No Alternative

by William Dickerson

NO ALTERNATIVE is a coming-of-age drama that drills a hole into the world of suburban American teenagers in the early 90's.

Thomas Harrison is determined to start his own alternative band, an obsession that blinds him to what's either the mental collapse, or the eruption of musical genius, of his little sister, Bridget. Bridget boldly rejects her brother's music, and the music of an entire generation of slackers, by taking on the persona of an X-rated gangsta' rapper named "Bri Da B."

NO ALTERNATIVE probes the lives of rebellious kids who transition into adulthood via the distortion pedals of their lives in an era when the "Sex, Drugs & Rock'n'Roll" ethos was amended to include "Suicide" in its phrase.

***

William Dickerson sets into motion a series of relationships against the backdrop of the suicide of Kurt Cobain, recreational drugs, keg parties in fields, Jesuit high schools, the Baby Boomers who gave birth to the children drinking from kegs in fields, killing commies with laser beams, depression, and the rise of anti-depressants to combat the depression, the New York State Judicial System, Melanin Theory, corporate behemoths from Seattle, the next Nirvana, the emergence of Biggie Smalls in White America, headshrinkers, smoking cigarettes, Converse sneakers (the Jack Purcell's, not the All-Stars), sibling rivalry, parental expectations, Catholicism, and the felony theft of something that was to never be.

And let's not forget:

Garage Bands; the real thing, not the software,
Gangsta' Rap,
Grunge,
and
Generation X.

Genres: Young Adult, Music, Fiction, Ebooks

341 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 5, 2012

About the author

William Dickerson is an award-winning filmmaker, author, musician, and professor. His debut feature film "Detour," which he wrote and directed, was hailed as an "Underground Hit" by The Village Voice, an "emotional and psychological roller-coaster ride" by The Examiner, and nothing short of "authentic" by The New York Times.

His first book, "No Alternative," was declared, "a sympathetic coming-of-age story deeply embedded in '90s music" by Kirkus Reviews. His book on filmmaking, "DETOUR: Hollywood - How To Direct a Microbudget Film (or any film, for that matter)," was called "candidly practical, thoroughly 'user friendly', and an essential instruction guide - especially for independent filmmakers working on shoestring budgets" by Midwest Book Review. William is a graduate of the American Film Institute Conservatory, served on their Alumni Executive Board, and was selected by The White House and AFI to serve as mentor to winners of the White House Student Film Festival under two Presidents of the United States.

His writing has been published by Indiewire, MovieMaker Magazine, Filmmaker Magazine, The Hollywood Reporter's The Wrap, Script Magazine, Talkhouse, and Save The Cat! He adapted and directed the film version of "No Alternative," which was released worldwide. The film stars Kathryn Erbe and Harry Hamlin and was selected as Dances With Films' "Opening Night Feature." The Los Angeles Times called the movie "a remarkably assured and deeply felt grunge-era coming-of-age picture," and Film Threat said it was "a rare indie gem that delivers solidly on all fronts with no missteps."

The movie, which was inspired by Dickerson's band from the 90s, won "Best Soundtrack" at the Paris Art and Movie Awards. His band, Saturday Saints (formerly Latterday Saints), is highlighted on the soundtrack alongside such musical luminaries as: Mudhoney, Lisa Loeb, Superdrag, Moby, sElf, Failure, Sebadoh, and others. The soundtrack was chosen as one of the official releases by Record Store Day 2019. Saturday Saints are signed to Rhyme & Reason Records on which they released their debut album entitled "Anhedonia."

William is also an experienced educator, having taught masters seminars and lectured on the subject of filmmaking at schools such as The American Film Institute, Boston University, Emerson College, California State University Los Angeles, and New York Film Academy. He is currently a faculty member at Hofstra University’s Lawrence Herbert School of Communication and AMDA College and Conservatory of the Performing Arts in New York City.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has been a pain in my ass to review. I've been trying to write it every Sunday night for the past month. I've written tons and tons of shit, most of it stuff I just don't feel like sharing.

I'm starting over from scratch.

No Alternative, is the name of the book. It's also the name of a Patti Smith produced benefit compilation from I think 1993. It was a good compilation of Alternative bands at the time and it had some interesting other-versions of tracks by some of the artists. I normally liked compilation CD's as much as I like anthologies of short stores, but this one I actually remember liking. No Alternative also sums up the sort of suburban rebellion that 'grunge' and punk represent. It's just another fucking conformity, but one which likes to think of itself as different. After the Grunge look was featured in an almost how-to-be-alternative article in the Sunday New York Times in late January 1992, I think it's safe to say that flannels, beat up sneakers and a slacker attitude was just another uniform.

No Alternative might also be the name for the feeling that your into this semi-ridculous nonsense, which you realize but you also know it's very important to you and that you don't think there is any other way you could be.

I don't think that most of the characters, at least the grunge ones, fit into this category though. For as much as the book is a celebration of the grunge-era, it also sounds like an indictment of the conformity that lies under the rebellion. I'm not sure if this is intentional or if it is just my own views sneaking in.

The book opens on October 14th, 1994(Some unnecessary nonsense about myself: The day this novel starts I can remember my friend Erin and I wandered around campus drinking Jagermeister mixed with ginger ale from soda bottles while some kind of Homecoming / Alumni nonsense was going on around campus. We were a delightful blend of a depression playing off of each other. I remember that night we were happy though. She was a Vermont hippie who would deny being a hippie, I was a depressed ball of angst. One of our friends, who might have been wandering around with us was a neurotic gothy-girl and a really nice but scary looking guy who was a Satanist. Kurt Cobain was dead for six months, and I can't imagine that I would have thought of Nirvana once that day.

For some reason, this day was a good one. I don't remember many good days for the rest of this semester, at least not any that involved other people. Real life people I should say. This was the first time in my life that I discovered the internet (I'm not sure if I knew it as that then though) and discovered that if I couldn't find people in the 'real-world' that I had anything in common with, I could find them online. I spent many hours interacting with people on a punk mailing list and emailing with people I 'met' through there. A whole new world opened for me (Christ, I just realized that I've been on the internet for almost eighteen years now).

Sometime in the days/weeks that surround this day I would do the following. Start a zine. Get really fucking depressed. Decide to drop out of college.

That's what I was doing around the time this novel takes place.
. Six months after Kurt was found with his brain forcibly dislodged from his cranium. The main character has just gotten through some suburban freak version of Kaddish, and is now ready to follow his dreams, start a grunge band, make a name for himself, be a rock-star, be the new Kurt (or technically Dave Grohl, since he's a drummer).

I probably would have laughed at the kids in this book to my friends if I had come across them at the time. The words poseurs might have passed through my head. I would have seen them as a threat, as the type of people coming to colonize and co-op something I loved. Or maybe I would have just thought them weird to be so obsessed with something so 1992 in 1994. At that age those two years were like a lifetime. Or maybe I would have found them to be better than the people who genuflected at the altar of Eddie Vedder or who listened to the Smashing Pumpkins all the time. I really didn't like those people at that point in my life.

