Book description
Peter's mum and dad are worried. Over the last twelve months they've
noticed ferocious changes taking place in their son. It's not just the
mumbling and the cloud of melancholy that seems to hover permanently
over his ever-more-militant mop of curly hair. It's not even the
oversized trousers or the numerous metal chains that hang off them.
The problem is that Peter, who is fourteen, wants to be a musician - a
rock star preferably, but anything else that involves a guitar, gets
him bags of money and free CDs, and gives him access to unlimited
scantily clad groupies will suffice (as long as it's not classical).
Uncoincidentally, ever since the advent of this new ambition, Peter's
grades at school have plummeted from very good to somewhere below
mediocre. What is to be done?
In the spirit of intellectual enquiry, Peter and music-critic, Tom
Cox, set off in a Ford Focus on a journey to the dark heart of
Britain's musical heritage, to get the inside track on whether being a
musician really is a sensible career choice for a teenager. They hunt
the streets of Cambridge for former Pink Floyd frontman Syd Barrett
and have numerous encounters with folkies in tights. They explore the
wilder shores of prog rock and get up close and personal in a lift
with Brian Wilson. Tom gives a masterclass in second-hand-record-shop
etiquette and finds that Peter is something of a child prodigy. Most
of all, they drive around, talk about stuff and Peter eats crisps.
Part coming-of-age story and part urban travelogue, this brilliantly
funny book is a must for anyone who has ever been baffled by a teenage boy.
Tom Cox's writing has appeared in the Daily Telegraph, Sunday Times,
Observer, Mail on Sunday, Jack magazine, The Times and the Guardian, for
which paper he was Pop Critic between 1999 and 2000. He is the author of
two books: Nice Jumper, which was shortlisted for the 2002 National
Sporting Club Best Newcomer Award, and Educating Peter. He was born in
1975 and lives with his wife in Norfolk.
