THE 2021 FATES ON FIRE BOOK AWARDS!

Welcome to the 2021 Fates On Fire Book Awards! With nearly 200 entries, the competition was fierce and the 3rd annual award ceremony is going to be riveting. So grab your date, make your way down the red carpet, and take your seats – it’s showtime!

WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE AWARDS AND WHY SHOULD I CARE?

If you happen to read a lot, then you know that the Booker Prize is essentially the Oscars for books. This is my version of that. Like the Booker, each category receives a “short list” comprised of 6 books, with 1 being the winner. Unlike the Booker, but like the Oscars, I divide the awards into separate categories. The bottom line is that whatever kind of reading you may be into, I hope there are a few books you may want to check out!

CAVEATS & CONDITIONS

There are a couple of caveats and conditions for the awards which are:

• All 192 books I’ve read since the last awards are eligible candidates (with the exception of any re-reads).
• Eligible books can have been published any time in human history, so long as I read them since the 2020 awards.

THE CATEGORIES

1. GENERAL FICTION – This category includes any and all types of fiction. From popular, mass appeal to more peculiar and independent books, they are all here.
2. NON-FICTION – No qualifiers needed. Just non-fiction.
3. NON-FICTION: MUSIC – With 37 music-oriented auto/biography entries in 2021, this genre has its continues to have it’s own category for the 2nd year.
4. GRAPHIC NOVELS – Amazing writing with amazing art – that’s what’s in this category.

GENERAL FICTION

CATEGORY WINNER – THE STARLESS SEA BY ERIN MORGENSTERN

Without question, one of the most dazzling and intriguing books I’ve read in a long time. “The Starless Sea” is a love letter to storytelling, true readers, fables and language itself. While admittedly abstract, the entwined tales told herein are simultaneously foreboding, whimsical, beautiful. In addition, Morgenstern’s style is gorgeous in a strangely compelling way – both mesmeric and sumptuous. The spellbinding use of language here is something to simply luxuriate in and transports the reader to a hypnotic dream-like, yet very beautiful place. Magical, moving and immersive.

THE SHORT LIST – GENERAL FICTION

DIE YOUNG WITH ME BY ROB RUFUS. Punk’s not dead in West Virginia! A fictionalized version of a true-story, Rob Rufus shares his equally tragic and inspiring account of a scrappy punk rocker who is diagnosed with with cancer after his band finally begins to flourish and dreams of rock stardom are in sight. It’s a phenomenal tale of the power of music to comfort, heal, and overcome life’s colossal obstacles. Even in it’s darkest moments, the story’s undercurrent remains rousing and full of positive energy.

WE LIVE IN WATER BY JESS WALTER. Spokane hometown-hero, Jess Walter presents his first collection of short stories. Utterly engaging, these edgy, comic tales feature a host of Lilac City’s down-and-out, desperate denizens. Told with compassion, the stories have a very distinct Bukowski-esque feel about them. Particularly as Walter’s relationship to Spokane is virtually identical to that of Bukowski’s with L.A. in that they both hated the city in which they live so much, they, ultimately, fell in love with it. The stories are exceptionally well crafted, with “Wheelbarrow Kings” being my favorite. In fact, I’d argue Walter is a more adept short fictionist than novelist.

BURNING CHROME BY WILLIAM GIBSON. Renown author and inventor of the “cyberpunk” genre, William Gibson collects 10 amazing tales from his fascinating and engaging “World of the Sprawl.” For those familiar with his seminal novel, “Neuromancer,” there are a number of parallel themes: dystopia, cyberspace, technofetishism, “console cowboys” and scrappy industrial espionage hustlers. Standouts here are “Johnny Mnemonic” and “Burning Chrome.” All told, this collection of stories is an excellent introduction to Gibson’s writing.

THE NIGHT CIRCUS BY ERIN MORGENSTERN. “The Circus arrived without warning. No announcement precede it. It is simply there when yesterday it was not.” Much like “The Starless Sea,” this book is similarly atmospheric, lyrical and intricate. And equally mesmerizing. With a story more centered on a thing (a circus) and a dark, slow-building plot replete with colorful characters and a decades-long challenge between magicians, it also serves as wonderful showcase for Morgenstern’s facility for employing language in a highly unique and wondrous way.

