitchell magic.
Utopia Avenue is the seventh novel by award-winning British author, David Mitchell. In early 1967, due to a pickpocket, bass guitarist Dean Moss finds hims... READ MORE
Pentangle anyone?
Hmm struggling a bit with this. Although it’s nicely written but really chock full of rock stereotypes. I just kept thinking of the ‘take three girls’ pop ... READ MORE
David Mitchell's Ventriloquist Act
David Mitchell’s novels are justly celebrated for their pyrotechnics in juggling times, worlds and realities. In Utopia Avenue he undertakes a different c... READ MORE
Rock and roll
I really enjoyed this. I am a fan of his work and my favourite of his books was Black Swan Green. Utopia Avenue is in a similar style its the 60s pop scene... READ MORE
Dancing, architecture etc.
I find David Mitchell a slightly frustrating writer, but there is always plenty to enjoy in his books. As I have said before, I find the fantasy elements o... READ MORE
Wonderful
If you like music, the 60's, narrative, characterization, plot, story arcs. Buy this
Brilliant, entertaining and a bit bonkers.
You never know what you're going to get with David Mitchell. This is a fabulous story - engaging and exciting throughout. Especially enjoyable for the - cl... READ MORE
Transports you to the sixties
I love Mitchell’s work and this novel did not disappoint. It transported me to the sixties London my parents lived through, with colourful characters and a... READ MORE
A jumble of 1960's cliches joined by some dialogue.
Sorry, but I put this book down on page 127, leaving 300+ pages unread.
It read like someone had downloaded a million 1960s cliches from the internet and... READ MORE
The best British 60s rock band you've never heard of
Brilliantly written, with brilliant characters and plenty of little (and some not so little) in jokes and references to his previous work, particularly 'Th... READ MORE
David Mitchell fan but this is a dud
I could read a whole book about Jasper de Zoet alone but the rest of the band members just didn't inspire me. It wasn't a chore to read but the storyline w... READ MORE
Frontier breaking, poignant and evocative
A book to treasure. The story of the adventures of a band manufactured to write and perform music in the mid 1960s manages to capture the zeitgeist of the ... READ MORE
Evocative novel set in 1960s - great for the over 60s to relive their youth
Despite the large volume I tore through this novel with so much to recall by way of places and bands of my youth. The throw-away comments such as news pap... READ MORE
60's nostalgia
I loved this, it took me right back to the 60's, when music really did change the world ( or at least we thought it would ). Read this for a nostalgia tri... READ MORE