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Say Goodbye: The Laurie Moss Story
"I first heard Laurie Moss on Stanford's KZSU in early August of 1995. I was driving into San Francisco on the Junipero Serra and "Neither Are We," with its jazzy-but-distorted chords and Laurie's hurt and weary vocals, simply blindsided me. I turned up the radio and tried to fix the details of the song in my mind, afraid the DJ wouldn't back-announce and this music would pass out of my life without my ever knowing what it was."
Laurie Moss seemed to come out of nowhere, but behind those songs, behind that powerful voice, lies a history. This extraordinary book takes you from her Texas roots to her first recording contract, from her struggling days in L. A. to her final tour---and beyond. It's also the story of her relationship with the legendary guitarist Skip Shaw, whose passion for self-destruction illuminated her career like a bonfire.
Lewis Shiner writes about the music scene with unequalled passion and firsthand knowledge. Critic Charles Shaar Murray hailed his Glimpses as "a superb contemporary novel, and a groundbreaking work of creative rock criticism" and BAM raved "a music lover couldn't find a better read."
The battlefield for Say Goodbye may be the music industry, but the novel's themes are success and failure, love and loss, obsession and forgiveness. This book is Shiner's most profound and moving work yet, a deep and heartfelt novel peopled with characters you will never forget.
Laurie Moss seemed to come out of nowhere, but behind those songs, behind that powerful voice, lies a history. This extraordinary book takes you from her Texas roots to her first recording contract, from her struggling days in L. A. to her final tour---and beyond. It's also the story of her relationship with the legendary guitarist Skip Shaw, whose passion for self-destruction illuminated her career like a bonfire.
Lewis Shiner writes about the music scene with unequalled passion and firsthand knowledge. Critic Charles Shaar Murray hailed his Glimpses as "a superb contemporary novel, and a groundbreaking work of creative rock criticism" and BAM raved "a music lover couldn't find a better read."
The battlefield for Say Goodbye may be the music industry, but the novel's themes are success and failure, love and loss, obsession and forgiveness. This book is Shiner's most profound and moving work yet, a deep and heartfelt novel peopled with characters you will never forget.
256 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 8, 2014
Like many others, I once imagined a world where I was a famous rock star. In high school I wrote songs at the permanently out-of-tune upright piano and Casio keyboard my parents had purchased for me. I even joined a band for a brief shining moment (one 'gig' only). But most of my music career was in my imagination, which I indulged by crafting an entire persona complete with transparent pseudonym (Gil Chase), a wish-fulfillment history and albums complete with titles, tracklists and lyrics. At one point in college, I attempted to turn it all into a short story.
I am not unusual in this, as the allure of fictional rock bands has nearly become a sub-genre in fiction, including books such as Iain Banks's Espedair Street, George R.R. Martin's The Armageddon Rag, and Roddy Doyle's The Commitments and movies such as Alan Parker's adaptation of Doyle's novel and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Although the real stories of rock bands have plenty of drama, an entirely fictitious creation allows the author to emphasize a particular theme that history might obscure.
Such is the case with Lewis Shiner's Say Goodbye, a meticuously crafted fiction about a female rocker in the mold of Sheryl Crow or Edie Brickell. Shiner, who had previously shown a deep understanding and connection to the music world in his award-winning previous novel, Glimpses, creates his star, Laurie Moss, out of his own small-town Texas experiences and dreams while also distancing himself from the subject by a gender-switch thinly veiled stand-in jounalist narrator. The supporting band cast are convincingly individuals and not just foils to Laurie.
While the main plot centers on Laurie's LA musical experience, from opening act in small bars and waitressing in coffee shops through a finished debut album and first tour, it is the framing tale of the narrator's search for the woman behind that song he heard on the radio that has a kind of revealing pathos for those of us for whom music is life-affecting. The book has two climaxes--one for Laurie and one for the narrator--both of which are not exactly the neat little endings of dreams but the bittersweet half-conclusions of life.
