Scale

by Keith Buckley (Reader), Joe Trohman (Performance), Josh Newton (Performance)

Ray Goldman will outdrink you, out-party you and, unfortunately for him, probably outlive you. As a hopeless and struggling indie rock musician, Ray's best chance of discovering any beauty and purpose in his dysfunctional life will come only when he ceases to struggle against life itself. These are his memoirs.

Scale chronicles Ray Goldman’s journey downward through the adversarial trials that sometimes prove necessary in facilitating an eventual ascent into truth and happiness. The odd chapters of the novel find Ray, now a 31-year-old guitar player, seeking fulfillment in the wake of a life-altering tragedy while the even chapters see him reflecting on the depravity and selfishness that hastened his descent towards it. Scale is about the relationship between instability and balance, death and resurrection, perception and reality, but ultimately it is about the endless war waged between our disquieted minds and our noble hearts.

Fans of pop culture, Americana, Punk Rock music, and Charles Bukowski’s Ham on Rye.

Genres: Fiction, Music, Contemporary

Paperback

First published December 8, 2015

About the author

Keith Buckley is the vocalist and lyricist for the critically acclaimed punk rock act Every Time I Die, which has sold hundreds of thousands of records worldwide and has amassed a substantial fan base while touring the globe for over a decade. He lives in Buffalo, NY.

Reviews

[Andy Downe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow.

Firstly I'm a huge fan of Every Time I Die and in particular Keith and his lyrics. So to me buying this novel was a no brainer.
This year I started writing reviews for every book I read and was a little worried going in to this that I wouldn't be able to bring myself to give it a bad review if I didn't enjoy it. Thankfully I loved it and can honestly say this is the smartest thing I have read. As an averagely educated guy who's reading consists of mysteries, horror, sci fi and the odd medieval stuff this was well out of my comfort zone and I am now convinced Keith is some kind of next level human. The writing like his lyrics sometimes took some effort to decipher and I don't mean this in a bad way, it was actually a rewarding experience being able to keep up.
I could be totally wrong but I felt that a lot of this novel was a veiled biography and if so then Keith is so brutal in his analysis of himself. I thought I lived in my own head too much but lead character Raymond takes it beyond what I thought possible.
This book is funny, depressing, inspiring and above all smart as fuck. I mean I would have given anything to meet and have a drink with Keith before reading but now I'm terrified of how inferior I would feel next to a guy that intelligent (Especially with the way Ray speaks about his fans).
I couldn't give it the 5 star in the end because I did find that I was drawn out of it to think about what I had just read a few times... But maybe that's a sign of brilliance. Shit I don't know?

Anyway, Keith I salute your first novel and yes cocaine is way too expensive in Australia.

[Michael Conland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know what to expect from this. I knew of it because I'm a huge Every Time I Die fan and I trusted that Keith would likely write something interesting.

It was absolutely nothing like I expected. I thought it would be well put together and probably a bit sharp, but this was far more complex. It took a few chapters to really get going for me and I think it took me a little time to really understand what was going on, but once it got rolling I couldn't put this down. Well, other than when it was becoming so dense that I had to put it down to digest what I'd just mentally consumed.

This is yet another novel falling into the style of having chapters which A/B between time periods. It actually takes a little while to realise that (or it did for me, at least), as the early chapters don't seem to have such a large divide. I also think that, while it took me some time to get into it, perhaps Keith's writing was a little like that too. He was really hitting form from about the halfway point.

The latter part of the book is just brilliant. Buckley hits his stride and Ray really comes to life. It's deep and moving and real. This is the first book in a long time which has really spoken to me. I was gutted when it ended. I want more.

I'm unsure how I felt about it referring to real musicians. The inclusion of Matt from Alkaline Trio was so unusual to me, but I suppose it makes sense in context. If these are meant to be the memoirs of a musician, he has to interact with others. I guess I was just surprised by who it was.

Bring me more Keith. MORE!

