What do you think?
Rate this book
Sex, Drugs & Opera
Solomon Capri is a semi-retired pop star who appears to be settling contentedly into middle-age. With his gorgeous, successful wife, Jenny, his country pile, and gold discs hanging in his plush bathroom, he seems to have it all.
But all is not well between Jenny and Solomon; as her business continues to grow, her affection for her husband begins to diminish, and soon divorce is on the cards. To try and win Jenny back, Solomon throws his bruised heart into trying out for a reality TV show that turns lapsed pop acts into opera singers.
The ace up his sleeve is an eccentric octogenarian opera coach he employs to get ahead of the competition but, to his surprise, Solomon learns far more than how to improve the quality of his vibrato; especially when his coach asks Solomon to duet with newly single Samantha...
Sex, Drugs & Opera is the debut novel of Tears for Fears musician, Roland Orzabal.
But all is not well between Jenny and Solomon; as her business continues to grow, her affection for her husband begins to diminish, and soon divorce is on the cards. To try and win Jenny back, Solomon throws his bruised heart into trying out for a reality TV show that turns lapsed pop acts into opera singers.
The ace up his sleeve is an eccentric octogenarian opera coach he employs to get ahead of the competition but, to his surprise, Solomon learns far more than how to improve the quality of his vibrato; especially when his coach asks Solomon to duet with newly single Samantha...
Sex, Drugs & Opera is the debut novel of Tears for Fears musician, Roland Orzabal.
- GenresFiction
230 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 5, 2014
24 people are currently reading
219 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
June 23, 2014
I don't know what I expected when I downloaded this. I did it out of curiosity to be honest (love his music) and probably didn't expect too much. I certainly didn't imagine I would love it as much as I do. I was absolutely hooked by Solomon from the first page - he is such an immensely likeable, 'human' character. I genuinely cared what happened to him and relished every opportunity (operatunity?) to curl up and immerse myself back in his world. Highly recommended. I do hope Roland writes some more.
June 4, 2022
Fantastic book from first time author, Roland Orzabal, the " Dude" from Tears For Fears. One wonders if it's part autobiographical or all his vivid imagination. Characters are well rounded and you actually feel connected to them from the start. The most poignant part of the book for me was Solomon's mindset of if his marriage was over because he had wed early, sired children, raised them with his wife Jenny, only for them to get to the empty nest syndrome and wonder who they had become during that time. Sexual and drug related parts well written and not X rated. His descriptive details are perfect. Great reading. 5 stars from a picky reader and pt editor! Well done Mr. Orzabal!
April 4, 2014
For a first time author, Roland Orzabal, of Tears For Fears, hits another #1. Well written, with characters filled out, fast paced reading, no continuity problems and a fantastic story line. The sex and drug scenes well written but not filthy or overdone. Basically a story of a man entering another stage of his life. A great book! I highly recommend and hope he publishes in paper form as e books are not my favourite. I will definitely be buying a hard copy. Well done Roland, please write more books but don't give up music. I'd love for you to read this on a book on tape/cd! Yum
May 2, 2016
A fantastic debut novel from Roland Orzabal which is well worth a read. The book is well written with lots of abstract humour and surrounds an ageing rock star who is going through a mid life crisis. I wondered when reading this if some of the story line reflects his real life experiences perhaps we will never know. This is not my usual genre of book but suffice to say if he ever writes another I will most certainly give it a read.
October 31, 2024
This was a great read. Like many others, only read the book as I’m a massive Roland & T4F fan, really enjoyed the book & hope he gets the time to write more
June 21, 2015
What CAN'T Roland do? Seriously! This man can write! I enjoyed every word in this book. He has a great sense of humor and dialogue. As he states "Most of the events and characters in this novel are fictitious, the rest is not"- left me wondering what was fake, what was true? This was a great first novel by an awesome musician!
October 14, 2014
I really enjoyed this. It was fun and easy to read with semi familiar people and places, very easy to follow. The writing style wasn't bad, a good first novel. The ending was a bit cheesy but I'm a total sucker for cheesy happy endings.