The way that I would have seen these kids as being slightly misguided (not that I would have put it in those nice terms back then) is I think appropriate for the book. This book is about sort of stupid suburban kids, and I don't mean that derogatory, most kids are stupid. It's part of being young. This is a book about some bad decisions, about caring about maybe the wrong things too much, about trying and failing and trying again to find your own voice in the world. Contrasted to the grunge kids is the main character's sister, a psychologically disturbed preppy who spends her time listening to Gangsta rap and ends up fashioning an ironically racist persona as a pimp-cum-MC. She's ridiculous but she serves as a counter to the safe-rebellion of being a suburban punk (or grunge) kid. She's the voice letting people know that they might think they are bucking conventions but they are just a bunch of clones, just like the popular kids they claim to be different from. I don't think that her persona was something that should be applauded, and she's sort of like what ridiculous hipsters would be doing about a decade later, but she was still a great character in the book and the voice telling the rebels that rebellion doesn't come pre-packaged for ready consumption. Out of the all the characters in the book, she's probably the most punk-rock. She's the one acting from her inner desires, trying to capture what she really loves without any concern if anyone likes or even gives a fuck about what she is doing. Compared to her, her brother with his perfectly sloppy clothes and Chuck Taylor's with their startegic worn hole and concerns about making music that people will want to buy is just another safe suburban product.

I'm sounding really critical. I wouldn't have liked these 'grunge' kids. I probably would have found his sister to be very amusing. Probably in the same way that for a few months in early 1993 I had been very amused by Beck.

Even if I'm critical of the motives of these kids and their dreams of stardom, the book itself I thought captured some of the wonderful stupidity of being young at that time. I mean that in the best possible manner. I enjoyed large parts of this book immensely.

But then something happened. If you read the introduction of the book you already know it's coming. It wasn't that I had a problem with the big moment in the book when it happens, but the utter pointlessness of the act left me slightly disturbed. Part of me was thinking what a stupid fucking thing to do over such trivial incidents. Part of me understood perfectly why it happened though. Real spoiler: Part of what I didn't like about the whole suicide thing in the book is the way it was presented in the introduction, I should go back and read the passage, but it felt to me like an apology for suicide, giving the action more nobility than it deserves in the context. It's never a selfless act, or never in this sort of instance. It's the most selfish thing imaginable. Maybe I misread though, maybe I got the wrong impression

I feel like I owe the author of this book a better review than I've been able to come up with. I'm glad that he asked me to read his book, and I found it to be something I enjoyed. I'm not sure if I just really liked it for the same reason that I liked something like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, because I felt like it nicely a time growing up and general feeling that felt like was permeating everything around me. I can't quite separate writing about the book from infusing my own opinions about the time, and dwelling on what my own life was like at the time, and thinking about some of these things is unbearable at the moment.

[Lanie Malone · Rating 5 out of 5]

From the first sentence, to the very last, this book pulled at a part of me that has long been buried and forgotten. It is an incredibly powerful narrative on teen suicide in the 90’s, a time when suicide was reaching nearly epidemic proportions for Generation X. I don’t know if anyone my age, anywhere in the country, made it out of high school without knowing at least one person (however loose the association may have been) who committed suicide. Personally, at 32 years old, I have still attended more funerals for suicides than all other causes of death combined. Some of them were mere acquaintances, some of them were so much more, and the impact their deaths had on me is something that I still carry with me today, for better or for worse.

If you’re looking for a sweet, fluffy, wholesome read…look elsewhere.
This is book is deep.

On to the more technical type stuff:

Characters: I have to say that Jeremy, was hands down my favorite, despite his seemingly small role. His part near the end is, absolutely, the most critical for the future. I know I’m being cryptic, but if you read the book you’ll understand. I refuse to give anything away though.

I loved Bridget as well. She is incredibly bold in her craziness, but then I don’t think that she really is crazy, not in a clinical sense. To me, she is just misunderstood.

Thomas, I don’t even know what to say about, really. The way his thought processes are written, they feel so authentic and so real. It was like taking a walk inside the mind of a teenage boy…as scary as that sounds.

Jackie, while not the most likeable chick in the world is also a very believable character. I felt that her motivations were very realistic. We often wonder why a character does whatever it is that they do, but in this case, the reasoning behind her behavior makes perfect sense in the way that only the teenage brain can make something so stupid make sense. Did that make sense? Again, I know I’m being very vague, but I really hate throwing out spoilers.

Plot: No Alternative has an excellent plot that reads very much like your average teenage drama, but with the wisdom, humor, and insight that can only be achieved by someone with greater analytical prowess than my own. Jackie isn’t the only character whose motivations are clear and genuine, everything and everyone in the book behaves pretty much the way you would expect from a teen, but unlike when we were actually in that age range, we get to see WHY they act that way. Being able to, not only see, but recreate those behaviors in such an authentic fashion is brilliant. It is like a behind the scenes look at the inner working of the teenage psyche.

About halfway through this book I realized something; I enjoyed the writing style so much, that I really didn’t care how it was going to end. The end could have been horrible, and I would have still felt the book was worth reading. It is gritty. It is real. It is horribly depressing, and yet oddly uplifting, in its accurate depiction of life.

There was only one thing that left me really at a loss; the suicide. But then I suppose that question is all part of the point. Whenever anyone commits suicide, the first question is always, “why?” There is never a clear answer, and after reading this I can only come to the same conclusion that I came to in high school; you’ll never know why. The person committing suicide probably couldn’t give you a clearly defined answer themselves. It is easy to sit on the sidelines, look at your accumulated knowledge of a person and their life and say, “But he had so much going for him, why would he throw it all away?” It is impossible to ‘put yourself in someone’s shoes’ to the point where you could ever really understand what would motivate them to take their own life. To quote directly from the book, “At the most basic level, I think the real answer to the question was ejected from my brain the second I put a hole through it.”

Some things are simply beyond words, and beyond understanding.

[Andrew · Rating 1 out of 5]

In an article Stewart wrote for his college music zine, The Note, he didn’t quite suggest that Cobain was a surrealist, but he did imply that his mere existence, and its place in history, may in fact be surreal. His music brought rock and roll back from the dead. Literally. Rock and roll up until that point was dominated by schlocky, vampiric hair-bands, who for all intents and purposes, resembled the featured extras in a homoerotic remake of Night of the Living Dead. Zombies in tight sparkle pants. And mullets galore.

Cobain made rock real again. He made it tangible. Ironically, he made it just tangible enough to be manufactured in factories worldwide. Stewart theorized that Cobain threw his life away to escape the version of himself that was being packaged and sold for $19.99 in Wal-Mart. Fast-food psychoanalysis, possibly, but a valid point. He did become a pop icon, the voice of a generation, and in the eyes of corporate America, an indispensible cash cow. He wore a ‘Corporate Magazines Suck’ T-shirt on the cover of a corporate magazine, but it was still him wearing that shirt—on that corporate magazine. Until he could eliminate himself from the commercialism that was attached to his hip, it would never be anything more than commercialism. Ergo, the shotgun blast to the head—

By killing himself, he killed corporate America, if only his version of it.

***

Thomas Harrison and his younger sister Bridget are long-suffering teenagers trapped in the hell that was 1994. Long-suffering kids who’ve yet to experience the world, but are already sick of it; they’re tired of corporate greed; of being a half-assed imitation of something instead of simply being one’s self, no matter how tragic or pathetic that self might be; of creative oppression (despite seemingly getting away with everything). The two protagonists of William Dickerson’s debut novel, No Alternative, are endemic of a neither here nor there rage that populated the lost cross section between Generation X and Generation Y—rage rooted in the frustration noted by Tyler Durden in the novel and film Fight Club: they are the middle children of history, with no great wars or oppressors to confront but their own extreme personal and social dissatisfaction.