[no leek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange look inside Keith Buckley's mind. From what I know of the author, some of what is in here could be part memoir or stories of ETID time on the road. All the name drops and references to bands was a great way to show who Ray is and helped build a picture of what sort of person he is. There were a lot of philosophical and metaphysical points throughout this book which made me contemplate life so I found myself reading then stopping for a think, which is rare in novels these days. Most are just basic grocery lists. Giving Ray that depth made him more human. If he was just an out of control party animal, it would have been too basic. I'm glad Keith made him real.
A quote that stood out to me was this:
....the cruelest thing you can do to someone is to share the rot and rob them of the glorious mystery of being in love because faith in it is really all anyone ever has to know.
A lot of what is in here hit home for me. Those words in particular. I think we should all agree to no longer spread rot to others.
Also, Fuck Frank.

[Natacha Lakoki · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a friend said: I read to escape the harshness of reality. Not to be challenged by it again. This book will confront you with all sorts of ugly that's out there. But definitely made me feel. Feelings of absolute hatred for Ray. I've not hated a main character like this for a long time. This reminds me of Bukowski, except that Ray is only a semi-autobiographical character based on Keith. The fact that 99% of sentences are variations of figurative language means this was not a smooth read for me. Nevertheless, 3 stars because clearly a lot of effort went into this and I guess it did fulfil its purpose of making the reader feel all sorts of emotions. But just to be clear, I fucking hate Ray!

[Ethan Edghill · Rating 3 out of 5]

you get the sense that every word was picked out meticulously and labored over. at the end of the day it’s a decent story. but it’s just so dense

[Drake_ Boling · Rating 4 out of 5]

Everything happens--everything must.

SCALE

“Acting-like and being were indistinguishable states, perhaps separated only at a quantum level by the intelligence of the observer present. The truth is subjective– something internalized and interpreted, and is only as sturdy as our argument for it.”

A huge swing of a debut novel from Keith Buckley, a poet that rests easily on my Mount Rushmore of lyricists. In his first work of feature-length fiction, he’s writing what he knows : touring, performing, drinking, and living within a perpetual existential crisis.

If you find Buckley's grandiose nihilism overbearing, you will not like this book. If you think his lyrics are deep, you'll love it. The story unfolds about exactly as you would expect one of his songs blown up to novel-length proportions. Dramatic depictions of toxic masculinity expand to Lovecraftian dimensions. Conspiracy, drug-addled paranoia, memories of childhood, brotherly competition, adolescent male rage, young love, music as a pressure valve.

The marriage of a lot of Keith's more personal lyrics with the kind of nightmare imagery he often conjures from an omniscient perspective makes for a disorienting, but rewarding read. Many moments where Ray is no longer there and he feels witness to a force of nature, a fatalistic wave washing over him during his sleep paralysis. Hypnotherapy and addiction treatment in the novel act as a sort of window into the darker sides of Ray’s psyche, no doubt a cathartic expression for a writer to build a worldview for.

“I would appear not as the sum of parts measured out by different generations before me, but as the materialized intent of my own mind perpetually building its own destiny already, I could hear unnecessary chunks of marble fall away from what would someday be seen as me”

This novel has a lot to say about addiction, alcoholism, the lack of a need to get better, or, the need without the want. Depravity. One-upping the thrill of chasing something you'll never achieve. Fantasmagorical sequences of self-destruction under the guide of hypnotherapy. Ray’s nihilism is pitted in conversation with many diverse philosophies, and Buckley is not afraid to let Ray come across as a fool.

“More than just recalling details, he had a way of telling stories as if he folded time upon itself to allow us instantaneous access to the past –one was not just reminded– one was repeatedly made present. The remarkable thing about it, though, was that his stories were never the centerpiece of his table, but instead powerful anecdotes revealed casually like aces from a sleeve”

Some of my favorite sequences were describing the thrill of him being on stage. I have always wondered what that could mean to someone so smart as that, what that kind of adulation could do to damage a mind.
The fact that Ray is an acoustic solo performer gets him out of managing the trauma of being in a band, allowing the solitude he felt to take center stage. Some of the best parts were Ray explaining the thrill of performing onstage, the excitement of walking the thin wire of entertaining a room of people and the endless expanse below him, the razor’s edge that separates a good show and spiraling. Many relatable but not glamorous moments on the road reminded me of the little mundane shit that makes up 90% of being on the road.

