Barry Wightman
Barry Wightman spent thirty years in high-tech and decades chasing the it of rock ‘n’ roll. His novel Pepperland, unsurprisingly, is about the birth of the Internet, radical politics and the magic of music — a revolutionary love story. It’ll be published in some traditional and/or electrickal method someday soon. He blogs and tweets about books, culture and music and, decades ago, thankfully came to terms with the realization that he would never be Keith Richards. He is Fiction Editor of Hunger Mountain, a Journal of the Arts, a member of the National Book Critics Circle, a contributing essayist for WUWM Milwaukee Public Radio, is a professional voiceover talent (he loves to read his stuff in public) and he leads a workingrock ‘n roll band. You should know that it’s a safe bet that when his writing isn’t happening, he picks up his guitar and plays. He received his MFA from the Vermont College of Fine Arts.
21 entries by Barry Wightman
Liarmouth…A Feel-Bad Romance: A Novel
By John Waters
A filth elder explores love. Pearl-clutchers, you’ve been warned.
Mr. Know-It-All
By John Waters
The low-brow director's highly entertaining life story.
Mr. Know-It-All: The Tarnished Wisdom of a Filth Elder
By John Waters
The low-brow director's highly entertaining life story.
Slowhand: The Life and Music of Eric Clapton
By Philip Norman
This biography of the guitar god falls far short of Heaven.
Waiting for the Punch: Words to Live by from the WTF Podcast
By Marc Maron and Brendan McDonald
This compilation of interviews highlights (for better or worse) the comedian-host’s scruffy style.
The Greenfather: A Novel
By John Marshall
Fast-paced zingers aside, this Whole-Foods-meets-the-Mob sendup mostly falls flat.
The Innocent Have Nothing to Fear: A Novel
By Stuart Stevens
This over-the-top novel feels much less so during the Trump era.
So, Anyway…
By John Cleese
This surprisingly reserved memoir is heavy on nostalgia, light on Python slapstick.
Angry Optimist: The Life and Times of Jon Stewart
By Lisa Rogak
A cultural icon’s unauthorized biography lacks the zip its subject possesses in abundance.
Wonderland: A Novel
By Stacey D’Erasmo
An aging rock ‘n’ roll diva struggles to make a comeback.
The Guts
Roddy Doyle
A rock ‘n’ roll soul wrestles with middle age and mortality.
Actors Anonymous
By James Franco
An ambitious but flawed narrative hiding behind the transparent scrim of a fictional curtain.
Juicy stories for those who remember music videos by those who introduced them on MTV.
Mania
Ronald K.L. Collins and David M. Skover
In their chronicle of the Beat masters, the authors stamp their narrative with a compelling you-were-there novelistic style.