The novel opens six months after Kurt Cobain’s suicide. Thomas is a believer—someone who looks to Cobain and his influence, what he stood for and what he fought to represent. His sister, Bridget, is bi-polar, prone to random acts of violence (sometimes verbal, sometimes physical), and sees Cobain’s legacy in a way that diverges from her brother’s; though she’s younger, she seems to understand both the positive aspects to Cobain’s influence, and where he fell short—most notable in how he chose to exit this world. Thomas starts a band with several close friends, doing their grunge-worthy damnedest to live up to the legend and all its perceived ideals; Bridget, meanwhile, dons a gangsta rap persona, Bri-Da-B, and starts performing at open mic nights, keyboard (and inexplicably charming racism) in tow.

Much of one’s enjoyment of No Alternative will stem from one’s allegiance to the message and the music of the time. I was in eighth grade when Cobain put the double barrels of a shotgun in his mouth and pulled the trigger. Neither before, nor after, could I ever comprehend the frustration and anger inherent with Nirvana’s music. To this day I respect their influence, and their place in music history, but at no point have I ever been so miserable or disaffected with life to feel a kinship with that particular style. And I was a pretty fucking depressed teenager, let me tell you… When separated from the music and their desire to express their innermost selves, Thomas and Bridget’s journeys are decidedly light on experiences: a bit of underage sex, a few emotional dust-ups, and some parental run-ins account for the bulk of this title’s conflict and narrative beats. In spite of this, No Alternative is not light on content. In fact, this is one of its key problems.

Narratively speaking, No Alternative is a bit of a lumbering beast. Dickerson’s tone and pacing are undone by a propensity to over-embellish, often to damaging degrees. Whether it is the introduction of Thomas and Bridget’s hot-under-the-collar Supreme Court Justice father, a diversion about ceramic cookware, dissections of the fitting problems surrounding Converse Chuck Taylors, or telling us of the artistic life Maureen gave up so that she wouldn’t be forced to compete with her daughter, the novel dumps an unfortunately large amount of information onto the reader, telling us in plain, overbearing language what it has failed to show—a cardinal sin if there ever was one. Often this information does little except to hammer home the fact that, hey, this book takes place in 1994. There’s little authorial confidence in this title. It’s as if Dickerson didn’t have faith in the readers to simply understand or research possible cultural touchstones on their own merits; instead he introduces each of these elements with an anthropological stance, explaining in too much detail the meaning or purpose behind this or that which was critical at the time. Instead of giving the book a convincing 1994 flavour, it pulls the reader out of the scene, often crashing the narrative’s momentum into a brick wall. In instances like this, and others when the book takes unconventional leaps into the future (such as explaining how Dana Plato would die, and then ten years after her son would follow), it feels a little like Dickerson’s aiming for the multi-personality structure of Jennifer Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad, but doesn’t go far enough to give the anthropological asides their due in this regard. And as previously mentioned, they stick out. If there is one narrative lesson to take from this book, it is the age-old show, don’t tell.

There are several other problems with the novel—most of them relatively minor. It’s a self-published work, which carries with it certain drawbacks that are feeling more and more common in self-published works, which are unfortunately saddling the sub-genre (if it can be called such a thing) with possibly unfair expectations. The spelling is pretty on point, but there are frequent problems with grammar—extra spaces at the beginning of each sentence, missing hyphens and inconsistencies with naming conventions. In fact, naming rule of thumb: don’t underline book, film, or album titles. In fact, don’t underline, period. Books, albums, television shows, movies, and video games: italicize. Chapters within books, articles within magazines, songs on albums, or episodes of television shows: place inside quotation marks. Additionally there’s the odd fact-checking error (there are nine circles of hell in Dante’s Inferno, not seven). But the big thing, the thing that really annoyed me and is an absolute no-no of layout and design, is the frequent problems in hyphenation across two lines or over two pages. Often the hyphen is not at a syllable break, and therefore is a constant trip-up. Worse, however, is the frequency at which single-syllable words are hyphenated across lines and pages. This is absolutely an error and very much affected both my basic reading of the book as well as my enjoyment. It’s the most glaring visual problem with the book, and it is frequent enough that it highlights the fact that this is a self-published title.

The most unforgivable issues, however, are of personal taste and have to do with tone and trickery. Beware, spoilers from this point through to the end of the review.

First, the case of language:

“I know something you can do with those fingers.”

She looks at him reassuringly, then whispers into his ear—

“Rape me.”

She pushes his hand down into her crotch.

“I give you permission.”

Thomas, pulling his hand back, like his elbow is spring-loaded. “Jackie, you can stop coming on so strong. I know you’re not really like this.”

Until this point, Thomas has been presented as having a chip on his shoulder, but still relatively normal—as normal as bitter, grunge-addicted teenagers in 1994 could be. But what she says… the moment she tells him to rape her, that she gives him permission, and he DOESN’T flip his shit and step back, flabbergasted that she’d be absurd enough to say it like that, that he isn’t completely turned off by that, killed his character for me. And that they’re all over one another on the very next page only nailed the lid on his coffin that much tighter.

And then we have the Alex/Jackie affair:

Then, in a strikingly bold maneuver for a girl of such delicate age and pedigree, she takes the remainder of his beer and pours it onto her exposed vagina. She douses herself, marinating her labia with every fermented nuance of the microbrew. Alex’s salivary glands rev into overdrive, enough that he spits a loogie into a puddle of piss that has formed on the floor before diving to his knees and plunging his face into her pungent crotch.

The tone of this encounter, and indeed of all sexual encounters in this book, is overwritten and unnecessarily vulgar. There’s a degree of unbelievable gratuity written into the sexual encounters in this novel that feels forced through an unrealistic lens. Maybe I’ve just led that sheltered a life, but these scenes did nothing for me. Similar to the overwritten accounts of the details and things inherent to the time frame of the novel, these only served to pull me out of the moment, not draw me further in.

And lastly, there is the twist—both in terms of plot and in terms of unmasking the narrator. In short, this was unearned. Without giving everything away, there was not, for me, believable emotional groundwork to make me believe Thomas would do what he did. It felt random and mostly without reason. The few details that had been given to that point—problems with friends, with direction in life, with… well, genital warts—did not warrant or lead to me being anything less than furious at the outcome. Not because I had grown attached to the character or his arc, but because it felt like a betrayal of whatever strength of character he’d shown to that point. And the reveal of the narrator (which had, until that point, not been at all clear—to the point where the breaking of the fourth wall at times throughout the story felt like a mistake or a gratuity that broke form) in the aftermath of the event made me feel as if I’d been tricked, and not in a way that made sense.

Bridget is, without question, the heart, soul, and primary interest of No Alternative. Her character—her arc, her creative exploration—is what grounds the narrative in any way. Without her, it would fall apart entirely. Though the grunge era has a great deal of anger and self-destruction to mine for future narratives, Dickerson’s novel is startlingly light on depth, focusing more on explaining the minutia of the there and then instead of searching the fragile depths of Thomas’s innermost feelings and potentially scarred rationality. Had Thomas and his parents been explored to the same degree as Bridget, with less care paid to hammering home the specifics of the time and the politics behind the grunge movement and what had gotten lost in the space between Lennon and Cobain’s deaths, the novel might have achieved a greater understanding of the period in time it wishes to pay tribute to.

It’s clear that Dickerson has a deep-seated love for the 1990s and the upheavals of the day—emotional, political, and social. The novel, however, could use another pass or two to better enunciate why.