“Evan's enormous eyes started around the room without blinking as if he would never see it again and needed to commit every corner and shadow to memory in order to pass down to a future generation so the room and light and what it all meant would never be forgotten… ‘Real good. Yeah, Ok, Well this place is totally fucking haunted.’

Towards the end of the book I found myself often thinking back to the very last ETID show, days before they announced their breakup. Keith took more time than usual holding the mic out to the crowd, as if to say, “Get used to me not singing this anymore”. It was cathartic, it was sad, it gave the sense of ending before anything had ever been announced. It felt like standing above a waterfall watching the water pass between your legs.

Overall this book was a very convincing portrait of a man who doesn't have all the answers. I see a tough guy trying to be very vulnerable by fictionalizing an account from a perspective very close to his. A man whose mind is always somewhere else. It is probably a good way to make sense of the drama of life on the road, the plight of the principled artist, the trauma of being in the band. Buckley has achieved something pretty special, giving you a peek inside his mind via a closely- fictionalized account. He has a lot to say about creating art, performing it publicly, and the entropy of the universe. I can't wait to read Watch and see where else his prose goes. Also I want to say the new Many Eyes record has really grown on me, and I'm very excited to see whatever comes next from one of my favorite artists alive, whatever medium that might take.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a punk rock novel written in an unexpectedly complex, lyrical manner. I almost put this book down because the first pages were as above, complex and for me, a bit hard to get into. I am glad I stayed with it.

This is the coming of age story of a musician who travels from wide eyed innocence to alcohol frenzy and is surprisingly self reflective.

Ray Goldman, the main character, is not a likable character but is an excellent path into the mind of an artist and nihilist (I guess a requirement for the role). Of course, I was totally unaware that the author is a well know musician in a band. Mr. Buckley got the youthful angst just right. Ray Goldman travels the path that will either lead to death or redemption as the rock n roll lifestyle can only last for so long. I enjoyed this book but at times found the dense writing a bit frustrating. However, I am more than impressed by Mr. Buckley's total command of the English language. I hope he continues writing fiction.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

First off, I was extremely excited and apprehensive when I learned that Keith was writing a novel. The guy has the most incredible lyrics I've ever read, and also ETID's music absolutely wrecks.

To the review:

When I say apprehensive, yes, I mean nervous. I was nervous because Buckley's lyrics are so full of metaphors and abstractness that I thought he might try to push it too far in the novel and pile on the descriptors/roundabout explanations. When I began reading, I immediately got the sense that my apprehensions were justified. The first few pages of the novel are tough to get through if one isn't mentally prepared. Thick descriptions and not necessarily "deep," but heavily symbolic philosophies are present and it takes a bit of time to get used to the rhetoric. However, once that settles, the character interaction and dialogue in the novel are spectacular. The act of successfully portraying dialogue is very difficult. I was generally aware of this fact, and a moderately experienced writer-friend of mine reinforced the idea when we spoke of Scale. Difficult to tame and easily butchered, dialogue proved to be, in my opinion, one of (if not solely) the strongest successes of the novel. The characters were developed well through conversation and interaction, and the inner dialogue of Goldman painted a wonderful picture of his narcissistic neuroticism.

Meant to be a semi-autobiographical novel, much of Scale will be appreciated by Every Time I Die fans who have followed the band and its members closely throughout their incredible career. The band's DVDs (which are superb) help to give an insight to who Keith is as a person apart from the band and how he has developed over the course of the band's tenure. Also, if the internet has given us anything, it is more accessibility to the life of Keith and his growth through the last few albums ( i.e. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fMbWk... ). The novel obviously does not pan out exactly as Keith's life has, but vaguely seems to take place in an alternate universe that might exist if he had made a few different life-choices.

The growth of Goldman throughout the novel is significant and very noticeable, from middle-school student-esque, vain naivete to a developed (likely neurotically over-developed) awareness of self, and the novel paints a very detailed picture of the events that promote this maturity. His view of himself is almost always dependent on the way his closest friends and acquaintances see him and the writing brilliantly champions this narcissism and uses it as a weapon. The intimate look into Goldman's narcissism makes it very easy to relate to him and his filtered view of himself through others' eyes, because Buckley is smart enough to know that this filter is present in all of us at times, whether admittedly or not. I found myself relating directly to Goldman on many occasions through the physical events of his life and mine. This made the novel much more engaging and empathetic for me personally, and probably unfortunately, save for it's utility during my time reading. The eloquently illustrated feelings of despair, depression, longing, and anger created a vortex of emotions for both Goldman and the reader, and that feeling of understanding conveyed through the writing is an impressive and appreciated luxury from Buckley.

For me, the high point of the novel was Goldman's conversation with his friend Evan at the shack in the desert, somewhere in the middle of the story. Buckley seems to have thrust himself headfirst into the dangerous territory of literary analyzation of the psychological, philosophical, and the existential, and he does so without losing any of what the story had already accomplished. Buckley's articulation and, again, his intimate awareness of dialogue structure helped to bring him to a nearly Huxleyan level of methodical elucidation in the scene. Well done, indeed.

Overall, I thought the novel was an outstanding representation of what we expected from Buckley, and left me satiated but hoping for more in the future. Also, I really enjoyed the subtle insertion of Every Time I Die lyrics into the writing. Once again, the avid ETID fan will undoubtedly appreciate Buckley's work. Hopefully we aren't the only ones, but if so, well, Ce La Vie.
(ETID Lyric Reference? Check.)

Reviewer's Note: Yes, I did use big words in order to appear intelligent in this review, consider it an homage.

[Ruth · Rating 1 out of 5]

I discovered this book while googling fiction about or by punks. I don't listen to Every Time I Die, but I believe I would like it, considering it's renowned in the punk scene.

Ok, so onto the book now, where to begin...

Oh yeah, so the first 20% of the book is basically just big words and bombastic sentence structures and just this unfitting grandiosity that is really unpleasant to read. Not a fan, but later in the story, you'll discover that this portion is super fancy for a reason, albeit not a HUGE reason.

Also, the whole story is very disorienting and disorganized. Some of this is useful in fitting with the character's perspective, but it could still have been simplified greatly while still retaining the narrative effect that Buckley was going for.

Be prepared to run into a lot of deep sayings and philosophical pondering. I love a lot of the quotes and ideas that come out of this, but sometimes, it feels excessive.

In spite of all the negatives, something compelled me to keep reading, and I could not put the book down easily. I admit that the end of the story was very deep/interesting and definitely not happily ever after, which is a huge thing I'm looking for, especially in punk literature. (If you read this, do it for the reward of the beautiful ending, where things start to come together.) I'm also very glad that the author covered topics like OG punk bands, nihilism, and the art of writing. These were pleasant additions that made the read relatively entertaining.

[Kyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stuffed to the gills with clever language, perhaps beyond what is warranted, but an engrossing story nonetheless. It's an interesting headspace to try on for size.

[Chris Giacca · Rating 4 out of 5]

So who knew that Every Time I Die’s singer and lyricist extraordinaire, Keith Buckley, had the beating heart of a novelist in him? Honestly, anyone familiar with them – and more importantly his stature as one of the finest lyricists to grace the heavier genres – that’s who.

Scale tells the tale of Ray Goldman, a modern-day bard with the vices to match his talents. Goldman regales us with the story of his steady rise to intermediate levels of fame and his subsequent failure to indulge moderately. But there’s more to Scale than your average tale of debauchery and hedonism.

Buckley is well known for his use of metaphor to drive his lyrics in Every Time I Die, and his modus operandi is very much continued in this, his debut novel. (Novella? I don’t have word count figures on hand, but given that it clocks in at 241 pages – with generous page breaks in between chapters – I’m going to guess that it is somewhere in the region of 45-50k words, which pretty much puts it on the cusp of what we consider a novella these days.) His use of metaphor is so ubiquitous that, at times, it can become somewhat distracting. There are several times where Ray gets so lost in his poetic musings that you end up needing to back-track and make sure that what you’re reading is actually happening. This is also true of the dream sequences – Goldman suffers from sleep apnea, and his depictions of sleep paralysis are vivid and compelling. I do feel as though once you’ve gotten around 50-70 pages in, your brain will automatically reconcile what is and what isn’t, so it’s not that disorientating.

Scale is certainly a pretty read. Buckley has a wide vocabulary, a rather philosophical way of viewing the world, and he marries the two admirably. He does have a tendency to overindulge in run on sentences – some of which I would guess run damn close to 100 words – but for the most part, it is in service to a cause, and he is consistent within that cause.