October 9, 2019
Not quite what it says on the back, this was more about the breakdown of a marriage and the way the main character handled it. Easy read, main character was a bit self-involved. It had a semi-romance novel vibe to it, and I wish there had been some resolution regarding his wife/ex.
June 4, 2014
This was a fun, quick read from a first time author. Without doubt, Orzabal's devoted fans will enjoy the story which weaves bits of autobiographical information throughout.
April 13, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. Roland Orzabal is a genius when it comes to writing music, so there was no surprise that he has written an exceptionally entertaining book.
August 19, 2014
Interesting to try and guess how many of the episodes had any relation to the 'Fears...
March 11, 2022
Soy gran fanática de Tears for Fears y especialmente de Roland Orzabal, sus canciones me fascinan y me inspiran mucho. Con el lanzamiento de su último álbum "The Tipping Point" leí una entrevista donde le preguntaban a qué se hubiera dedicado de no ser cantante. Él mencionó, con modestia y sin darle demasiada importancia, que también era escritor y se refirió a este libro como "un hijo pequeño y feliz".
Por curiosidad, descargué el libro en versión Kindle. Debo admitir que es el libro más gracioso y divertido que he leído en toda mi vida.
Es la historia de "Solomon Capri", un cantante que fue parte de una banda muy famosa en los años 80's llamada "Fortune Favours The Brave" FFTB, (un guiño a TFF), y ahora atraviesa esa crisis de la mediana edad, donde el romance en su matrimonio se ha esfumado y los hijos han volado del nido.
Solomon Capri siente que ha perdido la brújula y la inspiración, especialmente después de perder a su compañero de grupo Fran (guiño a Curt Smith) por circunstancias que se revelarán más adelante. Lleva muchos años sin pisar un escenario ni sacar un disco nuevo. Su esposa se aleja cada vez más de él sin que pueda evitarlo.
Como caído del cielo le llega una oportunidad para volver a la farándula, un reality llamado "Popstar to Operastar", y a partir de ahí, se entusiasma y ve en la ópera la oportunidad de reinventarse, por lo que busca a un profesor de canto que lo ayude en esta transición.
Y es en esta etapa donde su vida se pone de cabeza. Sin planearlo, Solomon se mete en unos líos tremendos, sus peripecias y ocurrencias te matan de risa, literalmente. Sí, hay drogas y sexo, y aunque es explícito en algunas escenas no es es sórdido el libro, mantiene un toque humorístico.
Mientras lo leía no podía evitar identificar a Solomon con el propio Roland (las similitudes son muchas) pero el propio autor hace un cameo en su historia, como si quisiera decirnos: Ey, Solomon no soy yo (aunque se parezca jaja).
Los personajes son encantadores, y terminas encariñándote con el protagonista, ya que es despistado, se pasa de bueno y hubo escenas donde sentí lástima por él, cuando la esposa le habla demasiado duro. Pensé "pobrecito Solomon, él tiene buen corazón".
Es una historia muy divertida, feliz, optimista. Mi único pero es que hubo un conflicto que me parece se resolvió de manera muy fácil y rápida y creo que le faltó trabajarlo más, pero vamos, es Roland, yo le perdono todo jaja.
Ojalá sacara una precuela de este libro. Sería interesante ver la historia de Solomon cuando era joven y famoso en los años 80's.
¡Bravo Roland!
Por curiosidad, descargué el libro en versión Kindle. Debo admitir que es el libro más gracioso y divertido que he leído en toda mi vida.
Es la historia de "Solomon Capri", un cantante que fue parte de una banda muy famosa en los años 80's llamada "Fortune Favours The Brave" FFTB, (un guiño a TFF), y ahora atraviesa esa crisis de la mediana edad, donde el romance en su matrimonio se ha esfumado y los hijos han volado del nido.