[Anderson O'Donnell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stunning “must-read,” Dickerson’s NO ALTERNATIVE captures—brilliantly—what it meant to be a teenager at the end of the American Century. Dickerson uses the music and culture of the early 90s to explore some of the most delicate aspects of the human experience—innocence, love, death, family, and rebellion. Lots of novels use music as a story-telling vehicle, but Dickerson’s passion for the grunge-era, and his devotion to its various saints and saviors (Cobain looms particularly large) sets this novel apart.

Dickerson’s story is brilliant. Specifically, Bridget is one of the most compelling characters I’ve encountered in some time. I must admit: I initially balked at the idea of a young, white female transforming herself into a gangta rapper. But Dickerson is one hell of a writer, and Bridget’s fresh and daring character quickly quelled any doubts I had about "Bri Da B." With Bridget leading the way, Dickerson creates a memorable cast of authentic, relatable characters whose interactions, both with each other and the culture of the early 90s, offer a cutting, insightful exploration of art’s ability to transcend and transform.

In fact, Dickerson’s characters are so strong that NO ALTERNATIVE’s only flaw is that, on occasion, the author works too hard to tell, rather than allowing his creations to speak for themselves. But even when Dickerson lets his own viewpoint slow down the narrative, his passion and voice are strong enough that the reader remains engaged.

Ultimately, NO ALTERNATIVE offers not only an incredible story and cutting social commentary, but the novel stands as a monument to the possibilities of the indie publishing revolution. Anyone considering taking the indie publishing plunge should take a page from Dickerson’s playbook—NO ALTERNATIVE is as professional as anything you’ll find on the shelf at Barnes and Nobles. Likewise, consumers still wary of the self-published label should let NO ALTERNATIVE demonstrate just how talented independent authors can be.

[Angie ~aka Reading Machine~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read many books over the reads yet none have touch on before, during, and after affects of suicide on a whole family. This is what presented in No Alternative from the beginning to the end of the book was poignant process of the affects and effects all together. The family showcased thru out the book is the Harrison family. They're a well to do family living thru 1990's generation. I remember most of this time period as a young adult just after graduating high school and going to college while working. I've thought about committing suicide but never followed thru because I was too chicken and afraid of what my family would think. To say that you've known someone who has attempted suicide but never succeed is truly a heartbreaking experience which is true in my own personal life. I won't reveal who yet know this person tried committing suicide at least three times; so I know what I'm talking about.

It's my recommendation that everyone should read this book and see for yourself what I'm talking about. This book put me thru the ringer emotionally and mentally in ways that I can't even beginning to express in words. This is how deeply moving this book is. I believe this quote from the book adaptly puts into words what I cannot:

"In the end, it's only words that are left. Spoken, written or read, words you said, words people think you said, words people will continue to say about you for some relatively small intercal of time after you're gone, words that translated through the impressions of others, through the impressions you left on others, through the filters of the characters around us, characters who have had an impact on our character. Some are more inconsequential than others." Please read No Alternative for yourself.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

When asked to review Dickerson's book, I was unsure what I would get. The author approached me directly, asking for a "fair" review, which I interpreted to mean "tell me what you think, not what looks best on Goodreads," for anyone can candy-coat to help sales figures. And so, I chose to undertake this task and hoped for the best.


Let me preface the review by saying that I usually pre-select my books (admittedly NYT authors, or those who write storylines with which I have a great interest) and so I know what to expect. Usually, I know my authors fairly well or have some review to read to help pique my interest. This experiment in reading was fairly new to me, but one that I thought I ought to take, if for no other reason that to broaden my horizons.

Dickerson takes the reader on a journey into mid-90s USA, where music is morphing into many things and teenagers are grasping to understand what is going on to their favourite pastime. Kurt Cobain is dead and this has surely had a large impact on those who are coming of age. We see life through the eyes of many; the angst-filled early teen, who is trying to find her niche; the seventeen year-old main character, Thomas, who wants to find his own place and use Cobain's death to help shape his own; the parental units of these teens, whose flashbacks to their own teen lives leave them wondering how the next generation could ever cope, had they been alive in those scary 60s. All that, with strains of rebellion, teenage awkwardness, sex, and moment of self-discovery, leave the reader to wonder what each page will bring.

I enjoyed the premise of the book and its attempts to present a gritty side to what is surely a grungy time in the lives of these characters. Being slightly younger than these characters (if I were to transport myself back to my age in 1994), I cannot feel the same passions or pains that Thomas and his friends felt for Cobain and his death, though I do remember the event. Some of the great nuances of the story do pop up and are only resolved in the last chapter, when you see things from a completely different perspective. Dickerson is quite clever in doing this and did, in my mind, turn parts of the story on its head by ending the book as he did, in the narration technique he chose.

I felt a strong belief in the characters, such that I could see these people actually existing, with their flaws and struggles, as well as their goals and victories. Dickerson paints them in a great way and his use of narration does bring them off the page. He does deserve praise for that!

While the main focus of the book pushes forward with much success, Dickerson uses an excessive amount of tangential narration, which, in my opinion, takes away from the flow of the book. When introducing characters, do not place them in the larger scheme of the book and then, in the next sentence (and for pages) insert a back story about them. Perhaps there is a way to introduce the character, have their role fit nicely into the plot, and use a section of the chapter thereafter to explain this back-story. It happens repeatedly and left me wondering if this was an editor's way to chop up what could be an interesting story.

Would I read another Dickerson novel? I can see myself doing so, certainly. Did I enjoy this one? For the most part, yes. While bands, music, teen sex, and the associated rebellion are not my usual topics of choice, I did enjoy the book and the author is to be commended.

[Rich D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

"No Alternative" is the debut novel from William Dickerson and it is a very good one. The novel focuses primarily on the lives of siblings Thomas and Bridget Harrison and their experiences as teenagers during the 90s. Thomas is a grunge fan inspired by Kurt Cobain and his love for music to start a band called The Latterday Saints with his friends while his sister Bridget is an artist and decides to start her own music career as a male gangster rapper called Bri Da B.

The thing that I loved most about "No Alternative" is the depth in which every character, major and minor alike, is developed. In a combination of what I think is just excellent writing and Dickerson's background as a filmmaker, every character seems thoroughly developed and you begin to feel like you know all the characters. Dickerson does an excellent job of allowing readers to feel like they are part of Thomas and Bridget’s life and he does an excellent job of portraying what their daily lives were like. Bridget has grown up feeling different from everyone else, which is partially why she develops the Bri Da B persona, and has been taking a slew of prescription drugs most of her life. Thomas is a huge music fan whose passion is the center of his life and a way to cope with the feeling of something missing in his life.

Dickerson's film making background also gives the novel a very cinematic feel. While reading the novel, you can clearly imagine every scene in the novel and feel like you know the characters and the town they call home. The attention to detail and character development is what makes “No Alternative” a very gripping read, because you find yourself relating to the characters and caring about what paths they are choosing to take.

While the novel is set in the 90s, this is a story that could have taken place in any era. The depiction of teenagers who feel alienated and lost is still a feeling that resonates today. Suicide is still something that affects people every day and “No Alternative” gives a very sobering look at the subject and its impact on those who experience it.

The writing in “No Alternative” is excellent. The story was deeply engrossing and Dickerson’s talent is evident throughout. As a music fan, the scenes of Thomas and his friends starting a band and trying to make it were extremely fun to read. It focused on the pure side of music, just a bunch of kids coming together to follow their dreams. I really related to the members of The Latterday Saints and their passion for music, something I experienced when I first began writing about music. I also enjoyed the musical references to some of my favorite 90s bands like Nirvana, Dinosaur Jr, Smashing Pumpkins, etc.
I cannot wait to see what comes next from Wiliam Dickerson and I hope he plans to write more novels!

[Chris Mendius · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Dickerson's haunting debut novel "No Alternative" takes place in and around Yonkers, New York shortly after Kurt Cobain shot himself in 1994. Though it isn't necessarily spelled out in the early part of the narrative, a highly insightful and daring introduction indicates that suicide will play a central part in the story and the themes driving it. And if taking your own life is something you ever considered, even if only as a fleeting thought, “No Alternative” will blow you away. Howevers, you don't need a troubled past to enjoy it; this deeply moving story is for anyone who can appreciate a great novel.

It starts with the sharp and nuanced portrayal of the characters, the core of which comprise a single nuclear family. Thomas Harrison is, as Dickerson puts it, "the favorite, the only son. And sick of all that." He's also a drummer who jams in a garage band when his creative impulse is not crippled by sadness over the recent death of Kurt Cobain. Bridget is his preppy younger sister who is "trouble, troubling and troubled." She's also an artist who sketches fruit and listens to loud rap music because her brother, her family and her friends all hate it. William is their father that managed to become a State Supreme Court Justice despite a fascinating backstory that includes military service as a Green Beret in Viet Nam and a failed attempt to smuggle home an M60 machine gun for posterity. Maureen is his wife and their mother, a sarcastic hippie version of Martha Stewart with her own colorful past. Aside from the Harrison clan are a number of interesting and funny characters that Dickerson fleshes out so well in the course of the story along with his vivid portrayal of the time and place--New York in the early 1990s.

Along with perfectly capturing the anxiety and alienation of life as a teenager for some, Dickerson also manages to provide a real education about the music scene at that time, which drives the narrative like another powerful character. And he does it without being didactic thanks to a deep passion for the music itself found in both his characters and the narration. He weaves this passion in and out of a complex yet cohesive plot with shifting perspectives that are written seamlessly. In the end, as the title suggests, the conclusion should be obvious yet the story is still surprising and particularly effective. This is the result of a deft narrative shift toward the end of the book which comes from an original and very moving place.

Written for music fans as well as lovers of truly excellent literary fiction, "No Alternative" is one book not to be missed.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finished this on the plane, complete with tears and snot. This is the story of my generation and something future generations I think will be able relate to as well. Generations X, Y, Z - unknown, lost, full of loss, and anger. Still angry to this day, indeed. Sex, drugs, rock n roll, and suicide are prevelant themes through out this story.

The narrative is told in third person, which is a challenging format to write in, but for this story it actually worked out fantastically well! The last book I read in third person and really enjoyed was Anna Karenina, so this is saying a lot.

The characters I could really relate to the most were Bridget aka Bri Da B, Jeremy, and Thomas, in that order. Bridget and Thomas are brother and sister. Bridget is very artistic. She likes to paint, play her keyboard, and come up with raps. Bri Da B is her alter ego. Thomas is also artistic. He plays drums, because it is the one instrument that is designed to annoy. Neither one can relate to their parents, and their parents have a hard time relating to them, as well. Both have a lot to work out with themselves. Jeremy is the bass player in the same band Thomas plays drums for, The Latterday Saints. As a band they performed the shortest gig ever in the basement of the church, but it's one that everyone who was present fondly remembers. Soon after this iconic performance Thomas discovers he has genital warts. He got it from the only person he's ever slept with, Jackie. Jackie is a strange character. She's only in the book for a short amount of time and as a reader, she's the one character I'd like to know more about. Anyways, after this, Thomas is understandably upset and depressed. He then goes into his parents room, pulls out the gun, and blows his head off. Bridget is the one to find him and the way she describes this moment is both lovely in it's clinical details and emotionally heart wrenching. However, this moment, allows Jeremy to tell Bridget his secrets after the funeral, and they are forever friends. This is the light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, so to speak.

I had no idea what this book was about when I picked it up, but I'm really glad I did, since I really enjoyed it. This is William Dickerson's first novel, but I really hope it won't be his last.

[Victoria Hamel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Coming into the story with no preconceived ideas, only knowing that Kurt Cobain's suicide would feature prominently, I was curious and hesitant. Suicide is such an enormously verboten topic, I don't know that many of us like to poke a stick at it, much less read about it. So I took a deep breath and dove into the story and read and waited for the inevitable shoe to drop. And it did, and with the darkness of that death, came awakening.


No Alternative;, is rooted in the depression and disassociation felt by all its characters and it is through the inevitable suicide of one, that everyone around that character is transformed and infused with life.


William Dickerson's story begins in a documentary style. A staccato sharing of this time, the 1990s and this music, grunge. Throughout the book we are reminded of what was: the 1980s, what is: 1994 and what will be: 2012 and beyond. This time shifting throughout the book by our omniscient narrator was a writing technique that I felt worked and I greatly enjoyed.


The protagonist of No Alternative is Thomas Harrison and intelligent and average suburban 17 year-old who idolized Kurt Cobain. The book begins several months after Kurt Cobain's suicide, after a time of mourning, Thomas is ready to submerge himself in music and decides to start a band. The story moves forward from there and we are introduced to Thomas's younger sister Bridget, his parents and his band mates. Each character is isolated from others, living behind the mask of what they think the world would prefer them to be. It is a pleasure to read how those barriers breakdown and see these people washed clean of their perceptions.

I adored Thomas's younger sister Bridget, I hope that Mr. Dickerson revisits her very soon.
Disclosure I did receive a complimentary copy of the ebook.

[Jayne M. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This impressive novel takes place in the 90s, right after Kurt Cobain died.
As the title indicates and the times would predict, the central theme of the book centers around suicide. As haunting as the, it is never morbid or depressing. Through the story of Thomas and Bridget and their friends and contemporaries, No Alternative provides a window into real understanding of the circumstances in which suicide can be seen as a rational choice for these young people. As haunting as that may sound, the story is neither morbid nor depressing

Dickerson also provides a real education about the music scene in the early nineties He manages to avoid didactism by the obvious deep passion for the music found in both the characters and the author’s voice. Dickerson embeds this passion throughout the very cohesive and complex plot of the book. The conclusion is obvious in hindsight yet still surprising, especially with the deftly narrative shift at the end which comes from an original and very moving place. Dickerson’s talent as a writer is always in evidence, from the authentic dialogue to the vivid picture he paints of a particular time and place and the shifting perspectives that seem effortless but are difficult to write so seamlessly.

[Catherine Townsend-Lyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

An Exceptional Ride In This Book!

A very well written and memorable piece of 90's History!

I could tell by reading this book, that the author was very smitten of the 90's. I grew up in the late 70's and 80's and still really enjoyed this book. WHY? Because when written words can impact you and make your "feel" all the emotions while reading?

THAT'S a good book! And that is what I found in "No Alternative."

I cried, laughed, and was surprised. It is very well written, characters jump off the pages and loved the sharing and comparison of the 90's to the 60's through 80's to let the readers grasp the economic and musical differences and impacts. With the suicide of Kurt Cobain, that changed a whole generation of 'grunge" kids forever, just as we had the same effect with the 1970's
death of "Elvis Presley."

I also became aware in this generation how suicide became more talked about and prevalent within this book as we seen the increase in suicides more among teens in this era. And like many other readers, my fav character is Bridget, as we learn through her life choices. And sometimes for her, there are heavy consequences . . . . .

Just a fantastic read! Well done William, and yes, this will make a Fantastic Film!