From the opportunistic, boorish Frank, to the zen-like persona of Evan, even to Goldman’s long-suffering wife Hannah, the characters are well defined, and possessed of a realness that is uncommon, particularly among debut novelists. Not once was I taken out of the moment when dealing with any of the characters that Buckley brings to life with care. Goldman himself is the best example of this, with his frequent, self-aware introspective dialogue, although almost all of the characters are treated to moments of clarity, weakness, and development. By the end, you really have a feel for everyone.

Looking at the broader picture, the title seems to be a metaphor for the parallel narratives that Buckley develops in alternating chapters, once the initial divergence happens a few chapters in. There is a lot of talk of balance throughout – what is, what isn’t; indulgence, and restraint; deep-wrought emotional conflict, and baser physical indulgence. Indeed, Scale fits nicely in amongst the modernist literary fiction of Palahniuk, Bukowski et al. by concentrating more on character conflict and development, than plot-driven narratives.

To sum it up, Scale is a fascinating insight into how one of our most treasured lyricists sees the world. Any number of Goldman’s anecdotes could very well be lifted from the annals of Buckley’s considerable life experiences, and the story benefits from it greatly. You would almost swear that it was a biography if you didn’t know any better, such is the candid story telling mastery of Buckley.

4 / 5

[Clancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to preface all that I'm about to say about this book, with my thoughts on the author. Keith Buckley is one of the greatest wordsmiths of our time. His ability to turn a phrase, to paint the banal as absurd, to parody, to mourn, to hate, and to eviscerate, with words alone is unparalleled.

Anyone that doubts his prowess needs only to glance at his body of work with Every Time I Die to know that his fantastic ability is without doubt. He champions the idea of musician as author.

If, however, your only exposure to Buckley is through this, his first novel, you're opinion would be wildly different to the one I've outlined above.

This book, I'm assuming, found its way to being published by his prominence as a musician. It is so direly in need of an editor that gives a shit, of an editor that can see the value and power of the book that Scale could've been.

This would've easily been a four, if not five, star novel. But instead the tyranny of a relentless sea of adjectives and adverbs drowns any poetry and power here.

Still worse, there are basic spelling errors, there are missing words. It's as if no one even read this through before putting it to print.

The tale of decadence, ego, and flirtation with deliverance is valuable, timely, and will resonate deeply with anyone that has been a selfish piece of shit and benefited. Anyone that wishes they could maybe act a little kinder, live just a touch more empathetically.

I can't recommend this book. It's like the hanging gardens of Babylon buried in the sands of a wartorn country, mythic and a pain in the arse to find.

I sincerely hope Buckley switches publishers, because if the next one is built from the same bones as Scale, and treated with just a little more respect, it will be incredible.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

While partying and alcohol and drug abuse fit into this novel’s overall ambience, I got less of a sense of debauchery than the blurb on the back of it implied. What this book gave me was more of a torrential sense of a man fighting with focus on who he was versus who he wanted to be, each half of the dichotomy fist fighting itself like Ed Norton in his boss’ office in Fight Club. The detached and base moments that Ray Goldman find himself rapidly burning through are unfulfilling to him as a person and they keep happening faster and faster, swallowing him up with no satisfaction and almost with little effort. Things seem to be materializing in front of him as of granted by the bent finger of a mystic monkey hand. The more important things that happen to him, the things that cut, the things that saw deeply through the facade and effect him in more sprawling and infinite ways are the things that clearly move him more. Although they seem to hurt him more, they ensure that the scars he’ll fuse around the wounds will be infinitely stronger.

Keith’s writing here is excellent, taking his already exquisite and articulate lyricism leaps and bounds further to build prose of the same brick and mortar. There’s darkness there, but wry wit bites through it to keep the swirling void from pulling you in immediately. Like quicksand though, the more you fight it, the harder it pulls. So by the end of this novel, the darkness feels like the only thing left. Interestingly, this felt like an ETID record but on a different plane, spun from the same silk by a different arachnid. I liked this book a lot and completely appreciated the moments where Buckley was looking inward, making mention of ego and reduction of self.

