I have not read this book yet. I will soon though.

I found this really hard to get into, definitely not the easy chick lit read I was expecting. There were funny parts, but the overall picture was generally dark and almost depressing. ( )

Tried to read this three times and couldnt get past the first few pages. ( )

I received this book through LT's ER, it wasn't a book that i normally would have chosen at the library or book store, but i found it to be rather engaging. "Broad Street" was a fairly quick read, the story line kept me interested enough to want to keep reading. Overall, I would reccomend this book to a friend. ( )

give me $500,000 (half a million) and i will give you a great indie film based on this book. it was a lot of fun to read (quick as well) and as someone who is in the film and music industry...and was in the thick of it all in the early 90's....i had a blast. there were some parts of the book that had my laughing so hard i was crying...this book is totally worth the read....and if hollywood is smart they will option this book and do it as a super low budget film with a hot soundtack!!! ( )

Kit is a medical proofreader by day, rocker by night. The characters and the Philadelphia rock scene are interesting and strongly drawn. Endless divey clubs, beers and cigarettes (and some drugs) made me want to take a shower. ( )

EARLY REVIEWER!

As someone who spent most of the 90's in a Philadelphia suburb, I really wanted to love this book. I didn't love it, but I liked it. I felt it was a pretty realistic portrayal of life in the early to mid-nineties, though I did find myself occasionally thinking things like, "Would she have really been able to afford to have a DVD player then?" Or," why would the "poor" girl have a cell phone?" Though dates are never officially mentioned, the fact that Kurt Cobain's suicide occurs at the end of the book (I promise that's not a spoiler) places the book squarely in the fall of 1993 through the spring of 1994. Such anachronisms can be forgiven though as the rest of the book puts you squarely during the time of early grunge and pop punk.

There were times when Broad Street felt like any other "chick lit" (of course the heroine's day job is in the publishing industry, I can't think of many in the genre who aren't) but then a scene shows up that veers you right out of the genre. (Other than good old Bridget Jones, I can't think of another chick lit heroine who does mushrooms.) Of course Kit, our narrator, makes the requisite horrendous choices (I mean really horrendous!) when it comes to men, work and life. What's beautiful is that everything isn't tied up in a little bow at the end. Certainly Kit grows and comes to know herself better, but like life, there's always more to learn.

That's the story itself, a few quick notes in regard to the copy. This was not an uncorrected proof as far as I could see. Nowhere were those words printed on the cover and the ISBN and bar code were clearly visible on the back, so the number of typos and grammatical errors was inexcusable (the author used to be a proofreader for goodness sake!) and the prose felt clumpy and stunted at times. However, this was the first time out for both the author and publisher. I'm hoping that this will be the first of more to come from this promising writer. ( )

"Sex and drugs and rock 'n roll.." is all a girl needs (although not necessarily in that order); according to Kit and Margo the spunky heroines of this book. All of these elements are included so gentler readers beware. Broad Street is not a romance novel nor chick lit. It is the rough around the edges tale of two girls who meet and bond over martinis; deciding that the guys in their lives could use some competition in the soon to be a rock star department. The girls more than deliver after some amusing fumbling as they learn their way around their instruments and search for the elusive drummer.
Despite the fact most struggling musicians will never make it like these girls do; this book is a charming story that interjects realistic missteps on the path to fabulousness. I am in solid like (although not love) with this novel. As the girlfriend of a drummer who had his own band I can truly appreciate the realism of their struggles and cheer them on (I have no musical talent and am the tone deaf winner of a "worst singer" in karaoke award so I would never attempt my own band personally). Recommended for any rock n' roll chicks, those seeking a trip back down memory lane to the turbulent and creatively rich 90s or anyone in search of a light & light-hearted read.
If you enjoyed this book you may also like Girl by Blake Nelson- another look at a girl in the 90s Seattle music scene (worthy of a read for the cow print dresses alone) or Don't Sleep with your drummer by Jen Sincero another story of a girl trying to rock her own band. ( )

“Broad Street” by Christine Weiser was very fun and entertaining to read. The story is told by Kit, who forms a band with Margo after the two women meet and share their frustration about their (current and former) boyfriends. Together, they learn how to navigate the club scene in Philadelphia. While the characters’ lives are completely foreign from my own, it is a well told story that is quick and easy to read. It was fun to spend time with Kit and Margo; I will be on the lookout for any future books by Ms. Weiser. ( )

Thank you PS for the autographed copy. I thought this was a fantastic first novel for Christine Weiser. Throughout the book, I kept thinking --- girl power! The characters' bad judgements made them more believable. I came away with two messages - yes, it's ok to mess up sometimes, so long as you realize you did, and if you truly want something, you have to believe in yourself. I enjoyed Kit and Margo's adventures, as individuals and as a team. The male-bashing is balanced with some nice dudes. Worth a read. ( )

Broad Street by Christine Weiser is not a great book, but it is fun, a good book for a lazy weekend afternoon. Although billed as “chick lit”, it had a harder edge than most books in that genre. That disappointed me at first; I thought I was settling down with a cup of hot chocolate to read about true love and thwarted romance. Instead, I should have popped open a beer to be in the right frame of mind for this world of sex clubs, drugs, and one-night stands.

The protagonist is Kit, a very fun character. She constantly makes bad decisions, but what is a girl to do when she is attracted to sleazy men that won’t treat her with respect? She starts a band (Broad Street) to recover from a recent break-up. Her goal is to become just successful enough to make her rocker ex-boyfriend jealous, but of course the band becomes important to Kit’s own quest for identify and self-fulfillment instead. The development of the band drives the story, but it is Kit’s relationship with her fellow rocker Margot, the disappointing men in her life, and her complicated relationship with her family that make the story interesting. ( )

Although I enjoyed this book, I gave it three stars because it does not seem like the author knew how to end the book. I was left with a feeling that I was given a delicious meal but not enough to fill my appetite. The book was a fast read and it was very fun to read about the rock and roll lifestyle of the 90's which is the time period this book was set in.

I would most likely not recommend this book to my friends as this is not the type of literature they are usually interested in. But for those who like rock and roll, this would be a good book for them. And I especially think this book would be good for those who were in the music scene in the early 90's or have an appreciation for grunge. ( )

After breaking up with her longtime musician boyfriend, Kit goes to a party and meets Margo who dates a musician. For fun the girls decide to start a band even though neither is a musician. The characters are entertaining and make frequent poor choices about men and booze. The girls learn a lot about the music business, take advantage of the ex's contacts, and experience more success than the boys did. ( )

I was contacted by Clea Mahoney who works for Philadelphia Stories, a small non-profit arts & literature publication. They recently started a book publishing division and Broad Street is their first released novel. She asked if I'd read and review Broad Street for my blog and I'm so glad I did because I really enjoyed it.

The novel follows Kit and Margo as they decide on one very drunken night to form a band in order to get back at the men in their lives who are both in bands themselves. What follows is an absolutely crazy ride full of seedy bars, bikers, wild parties, trying to secure gigs and most of all trying to get themselves a decent drummer while trying to succeed in a male dominated business back in the mid-90's.

The author really draws us into the lives of these girls especially Kit's and it turns out that Kit was my favorite character in spite of some of the things she did which horrified me. At the start of the novel Kit has just broken up with her boyfriend Dale and is feeling more than a little lost. She ends up going to the party where she meets Margo and she's feeling out of place with all these people who knew her when she was a couple so she resorts to more than a few drinks which ends in her drunken agreement to form a band. They start practicing together and get some gigs and begin meeting a lot of people. Kit somehow ends up drifting off in the wrong direction in terms of alcohol, drugs and sex though and she makes a lot of really unwise decisions. At the same time you ask yourself is this part of the whole scene or is it just Kit trying to find out who she really is and where she belongs? What I liked best was as the story progresses we can see Kit changing and realizing just how much she really does have to offer to herself, her family and the world around her.

I really enjoyed the book and read it in a couple of sitttings. I was hooked from the first page and interested to find out how things would end for Kit. For those who find the rock scene with alcohol, drugs and sex offensive then you may not like the book but this book holds so much more than that in terms of strong women and finding yourself in a sometimes mixed up world. Anyone interested in forming a band or is part of one would definitely enjoy it. For me it was a fun and fast read.

The author, Christine Weiser is part of her own band, Mae Pang, which she coincidentally formed with a friend of hers and they too had a hard time securing a drummer.

http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspo... ( )

As I may have mentioned before, I'm not a fan of chicklit, but, having read and enjoyed Broad Street, that may change.

For a debut novel, Ms. Weiser's Broad Street is very readable, with good character development and characters for whom I came to care a great deal, an interesting and in-parts quite amusing story, and a writing style that was at times almost elegant. It could have used one more go-through by a copy editor, but otherwise was tightly written but for one minor yet puzzling glitch early on that threw me right out of the story until I decided to ignore it and went on reading. Also, I thought that the very last paragraph (prior to the Epilogue) kind of fizzled (though I won't say more about either because I don't want my review to contain any spoilers).

Other than that, I found a lot to like in the story of Kit Greene, heartbroken and filled with self-loathing after her long-time philandering boyfriend dumps her for another woman. It isn't a spoiler to say that the ex, Dale, a singer in a rock band, is a pretty sleazy character from whom she is well parted, though she isn't quite ready to realize that yet. At a party to which a well-meaning friend persuades her to go, she meets the beautiful Margo, whose current boyfriend Pete is also a singer in a rock band, as well as being about as irritatingly immature and sleazy as Dale. Kit and Margo get drunk together while engaging in a sad bit of male-bashing, and make a pact to start an all-girls rock band of their own, though neither of them are musicians.

What happens in the following months might seem predictable, but it's still fun to follow Kit, who turns out not to be as helpless and self-pitying as she seemed, as she and Margo form their band, scrape together money to hire a place where they can practice, and then find gigs. It would have been particularly fun if I either lived in or came from Philly, where all the action takes place. In fact, I've never been to Philadelphia before, but, after Broad Street, I almost feel as if I know the city.

I won't go further so as not to spoil this for anyone who hasn't read it yet, but I will say that it's well worth the time it took to read, and I will be be looking for more by Christine Weiser in the future. Oh, yeah, and I'll be loaning my copy to my 25-year old daughter who currently lives in NYC and is in theater. She has done some work in Philly and told me she really liked the city, so I think she'll enjoy Broad Street a lot. ( )