Author & Columnist,
Catherine Townsend-Lyon

[John Marr · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely abysmal grunge era coming-of-age novel. I thought my biggest gripe is the author's style, which is marked by endless rambling discursions and digressions about the character's motivations, misapprehensions, and manias. A 30,000 word essay on the history of the Parisian sewer system would not be out of place. Perhaps I missed it, as the gargantuan paragraphs are made for speed reading.

But I was wrong, My biggest gripe was the "surprise" ending. Not to be a spoiler (if you make it to the end, you deserve it), but a friend of mine is a psychiatrist. He cares about his patients. I think this book will piss him off more than Scientology.

At least the music stuff is OK. However, all parties should be advised that if there was such a thing as a .45 mm pistol, it wouldn't even work on your genital warts, much less kill you.

[Marybeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

No Alternative takes place in the early 90's around the time of Kurt Cobain's suicide. Now if you don't know who he was ... he was the lead vocalist for the grunge band Nirvana. This is a story about a brother and sister, one who is starting an Indie/Grunge band and the other who is into gangsta rapping. Although William Dickerson is spot on for all the events that unfold in the 90's. This book goes much deeper than that ... it's about family, love, loss, and suicide. And I don't mean Kurt Cobain's either. For anyone who grew up in the 90's and can respect a meaningful storyline that gets pretty deep. You should definitely check out No Alternative.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story that was presented in this book was very deep and emotional. It's written excellently diving into the lives and thoughts of all the characters that make you connect and understand their lives. This story will definitely leave a deep impression on the reader and is sure to become a favorite.I won this book through Goodreads First Reads.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book! Great read!

[Rebekaneongirlyahoo.com · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story is about dysfunctional family circa the 1980s, most of whom seem to be suffering from mental issues. The main protagonist is the son, Thomas, who is a drummer in a grunge band. His struggles with his family and his band seem to form the heart of the story. After all, his younger sister Bridget has suffered from unknown mental problems from an early age and is on a wide variety of pills that are supposed to help her but apparently do not. His father, William is a judge dealing with a high-profile case but he clearly has rage issues and possibly PTSD of his own to deal with. The mom, Maureen, seems to be the only mildly normal one in the bunch and even she was a bit wild in her younger years as one particular anecdote illustrates.

Although I sympathize with what the author was trying to do (keep his sister from killing herself by telling a version of their childhood story), this type of book really isn’t for me. I was honestly expecting this story to be more along the lines of the films Almost Famous or Across the Universe, both of which covered some dark topics but were generally light-hearted and easily digestible. That wasn’t the case here. I appreciate the clear warnings that the novel talks about suicide, but that wasn’t the main issue that I had with it. Instead, I found this novel far too cerebral, graphic, and heavily focused on sex.

The kids in this story also use a lot of profanity and behave in completely unsanitary ways. For instance: not properly cleaning up squashed bugs, wading through polluted rivers, and leaving boogers on bathroom mirrors. And Bridget’s mental problems do not excuse her language. I’m not sure they fully excuse her cultural appropriation issues either. In fact, I thought that the kids in this story seemed unrealistic when one considers how old they are are supposed to be. They seem to either be acting like badly behaved kindergartners or overly wild college students, with no space in between.

The novel also had a pervasively dark tone that I didn’t enjoy. A good percentage the main cast (particularly the core family) seems to have mental and/or emotional issues. There really isn’t much focus on normal people, aside from Bridget’s friend Stewart and maybe one or two of Thomas’ band mates. Without giving too much away, some excerpts from the ending seems to even glamorize suicide, although the author mentions that wasn’t his point.

The cerebral moments in the text were hard to get through for someone like me who prefers straight-forward novels and doesn’t have any interest in overthinking things like the narrators in this book frequently do. At one point, Thomas is contemplating if the roach in the bathroom knows he’s alive before he squashes it to death. Does anyone really think like that? Or perhaps it’s just me. I had a difficult time trying to follow the acid sequence as well, but that might have been the author’s point.

I additionally spent a good deal of my time being extremely disturbed by the lack of attention these parents seem to be paying to their borderline delinquent children. Why would they allow their kids to behave in such as fashion without there being serious consequences for their actions? Why are these children ultimately not better supervised by their parents? Clearly, these adults shoulder some of the blame for what happens in the end.

In short, I’m sure there’s an audience for this book but it’s definitely not me.

[Mariel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was not a teenager in the 90s so I think No Alternative lacked something that it held for those who might have been alive and aware then. The book certainly had moments of relatability and a strong message at the core, but these were drowned out by a narrative that spent a little too much time painting the background facts of the time then describing a strong scene. In a way this novel felt more niche than universal coming of age.

I found myself so distracted by the narrative voice for the first two-thirds of the book that I struggled to notice anything else. The narration would interrupt scenes with an omniscient commentary that broke flow enough to cover up the positive aspects. By the novel’s climax, when the twist is revealed, the story was suddenly a hundred times stronger. All I really needed was an establishing shot to clarify who the narrator was, and who this story was about, from the beginning.

I did like each character and felt they were individuals from the first moment they’re introduced, but I also felt distance from them. I could see into their thoughts and feelings, but seemed to miss their crucial moments of decision. This was especially true of Thomas who could fade in comparison to the stronger side characters.

In its best moments, the story allowed natural dialogue and strong forward momentum to take control. When the action was the forefront I was genuinely interested and engaged. Dickerson did a good job balancing sub plots and ensuring there was enough happening to keep the story moving apace at the overall plot level, but struggled within the narration of the scenes themselves.

Aside from those pros and cons I find No Alternative somewhat hard to review. It is obvious from the start (and solidified with the afterward) that this novel is based in true experience. I don’t know how much of it was fictionalized, and so I don’t know to what degree the story was constructed. How can I comment on the strength of a plot that really happened? How can I examine the way certain issues are handled when they may be presented as they were?

I have read books based on true experiences before, but other authors don’t state explicitly which portions of the story they were relating — that is research for later. Pulling the curtain back as Dickerson did strengthens his message and creates a sort of instant connection with his reader, but it also twists his book from fiction into something else. This is not necessarily a pro or a con, but I don’t think it worked for this story. Inserting himself directly into the story meant he took on the role of the narrator from the start, even if this was not his intention. It left me feeling that Dickerson was preaching to me, rather than an internal narrator was sharing their thoughts. It turned what could have been a powerful representation of these experiences into an autobiographical creative essay with the names changed.

I would recommend No Alternative to a very specific type of reader. If you were in love with the grunge scene, or were simply alive for that stretch of culture, the nostalgia and familiarity will make this novel even more heartbreaking. If you don’t have that experience, consider how hard you’re willing to work to find the coming of age core of this story.

[Rachel Bird · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Alternative is a novel set in the 90s and it largely focuses on the experiences of two teenage siblings: Thomas and Bridget. From reading the novel’s afterword, I was interested to learn that the author was inspired to write the book by a painful tragedy that impacted his own family. No Alternative delves into a lot of dark territory, depicting mental illness and suicide. My favourite character in the book was Bridget and I felt the author did a very good job in rendering her experiences of mental illness in an empathetic manner. Bridget (a white teen) enjoys rapping and some of the scenes depicting her self-penned raps can be deeply uncomfortable to read due to her use of the n-word and because her style so explicitly mimics male black rappers. One of the aspects of the novel I enjoyed most was the author’s nuanced depiction of the relationships between the different family members. These relationships felt ‘lived in’ and really added a sense of authenticity to the narrative. While No Alternative largely focuses on teen characters, I believe the book would most appeal to adults (in particular, adults who were grunge-loving teenagers/young adults during the 90s).

[Chichi Obi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book took place in the 90s after Kurt Cobain died. It took you on a journey into the lives of teenagers at the time and what they got up to. It showed a story of love, rebellion, family matters and death. There was a narrative of teen suicide. It was like Dickerson opened up the mind of a teenager so that you could know what they were thinking and feeling. The book is deep and really gripping. Circumstances that come about lead to suicide being seen as a rational idea. The book really grips at your heart. It is a different and unexpected read as to what I was expecting it would be. The characters are great and the plot doesn’t disappoint. I would recommend giving this a read !

[Corrine Cassels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was blown away by the movie which is why I decided to read the book. It didn't disappoint. Dickerson tells a heartbreaking tale in such an honest, relatable, human way, it's really hard to put down. If you were a kid or teen coming of age in the '90s like myself, it's even more haunting. Difficult subjects are portrayed in poignant ways, from mental health to family dynamics, in vivid scenes with characters that are believable and authentic. Anyone who is a fan of coming of age novels, 90s pop culture or just well-told stories will enjoy this book. And while you're at it, watch the movie. Dickerson is a powerful storyteller, both written and visually.

[Mark Smith · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is a rather difficult read. On one hand, it offers a deeper look into a family’s mental state and how to prevent family members from going off the deep end. On the other hand, it is rather long and boring. While both these assessments are subjective in nature, the author would benefit from adding a little more humor and less darkness. As the book reads now, the family resembles the infamous Osborne family from England. Ozzy and Sharon would feel right at home reading this novel.

[Rosie]

First, I want to mention that the author approached me to write a review of his book. I was certainly flattered, and am grateful for the opportunity.

I've been considering for a few weeks since finishing the book how many stars to give it. At this point, as I am still unsure, I am leaving it unrated. As a writer (though unpublished) myself, several small things added up for me to detract from my reading experience.

I will say that the narrative voice in this novel is very strong and steady in its quirky, against-the-Man attitude throughout the novel. I enjoyed the snarky undercurrent of the narration.

What I kept trying to figure out throughout the story, though, was: What do these people want? I almost never understood any of the characters' motivations. Not only that, but I had difficulty understanding how they related (or, as it were, didn't relate) to one another. For example, in the first chapter there is a flashback scene between Thomas and his father, the crew-cut, ex-military guy who, in my imagination, was cut from similar cloth as the neighbor's father in American Beauty (without the gay slant). Coming from a military family myself, and having been about the same age as Thomas in 1994, I feel that I could have strongly understood their relational dynamics. However, Thomas insults his father with foul language (which I would repeat except that I don't know Goodreads' policy on such things), and what I would have expected from the father would have been anger that boiled until it exploded in a fitful rage of yelling, grounding, etc., when what actually transpired is almost a farcical chase scene that reminded me of two teenage boys as opposed to son and father.

I also thought much of the character development was either lacking or non-existent. For example, the mother, who as a character was so flat to be almost unmemorable, and hence my inability to remember her name, has no development until well over halfway through the book. She simply appears in scenes and then disappears again, or fades into the background to be forgotten. By the time her backstory appears, in my mind, I had already created a persona for her, which I couldn't connect to the woman who had barely graced the pages prior.

Finally, while I did enjoy the flavor of the voice, I had a few problems with the narration. First, the story is told in present tense, and yet it's also peppered with tidbits of future knowledge, like references to Sex in the City, which seemed at the time like the author interfering, or the workings of some kind of timeless narrational god. Yet, come to find out, the narrator is a post-mortem Thomas, relaying his tale from beyond the grave. Okay, under some circumstances, I could handle this just fine, though it's a tad cliche. In this case, however, I can't oblige, and for one simple reason. Before Thomas dies, he is obviously still the narrator (though the reader doesn't know this yet), and he is narrating events in which he never took part, entire scenes in which he never appears, when, for instance, his parents are alone with each other, or events in his sister's life that he didn't know about until after he died. This is a narrational impossibility. Unless we're going to start playing with the physics of time and space, or Thomas has the ability in death to move through time, there is no way he could be the narrator for events during his own life when he had no participation in them.

Dickerson's central idea for this novel ultimately had my attention, the death of rock and roll, the conflict of race found through music in the mid-90s. There was so much I wanted from this book. It just left me wanting so much more.

[Mandy ♥ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was given this book in exchange for an honest review, so here goes.....

~2.5~

Suicide is unbiased, non-partisan. It transcends gender, perhaps even species. In a biological sense, it’s pure. Page 9. Chapter 1.

I've never been a fan of "grunge" it always seem like some lame try hard rich kids bitching  & dressing like hobo's while making pretty lame try hard music....hmmfff.....give me punk, horror punk, Screamo, Psychobilly, Dark cabaret, anything just make it hard core!....So about now you may be wondering why I choose to read a book with it roots deep into the music culture of the 90's "grunge" scene, & while I was very interested in the sypnois, it was manly because if William Dickerson can make me not cringe every time I hear someone compare Sid Vicious & Kurt Cobain....

Example A:

Example B:


(point made!!!!).... 

.....while making me enjoy reading a book about grunge & rap  (my other louth worthy music genre) then I think it must be a pretty good book & well, it did succeed on making me enjoy the book at least to a degree but....i felt as if the author felt the need to prove himself in some respect or at-least his intelligence again... & again....& again, over description & Annlyastion in a book can be quite absorbing & enjoyable when done right, but when it's done wrong it's can be quite repulsive & can make great characters, plot &
 such un-noticeable. the book just didn't flow... at all!! 

Some readers may enjoy the kind of writing which gives long drawn out back stories about each character & long drawn out explanation  on politics of a different generation & long drawn out scenes about drug trips gone wrong but I didn't!
 I felt as if I was watching  family guy, you know when they switch to a completely random scene *"like remember the time...." boom....*   & your left going wtf, well that's kinda how I was Feeling.



I like the concept of the story & the characters, I really liked Bridget I felt I almost connected with her but something keep me from making that connection, manly the writing.

The characters were really in-depth & well thought out, you understood why they did what they did what they did & most people can relate to that "teenage angst" which is portrayed quite well.

this just wasn't the type of book for me. 


to see this review & many others visit my blog:

http://lacevintagebookbloggeraddict.b...

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ll start off by declaring that I was (and still am) obsessed with the grunge-era. I was one of those teenagers who spent 6 months—make that years—mourning the death of Nirvana front man, Kurt Cobain. April 5, 1994. The day the music died in my little corner of the world. Suffice to say, I instantly found myself connecting with the teen protagonists in this book. I WAS one of those teens. Thomas, one half of the brother-sister team of protagonists, and his band mates could have very well been friends of mine, turning their feelings of loss into a creative incentive. It is a common human defense mechanism—to channel pain into something beautiful. (OK, well, maybe labeling grunge music as “beautiful” is overselling it a bit, but the philosophy is sound)

I found a lot of beauty illustrated in the pages of this novel that are also rifled with pain and raw human emotion. Beautiful chaos is what comes to mind, when reflecting on this author’s writing style. A bit reminiscent of Chuck Pahlaniuk’s rapid-fire sardonic wit—a style of which I am quite fond. It may not work for everyone, but I think it works particularly well for this particular content-- layering the rich background of the time period in question, while conveying the tumultuous nature of being a teenager in any era. It succeeds in bringing to life this small chunk of history and, most importantly, does so in a way that makes it feel genuine.

What has stuck with me the most after finishing this book, is the uniquely hilarious –and very troubled-- character of Bridget, Thomas’ younger sister. Here is a young girl whose talent is often overshadowed by her personal demons—insecurities, anxiety, everything a normal teenager feels amplified by 1000. She doesn’t strive to be different, she just IS—whether that is to her benefit or detriment. And through her “different” type of behavior, a lot of humor could be derived. It is her journey that really captured my attention and elevated this story from a casual read, to a deeply enjoyable character study. This is a girl I felt compelled to read about and, more importantly, to root for. She felt very real to me, and it was in following Bridget’s artistic and emotional journey that this story came to a satisfying close.

[Merredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author emailed me and asked me to review this book if he sent it to me and i said, sure! Who doesn't like getting a book? This book takes place in the 90s, right after Kurt Cobain died and is about two siblings, one who was slightly older than I was at the time, and one who was slightly younger. when i was in high school, i wore the plaid shirts, but only hand me downs from my dad and brother, because we didn't have enough money to buy me new real clothes. I honestly didn't like alternative music. I still don't like that stuff. shortly after this book took place, my brother used to sit in his room for hours on end listening to it, and wouldn't talk to the rest of the family. when i read this book, i thought about him. i tried to read it from his perspective instead of mine. I was the outsider with no friends, although i had a sorta friend who i remember being super upset over Cobain's death. I didn't like rap, like the sister in this book either. i was so against the music of the 90s that i listened to the oldies station to 60's music, or andrew lloyd webber music, or even classical. The 90s, especially the first part of the 90s, was a horrible time for music. This book seemed to presuppose that i knew a lot about the music scene at the time. It kind of lectured about it. That part bored me. But then there's the part about these two kids, feeling out of it and all alone, and i got that part. I felt that for much of my life, and i'm sure a lot of other people who read this book did too. I admired the sister Bridget for being so outrageous and so out of the box and strong. Near the end, there is a big twist, kinda shocked me. But then I felt like the book should be over. It took me a while to finish it because the rest of the book felt kinda...extra. In the end, i think this book was good, but not not intended for someone like me as an audience. it was so much about the music of the time, and being such a music fanatic for my current music, i can imagine more what it would mean to someone who was into that whole scene back then. For me, it's a 3 stars, I liked it.

[C.V. Hunt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was approached by the author to review No Alternative after he read my review of Kurt Cobain’s Journals. Anyone who knows me well, or has read some of my books, knows I’m a big nirvana fan. After I read the description I thought I’d be an idiot to not take a crack at reading it. After all, this book had a history I’d lived through, and an insightful approach to my generation.

The story starts in October of 1994, shortly after the death of Kurt Cobain, when “grunge” music was booming. A seventeen year-old, Thomas, with the help of his love for music, and dusty set of drums, decides to start his own band. His sister, Bridget, (fifteen years-old) hates Thomas’s music and is struggling to find her own identity. The teens are raised in a privileged household, on the East Coast, with a father who’s a judge and their mother is a homemaker.

I had trouble sympathizing with the teens since I lived through this era, experiencing the same timeline, but was not raised in a well-to-do household. “Grunge” is a different experience when you’re from a small town in the Midwest, and you can’t afford a pair of Allstar Chucks.

But this book is the perfect example why I refuse to leave a star rating for a book unless I complete it. While the story is engaging, the narration becomes sidetracked for several pages at a time to give the reader a history lesson on the economy and music from the 1960’s and 1980’s. This may be something a younger person would enjoy if they didn’t know about how the events in those eras effected 1994, but since I lived it, it just felt excessive to the story at hand. There was also a lot of commentary throughout the book that seemed unnecessary, but is redeemed and explained in the last 15% of the book. (I’m not sure of the exact page numbers. I read this on my Kindle.)

Overall I liked this book, but I wished the history lessons had been eliminated. It’s well written, but sometimes I just want a story about people living their lives and let me take it in and interrupted it in my own mind how I would like. Not everything has to be explained away.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

No Alternative is a poignant coming of age tale of teenage rebellion, mental awareness, and, ultimately, suicide.

Like so many other generations, 90s youth had their own era of revolt. In fashion, in music, in politics… these kids weren’t just arguing against the status quo or against authority. The American Dream seemed to have been realized by their parents. So what was left for them?

Over prescribed medication, in fear of the Cold War, and trying to live out the expectations of every generation before them, 90s youth were confused, empty of feeling, and had nowhere to look for answers.

Rocker Kurt Cobain certainly wasn’t the first of their revered icons to commit suicide out of his own feelings of depression, but his death was a model for many. And it sets the tone and plot of No Alternative, following Thomas (and his sister Bridget) through their suburban lives until one of them abruptly decides to leave the world behind.

The book insists that the act isn’t selfish, but it’s hard to see that when it happens so swiftly, unexpectedly, and unreasonably. But this is, perhaps, the point.

William Dickerson says he wrote No Alternative for his sister and meant it — and the resulting screenplay — to warn about mental illness and suicides’s consequences, yet one aspect of the book confuses this. When the character comes back to narrate how the family is faring post event, suicide seems a bit glorified. Teens considering suicide must understand that they cannot return to see how they are bring mourned. The act is final. No one gets answers. And there is always an alternative.

Despite the painful plot, No Alternative is an engaging read. It is smartly written and delicately portrays each of its fragile characters, forcing the reader to consider their unique perspectives on growing up, feeling, existing in this new 90s world, and even choosing to end it all.

[Viga Boland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a hard read because of its raw truths...those truths about life, humanity and society in general. How well I remember the 90’s when the suicide death of Kurt Cobain impacted the lives of so many teens, including my older daughter. She had worn out her Nirvana CD’s and drove me crazy with her grungy clothes.

How accurately No Alternative captures the angst of teens in that decade, when physician-prescribed meds turned
already depressed kids into zombies while their peers self-medicated on pot, booze and sex, while their parents believed they knew what was best for the children they really didn't know at all. In hindsight, while the music has changed, has anything else really changed? Worse yet, despite all the research and information currently available, according to the latest stats, teen suicide rates are climbing. Such, it seems, is the human condition.

And how does a parent or anyone know for sure that their teen could become the next statistic? In this book, the teens one thinks have the most reason to commit suicide don’t. What the reader wont expect is who does put a gun in his mouth, then continues to tell the story from the other side!

No Alternative is a sometimes heavy read with lots of detailed, reflective headiness that is nicely relieved by watching how 4 teens come together with dreams of being the next big musical band. Watch for the movie. If it’s as good as the book, it will be a box office success.

[MJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book took me awhile to get through and this review has been about a year in coming due to a very busy schedule. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it to be a very realistic and relatable interpretation of what it meant to be a teenager back in 90s (although as a teenager I can say it is entirely relatable to the experience today's youth face). I thought the plot was interesting, and while the plot points that occur later in the book were possibly predictable given the tone and the style there were nonetheless appropriate and effective. The writing style was deeply personal and it was like being in the mind of the characters, you truly felt like you experienced each situation they were in. There was a sense of nostalgia in the writing that made it even better and the 90s setting was perfectly set and brought back memories. My only complaint would be the vulgarity of certain sections of the book. I understand that teenagers can be a bit crazy at points but I felt like some of the swearing and more risqué descriptions could have been toned down just a little bit, or in general less specific. I felt like this aspect of the book didn't really add anything to the reading experience and that the point and emotions would have been just as clear with slightly less emphasis on swearing and sex. All in all an excellent, relatable and moving read.