[Emily Perkovich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very mixed feelings. I wanted to love this the way I love many of ETIDs lyrics. But. It felt sooooo overworked. The actual story is interesting and gives out music scene energy, but I found myself sometimes lost in the density.

A small complaint—I own this book, so I will have to eventually take a look at the physical copy, but I read the ebook, so I could read when I was having a hard time sleeping, and the digital copy had way too many errors for how crafted this came across. Errors in ebooks, I typically ignore because I know getting them set up isn’t always easy and frequently ends up as a bit of an after thought, but with everything else, it just frustrated me.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was prepared to not love this book as much as I did. From the Bukowski worship of the design to the rather overwritten beginning, I was thinking this would be just another musician-writes-a-book vanity project. But it isn't. Buckley can be overly verbose at times, but it perfectly suits the character he has created in Ray Goldman, and the trials and tribulations he puts Goldman through are engaging and intelligent. Poignantly nostalgic, yet brutally honest, I thoroughly enjoyed this book from start to finish.

[Tyler Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a fan of Every Time I Die, I felt compelled to read Keith Buckley’s brief novel about a self-destructive, narcissistic musician finding fame and losing himself in the process. The book maintains a ruthless and deeply philosophical tone, often punctuating its self-seriousness with absurd, slapstick humor.

Buckley’s fictional tales from the road are almost assuredly rooted in his own personal experiences with fame. The prose that he employs to describe the protagonist’s numerous fallouts resulting from drug-fueled, alcohol-induced infidelities may be just as poetic as his famous lyrics.

[Ian P · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Keith Buckley as the former lyricist and lead vocalist of Every Time I Die, and from what I understand of him, this book seems semi-autobiographical, or, least, his representation of the way he wishes he was. It took effort for me to put aside what I understand of Keith as a person, and I'm glad I did, but for me, this book seems like a representation of the delusion that he lives in, and it was hard to get that out of my head throughout the read.

[Jonah Istifan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keith Buckley is my favourite lyricist. For many years of my life I have felt connected deeply to his music; this novel takes my appreciation for him as a writer to incomparable levels.

This book was dense in vocabulary, with true feeling of thoughts and imagery.

Beautifully written and hauntingly provoking.

Highly recommended, and worth multiple reads.

[Donny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kieth Buckley has always been a bit of a wordsmith in his band Every Time I Die, and those talents are on full display here. The story feels choppy at the beginning, but really settles in towards the double-digit chapters. The exploration of Ray is one that Buckley has clearly seen up close, whether through his own experience or one of a friend, which makes the ending all the more affecting.

[meg (the.hidden.colophon) · Rating 2 out of 5]

Keith Buckley’s mind is a wild place.

Every Time I Die is probably my favorite band (RIP) which is the sole reason I’m holding on to this book instead of selling it to the secondhand store. Reading this was not enjoyable whatsoever. However, it was interesting to see how Keith (very obviously) perceives himself.

2 stars.

[Ned Miles · Rating 2 out of 5]

One of the most overwritten, frustrating books I’ve ever read. This is a huge shame as there are flashes when it gets truly enjoyable. I’m a big fan of Buckley on Twitter and ETID in days gone by, so the self indulgence of this was a big letdown.

[Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Long been a fan of Buckley's lyrics, so I was curious how a book from him would work. This seems like a thinly veiled memoir of life on the road with a mildly successful rock band, and all the trouble and tribulations that come with it. Well written and enjoyed a lot.

[Will Drickey]

The worst book I've read this year. Possibly ever. A must-read primer on writing.

[Priyesh Patel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book. Bit too dark for my liking especially after the book I've just read. Beautifully written just like Keiths lyrics in Every Time I Die. Very reminiscent of Bukowski.

[Lindsey.parks · Rating 2 out of 5]

Metaphors.

[AJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chapter 26...that is all I have to say.

[Kieran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bleak, Nihilistic but my kinda read!

[Heather | Nerdy By Nature Blog · Rating 3 out of 5]

I probably would've liked this a bit more had I read it physically. The audio book just had too many noises/music in the background which made it slightly distracting.

[Maddie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love Every Time I Die and I love Keith Buckley's lyrics, but I couldn't get into this whether I was sober or not.

[Ale Garza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best book rec from a bar customer