Solomon Capri siente que ha perdido la brújula y la inspiración, especialmente después de perder a su compañero de grupo Fran (guiño a Curt Smith) por circunstancias que se revelarán más adelante. Lleva muchos años sin pisar un escenario ni sacar un disco nuevo. Su esposa se aleja cada vez más de él sin que pueda evitarlo.
Como caído del cielo le llega una oportunidad para volver a la farándula, un reality llamado "Popstar to Operastar", y a partir de ahí, se entusiasma y ve en la ópera la oportunidad de reinventarse, por lo que busca a un profesor de canto que lo ayude en esta transición.
Y es en esta etapa donde su vida se pone de cabeza. Sin planearlo, Solomon se mete en unos líos tremendos, sus peripecias y ocurrencias te matan de risa, literalmente. Sí, hay drogas y sexo, y aunque es explícito en algunas escenas no es es sórdido el libro, mantiene un toque humorístico.
Mientras lo leía no podía evitar identificar a Solomon con el propio Roland (las similitudes son muchas) pero el propio autor hace un cameo en su historia, como si quisiera decirnos: Ey, Solomon no soy yo (aunque se parezca jaja).
Los personajes son encantadores, y terminas encariñándote con el protagonista, ya que es despistado, se pasa de bueno y hubo escenas donde sentí lástima por él, cuando la esposa le habla demasiado duro. Pensé "pobrecito Solomon, él tiene buen corazón".
Es una historia muy divertida, feliz, optimista. Mi único pero es que hubo un conflicto que me parece se resolvió de manera muy fácil y rápida y creo que le faltó trabajarlo más, pero vamos, es Roland, yo le perdono todo jaja.
Ojalá sacara una precuela de este libro. Sería interesante ver la historia de Solomon cuando era joven y famoso en los años 80's.
¡Bravo Roland!
October 12, 2025
This book is way out of my usual reading habits and the only reason it got on my shelves is - you've guessed it- because I have long been fascinated by his author, his lyrics, his witty interviews both candid and cryptic, his flaws too. I was curious to see what he'd put on the plate in a fictional story in prose.
Was I disappointed? Not entirely. I don't feel particularly enriched by this piece of work, the story is dull-ish (no take away message), and it may as well be just a way for Roland to pack something and take it off his chest.
It's quite obvious (and predictable) that the main character is a doctored reflection of himself. Following this story is like trying to piece together a puzzle where you know some clues are real but some are not. It can be fun if you're into this kind of thing - or into Roland.
Little to no effort is tried to make Solomon likeable. Full of himself, paranoid, caught between impulsiveness and restraint, everything's about and revolves around him, and he must be the agent of change for everyone around to compensate what he can't control - his wife, helplessly seeing that stray planet drift away from the Sun King.
However, at the same time, he (Solomon? Roland?) seems aware of all that, there are times you can feel him cringe at himself and, instead of apologising like a Brit or justifying his fuckups, he just makes do with what he's got and hopes he can do good without anyone getting hurt too much. Basically what most of us try daily anyway.
The writing is diligent, but a little pedantic, something you would not expect from a guy whose lyrics can be vague and yet so poignant. Attempts to convey emotion may fall flat here and there. The humour requires a little effort to be acknowledged, as deadpan is harder to catch on paper. Most dialogues, descriptions, and quotes are ok, while some sound a bit redundant or stilted.
(Also Roland for chrissakes, don't you have an Italian friend who could check your translations?)
And yet, with all the shortcomings one can expect from a first novel without a ghostwriter, it's not that bad. It's smooth and catchy, dares to go dirty and expletive but won't indulge in it, has some sharp British cynicism and even snatched a few chuckles from me.
All in all, three out of five for the guts to try, would not recommend it to refined palates, it's a fun reading if you are a Roland fan.
Was I disappointed? Not entirely. I don't feel particularly enriched by this piece of work, the story is dull-ish (no take away message), and it may as well be just a way for Roland to pack something and take it off his chest.
It's quite obvious (and predictable) that the main character is a doctored reflection of himself. Following this story is like trying to piece together a puzzle where you know some clues are real but some are not. It can be fun if you're into this kind of thing - or into Roland.
Little to no effort is tried to make Solomon likeable. Full of himself, paranoid, caught between impulsiveness and restraint, everything's about and revolves around him, and he must be the agent of change for everyone around to compensate what he can't control - his wife, helplessly seeing that stray planet drift away from the Sun King.
However, at the same time, he (Solomon? Roland?) seems aware of all that, there are times you can feel him cringe at himself and, instead of apologising like a Brit or justifying his fuckups, he just makes do with what he's got and hopes he can do good without anyone getting hurt too much. Basically what most of us try daily anyway.
The writing is diligent, but a little pedantic, something you would not expect from a guy whose lyrics can be vague and yet so poignant. Attempts to convey emotion may fall flat here and there. The humour requires a little effort to be acknowledged, as deadpan is harder to catch on paper. Most dialogues, descriptions, and quotes are ok, while some sound a bit redundant or stilted.
(Also Roland for chrissakes, don't you have an Italian friend who could check your translations?)
And yet, with all the shortcomings one can expect from a first novel without a ghostwriter, it's not that bad. It's smooth and catchy, dares to go dirty and expletive but won't indulge in it, has some sharp British cynicism and even snatched a few chuckles from me.
All in all, three out of five for the guts to try, would not recommend it to refined palates, it's a fun reading if you are a Roland fan.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 5, 2019
3.5/5
I think books written by famous people are hard to rate, especially when I already know them better as something other than writer. Still, I'm surprised to say I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
It wasn't anything like I had imagined from the synopsis, it's definitely a more mid-life crisis type of book, with not nearly as much focus on the opera TV show as it leads you to believe. I really liked the writing style, I flew through it, wanting to know what happened next, even though the plot itself is very quiet. Overall, I liked the characters and the way they were portrayed, although there was a particular plot point I wasn't a fan, and I thought it was confusing and a little bit iffy.
The main problem with books like this is that it's hard to tell what's based on reality and what's pure fiction. Since this is such a personal story, it was a bit uncomfortable not knowing this at times, but I still enjoyed it, somehow. It was honest, I guess, it didn't read like it had been polished with the intent of preserving Roland's image. I don't know if I would have read this, or enjoyed it as much, if Roland Orzabal hadn't been the author, though.
Sidenote: You can't mention Tears For Fears in this, that makes no sense! I mean, I get that Fortune Favors The Brave is not supposed to be exactly like TFF, but like... Solomon is still supposed to be Roland, how are there two Rolands in this universe??? (That was a fun little reference, though lol)
I think books written by famous people are hard to rate, especially when I already know them better as something other than writer. Still, I'm surprised to say I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.
It wasn't anything like I had imagined from the synopsis, it's definitely a more mid-life crisis type of book, with not nearly as much focus on the opera TV show as it leads you to believe. I really liked the writing style, I flew through it, wanting to know what happened next, even though the plot itself is very quiet. Overall, I liked the characters and the way they were portrayed, although there was a particular plot point I wasn't a fan, and I thought it was confusing and a little bit iffy.
The main problem with books like this is that it's hard to tell what's based on reality and what's pure fiction. Since this is such a personal story, it was a bit uncomfortable not knowing this at times, but I still enjoyed it, somehow. It was honest, I guess, it didn't read like it had been polished with the intent of preserving Roland's image. I don't know if I would have read this, or enjoyed it as much, if Roland Orzabal hadn't been the author, though.
Sidenote: You can't mention Tears For Fears in this, that makes no sense! I mean, I get that Fortune Favors The Brave is not supposed to be exactly like TFF, but like... Solomon is still supposed to be Roland, how are there two Rolands in this universe??? (That was a fun little reference, though lol)
January 19, 2019
I had missed the release of this romantic comedy of a book in 2014, but ran across it on Amazon recently during a search for more Tears for Fears music. I thought it would be a vanity press kind of lark for author Roland Orzabal (the guitarist half of TFF.) I was pleasantly surprised and impressed by how well imagined the characters and plot are. I really enjoyed the read and found myself caring very much for the characters. It’s well written and edited to the point there feels like nothing extraneous or indulgent was left in, as might have been expected in a famous musician’s first novel. So bottom line, it is simply a great read.
April 29, 2018
Light, fun read
I really enjoyed this for the nostalgia and pop references. I also got some laugh out loud moments. It’s probably because I’m the same age as the author. It brought back some good memories of the era and also the realities of getting older. “I told them you were Bob Geldof.” Cracked me up!
I really enjoyed this for the nostalgia and pop references. I also got some laugh out loud moments. It’s probably because I’m the same age as the author. It brought back some good memories of the era and also the realities of getting older. “I told them you were Bob Geldof.” Cracked me up!
March 27, 2021
Um dos mais divertidos e envolventes livros que já li. A prosa é elegante, as descrições são excelentes, a narrativa é surpreendente e repleta de humor. Os personagens são interessantes e carismáticos. Espero que Roland Orzabal continue sua carreira de escritor, pois este seu primeiro romance é muito, muito bom! Adorei! Tensão e humor auto depreciativo na medida certa!
April 27, 2024
This book has been on my reading radar for quite some time but only recently did I have the mental bandwidth to finally pick it up. I can’t believe it took me so long! Of course I found it because of its musically famous author, but don’t write it off as a vanity project. Solomon’s story sings! The clever writing is absolutely delightful and I read this book in less than two days simply because I couldn’t put it down. It now ranks as one of my favourite reads in recent memory.
August 12, 2023
I don’t know how I heard about this book, but I was curious as I always enjoyed Roland Orzabal as Tears for Fears singer/songwriter. This was a fun romp, with I’m sure some details from his life as an ‘80s pop star.
February 16, 2019
Easy, light read. Good beach book.
February 3, 2022
I really wanted to like this more. More like a 2 or 2.5 but I'm feeling generous because hey it's Roland.
June 29, 2023
Se nota que hay una crisis de edad en el autor
Se complica mucho la existencia del personaje y luego en una página se come días, da un brinco y acaba abruptamente la historia
Se complica mucho la existencia del personaje y luego en una página se come días, da un brinco y acaba abruptamente la historia
November 16, 2017
I've loved TFF for years and I still play their albums, so I was fascinated to hear Roland (the solo man/Solomon) had written a book. I was reluctant to read this because it's outside my genre, but I had to see what he was capable of.
It's a great first novel with well-drawn characters. It's fun to wonder what events are from TFF tours. But I seriously doubt private RO would spill his guts in a novel. It's easy to read and there are some funny bits.
If he wrote crime fiction next, that would be heaven. Does anyone know if he plans to release more?
It's a great first novel with well-drawn characters. It's fun to wonder what events are from TFF tours. But I seriously doubt private RO would spill his guts in a novel. It's easy to read and there are some funny bits.
If he wrote crime fiction next, that would be heaven. Does anyone know if he plans to release more?
November 4, 2014
I have so much respect and admiration for Roland and he has truly has been aninspiration to me over the years. Not only is he an amazing musician, but I now love him as an author as well. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone- even if they were a fan or not.
August 11, 2015
It was a good read. Enjoyed the venerability of the main character, Solomon. His dealings with increasing challenges in his life. The author, Roland Orzabal, use of humor at times had me laughing out loud.
May 5, 2014
Loved it, ended up reading it on a day.
May 15, 2014
Great book by Orzabal! As a long time TFF fan, I knew I had to read this book and was definitely not disappointed. I hope he writes more.
January 21, 2015
A brisk comedic novel with sharp characters and a big heart.
August 30, 2015
What un great surprise ! I just loved this book.
December 9, 2015
Roland Orzabal half of Tears for Fears is the author. It was fun to read knowing the book starts off based on his life and then turns to fiction. Talented musician is now a talented writer!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews