Eddie and the Cruisers
by P. F. Kluge
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Description
The classic novel that gave rise to a movie franchise. "A warm, entertaining, and highly evocative story of youth, music, and growing up in the 1950s." -The Philadelphia Inquirer Eddie and his Jersey-bred band, The Parkway Cruisers, were going places. With an album and a few minor hits to their credit the future seemed bright until Eddie died in a fiery car crash. Twenty years later a British rock band turns their old songs into monumental fresh hits. With this comes a surge of interest in show more the surviving Cruisers and in a rumored cache of tapes that Eddie made before he died. That's when the killing starts . . . "An excellently crafted book. The dialogue is sharp, the book is packed with exquisite description and a surprise ending." -Sunday Journal and Star "Eddie and the Cruisers seems at first glance to be only a smartly written novel about nostalgia for the music of the late 1950s. It quickly proves, however, to be a remarkably good suspense story, full of vivid characters and some hilarious dialogue." -St. Louis Post-Dispatch "Sparkling dialogue, wonderful characterizations and a plot which dazzles." -Enterprise Sun "[A] good mix of everyday blues with old-time bebop." -Booklist. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
If you think about it, the premise for Eddie and the Cruisers is pretty simple. A year out of college, in 1958, Frank "Wordman" Ridgeway joins the band Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers. Front man Eddie is a charismatic and ambitious singer who knows his music is going to make it big. For awhile Eddie is right. He's got the talent. He's got the looks. He's got the girl. Like all creatives, Eddie's demise comes when he takes his music in another direction and his listeners don't understand; worse, they hate it. Eddie rages into the night and has a horrible accident, ending his life. Back to narrator, Frank Ridgeway. Twenty years later, Frank is an English teacher and has put Eddie and the Cruisers far behind him. That is, until he starts show more hearing Cruisers songs on the radio and he is visited by a reporter wanting to know about recordings that went missing - Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers tape recordings from "that" night. Memories come flooding back and all of a sudden Wordman needs to know what happened to the rest of the band. More importantly, where are those tapes?
While the novel takes a dark and ominous turn towards the end, I enjoyed Frank's naïve narrative. It truly was a coming of age story for the Wordman. show less
While the novel takes a dark and ominous turn towards the end, I enjoyed Frank's naïve narrative. It truly was a coming of age story for the Wordman. show less
Probably like many, I discovered the movie first. Granted, some may think the movie a bit hokey, but being about five when it came out, I found it awesome.
Yes, awesome. The second, however...but that is for another time and place. This is about the book.
The movie did stay true to the book, but there were some significant changes. For instance, we learn more about Eddie's past and even get to see his funeral (there's an interesting bit of his past revealed there, but I shall not spoil it for you).
I found there to be more action than in the movie, especially with Wordman pinned down by gunfire. Gunfire, you say? I did say...
Being a fan of the book and movie, I had to contact Mr. Kluge about his thoughts. He enjoyed the first movie...hated show more the second.
I can see why...let Eddie rest in peace. He's done a lot of good already. show less
Yes, awesome. The second, however...but that is for another time and place. This is about the book.
The movie did stay true to the book, but there were some significant changes. For instance, we learn more about Eddie's past and even get to see his funeral (there's an interesting bit of his past revealed there, but I shall not spoil it for you).
I found there to be more action than in the movie, especially with Wordman pinned down by gunfire. Gunfire, you say? I did say...
Being a fan of the book and movie, I had to contact Mr. Kluge about his thoughts. He enjoyed the first movie...hated show more the second.
I can see why...let Eddie rest in peace. He's done a lot of good already. show less
Good read, good movie.
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Author Information
12+ Works 513 Members
Some Editions
Work Relationships
Has the adaptation
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 1980
- Important places
- Lakehurst, New Jersey, USA; Kenyon College; Melbourne, Florida, USA; Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA; Newark, New Jersey, USA; Vineland, New Jersey, USA
- Related movies
- Eddie and the Cruisers (1983 | IMDb)
- Epigraph
- "There's not a breathing of the common wind / That will forget thee..."
-Wordsworth, "To Toussaint L'Ouverture" - Dedication
- To Pamela Hollie
and in memory of Denham Sutcliffe - First words
- Writers and would-be writers - I put myself in the second group - are always carrying on about how they need an ideal place to work: a lighthouse, a forester's cottage, a garret or gatehouse.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Seems like a lifetime."
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 69
- Popularity
- 452,451
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.53)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 1