MR. PENUMBRA’S 24-HOUR BOOKSTORE BY ROBIN SLOAN. A fun, lighthearted read, Sloan’s debut novel has a dash of just about all the right ingredients: humor, mystery, adventure. Oh, and magic bookstores, of course. When an unemployed marketeer becomes a night clerk at a strange bookstore where no one buys books, but rather check out large, obtuse tomes, he ultimately discovers the secret’s of the store extend far beyond its walls. A marvelous and whimsical read.

NON-FICTION

CATEGORY WINNER – I WANT MY MTV: THE UNCENSORED STORY OF THE MUSIC VIDEO REVOLUTION BY RON TANNENBAUM & CRAIG MARKS

Remember when all you wanted was your MTV? Telling the amazing story of the ideation and first ten “golden” years of the radical ‘music as television’ channel, “I Want My MTV” is an astonishing, utterly captivating history of the bizarre cable station that began with airing videos from obscure British new wave bands to becoming a global tastemaker and massive business that forever transformed our culture. Using an oral history format, the book boasts over 400 interviews from executives, artists, directors, VJs, and is both an engrossing read and one of the most entertaining, informative books about a business. That said, it’s still sad MTV went from the sublime “Girls on Film” to the lamentable “Jersey Shore” in the span of a lifetime.

THE SHORT LIST – NON-FICTION

SHIT, ACTUALLY: THE DEFINITEIVE, 100% OBJECTIVE GUIDE TO MODERN CINEMA BY LINDY WEST. The staggeringly hilarious feminist, New York Times opinion writer, and former cinema critic for Seattle’s “The Stranger,” re-examines now iconic films from, mostly, the 90s with a critical cultural lens to expose much of the patent awfulness and preposterous nature that seemingly was missed way back when. I was rolling through many of these, but her excoriations of films like “Top Gun,” Reality Bites,” and best of all, “American Pie” had me howling.

NEVER SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE: NEGOTIATING AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDED ON IT BY CHRIS VOSS. Written by former chief hostage negotiator for the FBI, “Never Split the Difference” is, easily, the most practical and effective “how to” book I’ve ever read. Voss provides readers with the fundamental psychological theory of negotiation and, more importantly, superlative strategies and tactics for any and all negotiations, irrespective of what the stakes may be. Moreover, he covers the details on common transactions such as buying a home and car, negotiating a salary, re-negotiating an existing deal and deliberating with your partner. Life is a series of negotiations, so read this book and make yours immediately better.

PUNK ELEGIES: TRUE TALES OF DEATH TRIP KIDS, WRONGFUL SEX & TRIAL BY ANGEL DUST BY ALLAN MACDONELL. Of course, everyone knows Allan MacDonell as the 20-year editor of Hustler magazine (as documented in his excellent memoir, “Prisoner of X”), but it turns out he came of age in the burgeoning L.A. punk scene. Set along Hollywood Boulevard at the birth and death of punk in the late 70s, this is book is a delirious cocktail of self-immolation, harrowing scenes of intravenous drug abuse (that put even William Burroughs to shame), a loving homage to L.A.’s punk era, and ultimately, personal revelation. While the content is stark, MacDonells’s majestic, poetic writing style keeps things soaring above the abyss.

BULLSHIT JOBS: A THEORY BY DAVID GRAEBER. A professor of Anthropology at the London School of Economics (and an admitted anarchist), Graeber (RIP) exposes the harsh reality that the majority of jobs are pointless, meaningless, unfulfilling and make zero contribution to the world. And, sadly he’s spot on. Both insightful, funny, and uncomfortable for those like me, who clearly realized my entire career was effectively BS. Yours, likely, is too. The end gets a bit wily when he interjects his untenable, anarchy-infused ‘solutions.’ to things, but if you work in an office or are in a managerial position of any type, this is a must read. (And, unlike the next entry, has one of the best covers of all-time).

