I just finished Marc Spitz's rock and roll novel "Too Much Too Late." Despite the promising circa-1979 cover art, it's about a fictional band called the Jane Ashers (don't ask) from the 1990's that implodes before success and then reunites again 13 years later as a bunch of middle-age misfits. And then they implode once again.
Spitz's background as a rock writer at SPIN magazine serves him well and he captures the excitement and chaos of rock and roll. However, the story itself feels too convuluted and as its spread out over so many years, it doesn't have the intensity that it should. Imagine if in the middle of watching The Commitments it paused for a ten year hiatus. As a result you never really get any deep understanding of the characters. He throws in some cliche's about drugs, missing fathers and lust for a teenage blogger, but it doesn't make up for the overall story. Might make a good movie if they tightened it up.
- Amazon: Too Much Too Late
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