Chin Music

by James McManus

Signed & inscribed by James McManus on the front "For Rob & Mary Brook- Thank you for all your help... Hope you like it. All Best, Jim". Spine slightly cocked, otherwise this book is clean and bright, with no creases, no tears, and no markings. Light wear to the dustjacket's edges and corners, with a little interior moisture damage, otherwise it's also in excellent condition, no tears or creases.

Genres: Fiction

199 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

James "Jim" McManus is an American poker player, teacher and writer living in Kenilworth, Illinois.

Reviews

[P]

Grabbed it off a used bookstore shelf cause I liked the synopsis. It's basically Miracle Mile. In fact its almost exactly Miracle Mile, less the hollywood McGuffin of a potential escape from armageddon. It's so close that I checked the dates and was blown away this came out first, and had a hot second of thinking 'I can't believe this guy didn't sue and make millions', then wikipedia explained Miracle Mile was in development hell for a decade and two years before this book came out made a list of the best unmade screenplays, so...

Parallel thinking is always an option, I guess, not like nuclear annihiation wasn't on every Boomer's mind in the 80s, after they unanimously elected Reagan to annihilate the world.

Anyway, I had the dude's number about 50 pages in. Subtle but not so subtle you miss it references to Gravity's Rainbow? Check. Extremely disorienting surreal sections that read like someone trying their hand at Albion Moonlight? Check. Out of control horniness/misogyny? Check. Constant references to obscure punk bands real (Throbbing Gristle) and possibly fictional (Nile Mansions, Zwangcocks) or at least so obscure no trace of them remains online, that in a 1980s world without the internet or even MTV are basically totally inacessible/checkable to all readers but the hippest urban 20 year olds?

Sounds like we have a late 20s MFA hipster Bro's thesis project, check the author's Bio and it came out early 30s, a few years after his MFA. Unless he wrote this in a Stephen King weekend coke binge and there was a bidding war immeditately after he submitted for publication, got his ass.

I wouldn't say it's *bad*? Like Stephen King it at least reads very quick.

As an aside, I will say it is funny how entirely deficient a Boomer's leaded brain is. Almost every work of art that deals with nuclear armageddon or even social disruption from the 70s-90s assumes total (and instant!) vicious anarchy where everyone is out to spend their last moments on earth looting and killing/raping total strangers. What makes the protagonists unique and interesting is they have the moral character to want to spend it with family.

Crazy that this is the generation that went so absolutely bugfuck in their 20s/30s that the crime wave they were responsible for is still the justification for the fascist police state we have now. I had reason to google this back in the day and the NYC murder rate was down, this is no exaggeration, 99% in the mid 2010's from the mid 70s.
And you still get boomers/Xers talking shit about how dangerous the cities are, notwithstanding the person telling them 'I lived there for a decade, at least two decades AFTER you last visited for maybe a weekend vacation, and I'm telling you your friends on Fox and Friends are telling you bullshit'.

[Jon]

stream of consciousness style set in Chicago - emotionally impactful

[Jeff]

Moments of brilliance, and an inspired premise. Unfortunately interspersed with some very dated and tiresome misogyny.

[Stacey]

HA! This author WAS my literature teacher at The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.