Out of What Chaos

by Lee Oser

Set on the West Coast during Bush II's first term, Out of What Chaos showcases the escapades of Rex and The Brains as they settle into the Portland rock scene, record their first CD, and tour from Vancouver to LA behind their chart-topping single, "F U. I Just Want To Get My Rocks Off." The boys party on, finding their way amidst the frenzied panorama of twenty-first century America. The country embraces them in all its crazy glory, from witches to priests, from groupies to politicians, from drug dealers to porno stars to college professors. As the band's fame grows, tragedy strikes, and Freddie finds himself torn between his rock-and-roll lifestyle and his girlfriend, Sheila Corcoran, whose claim on his heart continues to grow. In the end, the worlds of love and celebrity collide, and Freddie must make a decision about how to live. "This book is more or less what one would expect if Walker Percy wrote about a cynical rock musician who converts to Catholicism, and then Nabokov added some of his verbal pyrotechnics, and then Buster Keaton and the Marquis de Sade and Lionel Trilling inserted a few extra passages. It is a loving and yet appalled description of the underground music scene in the Pacific Northwest. And it is a convincing representation of someone very, very smart." -Matt Greenfield, The Valve, www.thevalve.org "In smart, wiry prose, Lee Oser has created a witty Bildungsroman set in the world of rockers in the Northwest. In a world where the "choices" offered are life-denying or trivial, Oser negotiates a set of alternatives for his characters-and his readers." -James Najarian, Boston College. "Well-versed in the lifestyle, Lee Oser has crafted a hedonistically spiritual rock 'n' roll morality play; one filled with characters culled from his own musical experience. Freddie Fontane is the new Holden Caulfield for the wi-fi generation-registering his every thought and impression upon the quickly turned page. In a world of transient American Idols, in relentless pursuit of their Warholian fifteen minutes, Freddie Fontane is the unfailing pragmatist, searching for truth in a world of pretense and artifice." -S. P. Clarke, Two Louies magazine.

144 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2007

About the author

Lee Oser (born in 1958 in New York City) is a Roman Catholic novelist and literary critic. He was educated at Reed College and Yale University, where he received his PhD in English in 1995. He teaches Religion and Literature at the College of the Holy Cross, in Worcester, Massachusetts.

Reviews

[Amy Kathleen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two brothers struggle with the success of their Portland rock band in this delightful and sometimes profound story of life, love, and family. Highly recommended!