Reading Shiner's in-progress auto-biographical essay at his website fleshes in some of the details of the lives of all his characters. While not necessary to enjoy the novel, the essay provides a rare glimpse behind the art, like knowing that Sting was a high school teacher before becoming the leader of the Police and singing about a "young teacher the subject / of schoolgirl fantasy." Like much of the best art, Say Goodbye comes from Shiner's real experiences, filtered into order and meaning from which the reader can obtain much more than a simple story or song. This is the kind of book that makes you as interested in the person behind it (hence my visit to his web site and his essay), although at the same time it warns you about creating false pictures of that person based on your own hopes and dreams.
I feel the need to throw in a final comment as a disclaimer: I know Lew Shiner, having spent time discussing writing with him both as a student and a peer, as well as drinking a beer or two with him. Even though I haven't talked to him in years, I count him as an acquaintance and quite possibly a friend. I do not feel this colours my impression of this book, although it might be why I found the things not written as interesting as the things present in the text.
I am not unusual in this, as the allure of fictional rock bands has nearly become a sub-genre in fiction, including books such as Iain Banks's Espedair Street, George R.R. Martin's The Armageddon Rag, and Roddy Doyle's The Commitments and movies such as Alan Parker's adaptation of Doyle's novel and Cameron Crowe's Almost Famous. Although the real stories of rock bands have plenty of drama, an entirely fictitious creation allows the author to emphasize a particular theme that history might obscure.
Such is the case with Lewis Shiner's Say Goodbye, a meticuously crafted fiction about a female rocker in the mold of Sheryl Crow or Edie Brickell. Shiner, who had previously shown a deep understanding and connection to the music world in his award-winning previous novel, Glimpses, creates his star, Laurie Moss, out of his own small-town Texas experiences and dreams while also distancing himself from the subject by a gender-switch thinly veiled stand-in jounalist narrator. The supporting band cast are convincingly individuals and not just foils to Laurie.
While the main plot centers on Laurie's LA musical experience, from opening act in small bars and waitressing in coffee shops through a finished debut album and first tour, it is the framing tale of the narrator's search for the woman behind that song he heard on the radio that has a kind of revealing pathos for those of us for whom music is life-affecting. The book has two climaxes--one for Laurie and one for the narrator--both of which are not exactly the neat little endings of dreams but the bittersweet half-conclusions of life.
Reading Shiner's in-progress auto-biographical essay at his website fleshes in some of the details of the lives of all his characters. While not necessary to enjoy the novel, the essay provides a rare glimpse behind the art, like knowing that Sting was a high school teacher before becoming the leader of the Police and singing about a "young teacher the subject / of schoolgirl fantasy." Like much of the best art, Say Goodbye comes from Shiner's real experiences, filtered into order and meaning from which the reader can obtain much more than a simple story or song. This is the kind of book that makes you as interested in the person behind it (hence my visit to his web site and his essay), although at the same time it warns you about creating false pictures of that person based on your own hopes and dreams.
I feel the need to throw in a final comment as a disclaimer: I know Lew Shiner, having spent time discussing writing with him both as a student and a peer, as well as drinking a beer or two with him. Even though I haven't talked to him in years, I count him as an acquaintance and quite possibly a friend. I do not feel this colours my impression of this book, although it might be why I found the things not written as interesting as the things present in the text.
August 31, 2024
Solid, and I enjoyed the meta-author angle, but I felt like it ended right when it was getting warmed up...
January 16, 2009
There are few novels, and few novelists who can write a Rock ‘n’ Roll novel that has a real love of the subject and insight into the personalities attracted to Rock ‘n’ Roll. There have been a few pretenders like Elmore Leonard in Stay Cool, but he was already middle aged when Elvis broke onto the scene. But Lewis Shiner grew up a child of Rock ‘n’ Roll immersed in the culture and his writing shows a genuine love of the music and an understanding of the characters attracted to Rock ‘n’ Roll from the stars to the bouncers at the clubs.