BOSSYPANTS BY TINA FEY. I can’t say that I’ve ever been a massive fan of Tina Fey, but I enjoyed seeing her perform at The Second City and her Sarah Palin impersonation is just amaze-balls, so I decided to give this a go. Overall, it was a really fun read and while I knew her work at SNL, I wasn’t aware that she is the genesis of 30 Rock and Mean Girls (neither of which I’ve seen). A good balance of history, anecdotes, and witticisms resulted in a many laughs. Sadly, I have to confess that the cover is among the worst I’ve ever seen, but don’t let those fat, hairy forearms deter you from checking this out.

MUSIC NON-FICTION

CATEGORY WINNER – NUTHIN’ BUT A GOOD TIME: THE UNCENSORED HISTORY OF THE 80S HARD ROCK EXPLOSION BY TOM BEAUJOUR & RICHARD BIENSTOCK

If you even remotely like 80s metal or hard rock, this is the book for you. Meticulously curated and executed, this is certainly the definitive tome on “Hair Metal,” with voices from nearly every player in the scene imaginable. Even those, with only a cursory interest will find this book absolutely engaging. True tales of sex, drugs and rock ‘n roll told by those who lived it! This book also served as the inspiration for my silly Project 66.6 on the Sunset Strip sonic endeavor. It don’t get better than this!

THE SHORT LIST – MUSIC NON-FICTION

ADVENTURES OF A METALHEAD LIBRARIAN BY ANNA-MARIE O’BRIEN. Unfortunately, the female voice and perspective are errantly lacking in the annals of hard rock and heavy metal, which is why Anna-Marie O’Brien’s memoir is so refreshing. Essentially, a coming of age tale, the book shares her account of moving from a small rural town to Hollywood amid the wild times of 80s metal and the Sunset Strip scene. O’Brien was never a groupie or hanger-on, but an actual music industry executive and shares a legitimate insider’s perspective on that time and place. Moreover, the larger themes of following your heart, passions and dreams are particularly endearing and inspirational. Bonus points that she’s now a librarian!

RAISING HELL: BACKSTAGE TALES FROM THE LIVES OF METAL LEGENDS BY JON WIEDERHORN. I just realized that there’s a shit-ton of metal in this category this year! In any event, “Raising Hell,” like the category winner, “Nuthin But A Good TIme,” is yet another exceptional oral history, albeit from more ‘credible’ metal musicians. Somewhat of a sister to Weiderhorn’s seminal “Louder Than Hell,” this volume focuses less on historical documentation and more on the wild and, oft-times, insane exploits and general mayhem of metal legends. An absolutely killer, unflinching and sometimes hilarious peek behind the curtain. Some truly great stories here.

PERFECT FROM NOW ON: HOW INDIE ROCK SAVED MY LIFE BY JOHN SELLERS. An interesting read by an author I was completely unfamiliar with. Sellers comes across as a bit of a poor-man’s Chuck Klosterman or Rob Gordon, the snarky protagonist from Nick Hornby’s, “High Fidelity,” but I found the initial pages of the book to be highly relatable and funny. And since I’m an alternative music trivia nerd, I could relate to the many lists and discussion about bands like Joy Division and the Smiths. The later part of the book is an over-the-top jerk-fest to Guided by Voices, a band I think suck pretty hard, but, overall, this was a fun indie romp.

NOBODY EVER ASKED ME ABOUT THE GIRLS: WOMEN, MUSIC AND FAME BY LISA ROBINSON. Robinson, a 40-year music journalist and veteran of Vanity Fair, The New York Times, and The New Musical Express, provides an insightful look at successful females in the music business from the 60s to present day and discusses their unique challenges in a male-dominated industry. There is a bit of personal subjectivity and bias that shows through (she despises Madonna & Taylor Swift for example). Nevertheless, this topic-organized book was an interesting read, highlighting some exceptional interviews with female artists I respect and admire.

THE COMPLETE DAVID BOWIE BY NICHOLAS PEGG. Nicholas Pegg’s astounding 800-page book provides an exhaustive, exceedingly well researched history, critical analysis, and anecdotes for every single album, song, live performance, video, movie, play, art exhibit, published writing, and interactive endeavor by the legendary David Bowie. The ultimate Bowie Bible and was a fundamental resource for my A Lad Insane Project. Admittedly, not for everyone, but a must for any self-respecting Bowie fan.

GRAPHIC NOVEL

CATEGORY WINNER – HYPERBOLE AND A HALF: UNFORTUNATE SITUATIONS, FLAWED COPING MECHANISMS AND OTHER THINGS THAT HAPPENED BY ALLIE BROSH

Allie Brosh, of the wildly popular blog, “Hyperbole and a Half,” presents us with her debut print offering. Brosh is simply magnificent at taking difficult, dicey topics such as depression, mental illness, grief, shame and self-loathing and presenting them in an extraordinarily irresistible, absurdly humorous way by the use of simplistic, yet highly effective, drawings. Her incisive wit, charm, and vulnerability will make to cry until you laugh out loud. Hands down, one of the funniest books I’ve ever read.

THE SHORT LIST – GRAPHIC NOVEL

SAGA BY BRIAN VAUGHN & FIONA STAPLES. An epic, profoundly grandiose tale of star-crossed lovers and their family attempting to make their way after bringing a forbidden, fragile life into a dangerous universe. Vaughn does a glorious job at interweaving science fiction, high fantasy, subversion, drama and sexuality into a brilliantly executed and immediately gripping storyline. It’s positively magnificent and is only eclipsed by Gaiman’s “Sandman” as the best graphic novel series I’ve ever had the privilege to read.

SCOTT PILGRIM VOL. 1. BY BRYAN LEE O’MALLEY. I won’t lie, just like Sandman & Transmetropolitan, I was a late-comer to Scott Pilgrim. And, as with those, I feel bad I waited as long as I did. What’s not to love about an early 20s unemployed slacker musician in mad pursuit of an uber-fashionable, rollerblading vixen by the name of Romona Flowers? Particularly when he must battle her ‘Seven Evil Exes” to secure her love. Great feel with a cool, fun video-game vibe. If you enjoyed the film adaptation, you will adore the book!

SEEK YOU: A JOURNEY THROUGH AMERICAN LONELINESS BY KRISTEN RADKE. A truly entrancing examination into the idea of loneliness and isolation on both individual and societal levels with a particular focus the juxtaposition of our inner lives and our public selves. Radke cleverly integrates personal narrative, psychology and historic fact, including the invention of the laugh track, the awful studies by Henry Harlow and the rise of social media. It’s a curious, sometimes sad read, but will certainly cause the introspective-minded to ponder their own ideas and feelings about loneliness.

SOLUTIONS AND OTHER PROBLEMS BY ALLIE BROSH. Brosh is back with an equally quirky, stellar follow-up to category winner, “Hyperbole and a Half.” Leveraging her razor wit, Brosh adroitly uses her personal struggles and alienation to highlight the best and worst of humanity, all the while nimbly balancing between sorrow and levity. She is a beautiful, one-of-a-kind magician who has a distinctive, inimitable ability to transform heartbreak into hilarity. Truly genius!

THE SANDMAN: DREAM HUNTERS BY NEIL GAIMAN & P. CRAIG RUSSELL. An absolutely bewitching illustrated version of Gaiman’s short story which is, itself, a prose retelling of a beautiful, yet tragically romantic Japanese fairy tale. Russell’s artwork is simply stunning and the exploration of the nature of love and the sanctity of life in the narrative will assuredly make your heart burst with melancholy and joy.

THAT’S A WRAP!

That’s a wrap and I hope you enjoyed the ceremony! Please join me in one last toast to celebrate all of our 2021 category winners and short list finalists.

I also hope you found a book or two that piqued your interest to read yourself or that would make a nice holiday gift for someone (or you). Now, I’m off for a few photo ops before hitting the after party! Until next year, darlings. In the meantime, keep reading!

THE DAY AFTER: DUDE, WHERE’S MY BOOK?

Oh wow, that was a lot of great reads, red carpet, and bubbly! Great times as always. I’m curious, which of the 24 books that won awards are you inclined to read? Leave me a comment. I’d love to know.