I am not a fan of this book. It was very monotonous. As a former music industry employee, I typically adore light, frothy music biz tales, such as Mark Haskell Smith's 'Salty' or 'Dedication' by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus, but 'Rock Bottom' was just not my cup of tea. I'm sure some folks will like it, but I just found it to be very dragged out. ( )

I snagged this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviews Program, but my copy never did arrive in the mail. I borrowed it from my local library to review instead, and it was worth the extra effort.

Shilling is a snarky, black-humored sort of author. While I love that style of writing, I found it awfully hard to become involved in this book. I think my biggest hurdle was the narrative structure. I wasn't exactly unhappy to be reading this structure – Shilling's five different points of view were ably separate and generally all kept in hand – but I quickly became frustrated at having to switch to a different narrator just when I would have gotten comfortable with the story and rhythm of the first one. By the time I'd reached the middle of the novel, the narrative switching seemed as if it smoothed out a bit… but whether that was because I'd become more comfortable at reading the juggled narratives or because Shilling's written style had evened out a bit I would have preferred it had happened far earlier in the novel.

I didn't feel Rock Bottom had really hit its stride until near the end, when Shilling picked up the habit of switching his narrators around a single scene. I liked reading the different perspectives rotating around a single action, and the narrative flow by this point was very, very smooth with never any of the he said/she said at all.

My library copy of the book included an awesome interview with Shilling that only highlighted his snarky humor, and while Rock Bottom isn't ever going to be a favorite of mine, I'd love to read more of Shilling's books. His next is apparently to be set in the Victorian time. Will this mean Victorian black humor? Ooooo. ( )

This book is simply fantastic. The members of Blood Orphans, a disgraced heavy metal band, each have their own bitterness and and misfortunes that they are forced to deal with on this last day of their tour. Bobby, the bass player with the diseased hands, spends his day fighting off his feelings of inferiority and struggles to believe in the affections of a beautiful Dutch girl. Adam, the insanely talented guitar player, finds himself believing in a future without Blood Orphans. Shane, the evangelist singer, spends his day covered in rancid peanut butter, struggling with the dying embers of his once white-hot faith. But it is Darlo, the sex-addicted drummer, who goes through one of the biggest transformations. While the other band members think of him only with hostility, he reveals a troubled, pained soul while dashing through the streets with Joey, the band’s drug-addicted manager. Darlo’s life changes with one phone call from the family lawyer, and he is forced to face the demons of his past.

Each chapter is told from the point of view of one of the characters, which give readers a glimpse into the extreme mental and emotional anguish and journey of each band member. By the end of the book, the band has morphed into something completely different…but I will leave it to future readers to discover what that is! I would recommend this book to any fan of rock-and-roll, or to anyone who has watched and loved This is Spinal Tap. ( )

This book got a fair bit of hype when it first came out, but it seems like nothing has really come of that. I was stoked to win this from Early Reviewers, but I just couldn't seem to get into it. The writing was fine; the story was fine; but nothing was terribly compelling. I'm adding this one to the pile of abandoned books, at least for now.

Interesting, but ultimately a bit overdone. I didn't find myself caring for the characters much in any way with the viewpoint constantly changing. I didn't get a good idea of who they really were. For someone very interested in the music business and especially the sordid lives of rock and roll performers, it might be a good read, but since I don't so much fall into that category and there wasn't much literary substance of value, it wasn't my cup of tea. ( )