Say Goodbye is the fictional biography of Laurie Moss a singer/songwriter who put out one album and disappeared. Say Goodbye is one of those tricky stories that gives you the ending first. You have to work your way back to the climatic moment like the movies Sunset Boulevard or Citizen Kane. We follow a rock reporter as he tracks Laurie’s career and tries to piece it together and make sense of it. From her humble beginnings singing at a coffee house open mic night, making a demo tape, putting together a band to hooking up with legendary guitarist Skip Shaw who gives the band the heat that sets fire to Laurie’s lyrics. They get a record deal and a low key tour where the band play to a full house or seven people, or a club where the owners try to stiff the band, it’s the kind of tour that pushes and pulls a band to their boundaries. An annealing process that either fuses the band together or it implodes under the gravity.
Lewis Shiner is one of the most underrated writers, Laurie Moss’ story could be his. His novels have a subtle elegance. You’re drawn by the story. The diversion of a few hours of reading but then you realize more is going on in the story, you see subtexts just under the surface like a Nirvana song of verse chorus verse, raw but beautiful. He’s a writer you should be looking to discover. He has a new book out www.lewisshiner.com.
Say Goodbye is the fictional biography of Laurie Moss a singer/songwriter who put out one album and disappeared. Say Goodbye is one of those tricky stories that gives you the ending first. You have to work your way back to the climatic moment like the movies Sunset Boulevard or Citizen Kane. We follow a rock reporter as he tracks Laurie’s career and tries to piece it together and make sense of it. From her humble beginnings singing at a coffee house open mic night, making a demo tape, putting together a band to hooking up with legendary guitarist Skip Shaw who gives the band the heat that sets fire to Laurie’s lyrics. They get a record deal and a low key tour where the band play to a full house or seven people, or a club where the owners try to stiff the band, it’s the kind of tour that pushes and pulls a band to their boundaries. An annealing process that either fuses the band together or it implodes under the gravity.
Lewis Shiner is one of the most underrated writers, Laurie Moss’ story could be his. His novels have a subtle elegance. You’re drawn by the story. The diversion of a few hours of reading but then you realize more is going on in the story, you see subtexts just under the surface like a Nirvana song of verse chorus verse, raw but beautiful. He’s a writer you should be looking to discover. He has a new book out www.lewisshiner.com.
February 12, 2014
Surprised at how much I actually liked this book! It could have easily turned out schmaltzy but instead walked the line of endearing. The style was good, the characters believable and the writing engaging. It was very much watching a realistic Behind the Music unfold. Although somethings in the book were clearly dated, it was still an enjoyable read. I found myself wanting to check Spotify for albums by Laurie Moss or Skip Shaw!
October 30, 2014
An excellent look at what fame, and the proximity of fame does to people. The format of the book itself plays into the obsessiveness that surrounds the pursuit of fame and the famous. And Shiner is able to convey the realities of music making with an authenticity I've seen in few writers (I'm a musician myself).
October 6, 2015
Took me a bit to get into this book, but once I did I enjoyed it. It's a good look into the behind-the-scenes of a young singer trying to find her fame and fortune. Laurie's character was engaging and while I didn't like Skip Shaw, he was interesting enough and was a good foil for Laurie. Nice read all the way around.
November 27, 2007
I loved Glimpses in high school, and I was eager to read another book in which Shiner suffused his fiction with rock & roll. This is well written, but I was a little disappointed. I think it was a little too LA, and a little too all-or-nothing for me. Maybe I took it personally?
November 19, 2008
Story of a musician who almost made it. Shiner gets in their heads, much as he did with "real" rock stars in Glimpses. The subject pushes my buttons, so he gets a head start, but still, it's well done.
September 14, 2012
Shiner delivers a fantastic story, that is so well written, that it is believable as an actual memoir. He is able to capture the essence of what it is like to be a professional musician and the world that surrounds them. As a musician myself, I found that much of what he wrote hits home.
August 12, 2007
It's out of print, but can still be bought at amazon.com.
I could write a review on it, but I'm drained.
I could write a review on it, but I'm drained.
July 17, 2012
The only better fictional oral biography I can think of is Rant. Shiner should be way more popular than what he is, as I've said before.
October 24, 2014
I saw it had great reviews but I just had a hard time getting into it.
October 29, 2010
The audiobook of this is amazing!
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews