Broad Street

by Christine Weiser

Broad Street follows the fictive all-girl underground rock-group, Broad Street, through the highs and lows of struggling for success in the male-dominated Philadelphia rock scene circa 1994, a time when underground rock was at its strongest, before the world came crashing down with Kurt Cobain’s suicide.

Genres: Fiction

234 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was nearly half way through this book when I turned to my husband who was reading in bed next to me and began to tell him all the reasons why the protagonist was frustrating me. She is repeatedly making dumb choices and not because she was stupid, but because she didn't have the confidence to stand up for herself. As I settled in to sleep, I let my mind wander, sifting through my thoughts about the book and the character, trying to decide if I wanted to continue on or give up. Hadn't I read a memoir recently called Loose Girl, whose author I was able to identify with even if our lifestyles and choices were so very different? Something happened while I slept. Some sort of shift, and so when I picked up Broad Street again the next morning I was less critical of Kit, and I realized I did want to know what happened next.

It was not that I did not like Kit. Kit is actually a very likeable character. She is friendly, smart and very talented. She works in a job she tolerates because she has bills to pay, is now living on her own after having broken up with a cheating boyfriend, and is feeling even more like she's a disappointment to her family, especially compared to her successful sister who seems to do no wrong. Kit underestimates her own skills and talents. She lacks self-confidence. How many of us understand what that is like? I know I do.

When Kit meets Margo at a party one night, the two get to talking and form an instant bond. They both are quite familiar with the garage music scene in Philadelphia, their boyfriends being in bands. Margo comes across as confident and sure, and yet she is quite insecure on the inside. Her relationship is on rocky ground; much like Kit, she works a ho hum day job, and she feels a bit stuck where she is. She broaches the subject of starting a band with Kit when she discovers that Kit can play the bass guitar, and Kit agrees.

The two women are not experienced players by any means, but they have a willingness to learn and the talent to make it work for them. Finding a suitable drummer proves to be a difficult task. While they have willing candidates, finding the perfect fit is not so easy. Still, the women are able to get their band off the ground, booking shows and performing alongside other respected rock bands. Broad Street is on its way.

Even so, their path is not so easy. The rock scene in Philadelphia during the 1990's was male-dominated and the women often had to struggle harder to get where they wanted to go. They were seen as easy targets by those wanting to take advantage and not always taken so seriously. The competition was fierce, especially among other female bands like their own. Backstabbing and undermining each other’s success was not out of the question. At the same time, their being an all-girl rock band seemed to give them an edge that the men didn't have--they stood out because as a girl's band, they were not all too common.

Drugs, sex and rock-n-roll: Broad Street has it all. The author Christine Weiser has insider knowledge of the local rock band scene, having been in a band herself. She takes readers right into the heart of the garage band culture and does not miss a beat, offering a hard look at how competitive and difficult it can be for any band trying to make a name for itself. And yet, the experience can be very empowering as both Kit and Margo discover. It teaches them more about themselves and the world around them, giving them a confidence they both desperately need.

The second half of the book did get better for me. The focus of the book, while always on Kit, shifted toward the band and her other relationships more specifically and less on Kit and her sexual escapades and drug experimentation. For me, at least, this was when the book really took off. One big turning point in the novel for me was as Kit's relationship with her sister evolved. Kit has always felt that her sister was the favorite child, the one who could do no wrong. The more Kit comes into her own, the more she begins to realize that even her perfect sister is not quite so perfect after all.

There was one scene in particular that struck a chord with me, one I can't go into details about because it would be too much of a spoiler. What I can say, however, is that Kit runs into her boss in an unlikely place, and it comes to light that her boss is 35 years old. It hit me at that moment how much younger Kit and Margo were than I am, and why I might not so easily be able to relate to them. Even so, we are not all that different. I think many of us can relate to feeling stuck, wanting purpose and new direction in life, and to be more sure of ourselves.

I am not sure Broad Street is really my type of book, when all is said and done. I got something out of it in the end, but it took me a while to get there. I do think that Christine Weiser has a promising career ahead of her as an author, and from what I have heard of the book she currently is working on (a mystery), it sounds like it will be a good one. I think this was more a case of the book not matching the reader. The author is well worth checking out if you are drawn to these types of stories.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Broad Street is a fun novel about the Philadelphia indie rock scene circa 1994. Think Sex and the City with guitars, and you'll get a sense of what the book is all about. Anyone who's ever dreamed of making a go of a career in the music industry will enjoy this one immensely.

[Kimberly Erskine · Rating 3 out of 5]

Broad Street is a novel that focuses around the life of Kit Greene and her new-found best friend, Margo Bevilacqua. This novel opens up by telling the story of how Kit recently broke up with her cheating boyfriend, Dale. Dale has always been a musician and Kit has always been in the background. Through Dale, Kit has gained valuable experience regarding the ins and outs of the Philadelphia music scene. On the downside, through Dale, Kit seems to have lost two very valuable things: 1. Her sense of identity and 2. Her voice.

Breakups are hard for everyone, especially when the relationship was long-term, and Kit is no exception. Weiser does an excellent job setting the mood and showing the emotional side of Kit’s breakup in a way that is not self-depreciating or self-pitying. Sure, Kit has a broken heart and is making some stupid decisions as she tries to pick up the pieces, but the last thing in the world Kit wants is your sympathy or worst yet – your pity. Instead, Kit is determined to move on with her life and recreate her new Dale-free identity.

In order to help Kit out of her slump her friend Noelle invites her to a party at her friend Pete and his girlfriend, Margo’s house. Kit and Margo immediately bond over their shared interest in music and their love for female musicians. The solution to all of Kit’s problem seems to rest in the creation of a new all-girl band, one that includes her as the bass player and backing vocals and Margo as the lead singer.

But starting an all-girl band is not as easy or as simple as it sounds. It involves constantly going through drummer after drummer, a fierce cat fight with another competing band, the Pussy Willows, endless dates and night of regret, friendships and love and heartbreaks and fights. The music never stops, but neither does the drama.

At it’s surface, Broad Street was exactly the kind of novel that I should have loved. It was set in Philadelphia, the same city I live twenty minutes away from and travel to each day for work. I saw much of myself in Kit – she worked in Philadelphia as a copywriter and loved music. I work in Philadelphia as a Web Content Writer and love music as well. We’ve both made out fair amount of mistakes with dating and relationships in the past and seem to be searching for something more in life.

Also, the book was published by Philadelphia Stories and dedicated to Carla Spataro. Many of my professors at Rowan University worked for or were somehow involved with this publisher and Carla Spataro used to be a professor in my department. Although I don’t know Christine Weiser and am not familiar with any of her other works, I am very familiar with the publisher and Carla Spataro.

However, the book ended up falling flat and being a bit on the disappointing side. It wasn’t completely terrible, but it did seem a bit long-winded and pointless at time. I kept waiting for something big to happen, but nothing too interesting ever really did happen. The band practiced and had drama. They got a show and their was drama but they still played. Kit got drunk and had sex with someone from one of the bands and woke up with a lot of regret the next day if she remembered it at all. Charlie is some guy who is sweet that she never gives a fair chance to who is always kind of in the background. Margo always has a big mouth and is kind of bad ass but not the main character. The end.

I really wanted to see Kit make a name for herself or find herself but I’m not sure she ever really did. It seems like the band is close to getting a record deal at the end of the novel, but you’re not entirely sure if they do or not. It kind of seems like the end of the band may be within hindsight since Margo wants to go back to school to study agriculture. Margo seems to find herself more than Kit ever does. Margo is also in many ways a much more interesting character and I almost wonder why she wasn’t the main character to begin with. I would definitely be interested in reading a sequel if it was told from her point of view.

Another thing that turned me off with this novel is the writing itself. The writing was very clumsy at times, especially towards the end. There were many typos especially in regards to having some missing words. I liked the first person point of view, but I think it could have been stronger. Despite being in Kit’s head through the entire novel I still felt like I didn’t really know her or what she was thinking or feeling. She still felt really distant to me and again I’m not sure this was the right character to use as the narrator; the novel probably would’ve benefited from having Margo as the main character and narrator.

I don’t regret reading Broad Street, but it’s not something I’d recommend running to the book store or going out of your way to read, either. 3 out of 5 stars.

[lilly · Rating 2 out of 5]

i was really drawn in by the concept of a kickass 90's feminist rock band story (and the super cool cover), but ultimately, i felt like this book fell short on its promises. nothing about the characters' behaviors felt feminist to me, even when considering the time period the story took place. the main character kit was boring, and her bandmate margo was just an awful friend all around. i was also surprised at the amount of typos and grammatical errors in this book, considering it was written by a professional editor! overall, i unfortunately wasn't very impressed by this story. my favorite paragraph in the whole book was the last one (before the epilogue), and i wish the whole book evoked the same sentiments as that paragraph.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm such a dork that I had no idea this was set in the 90s until Kurt Cobain dies at the end.

Totally enjoyable because it's set in Philadelphia. (The omnipresent City Paper reported is an awesome touch). Good find in the library.

Kinda hard to deal with the protagonist's self loathing. There's some growth by the end as well as context. But her fundamental misread of some situations makes you want to see the story from her band mate's perspective too.

[Turunn · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. I didn’t enjoy the main character from the beginning. There is no reason to force that which you aren’t enjoying.

[Ronald Fischman · Rating 4 out of 5]

My days of sex ‘n’ drugs ‘n’ rock ‘n’ roll may be a long time behind me. However, I am not alone in my admiration of people who pursue their dream and their passion. Christine Weiser is such a person. The author of Broad Street, a story of a young twentysomething who finds a passion in music and taps into a talent that she did not know she had, Weiser brings the reader into the life of young musicians, musician wannabes, and hangers-on in a way that puts the reader on the stage, in the studio, and between the sheets.

The narrator, Kit, starts the story as the humiliated ex-girlfriend of a struggling musician. She has a bass guitar in her sparse collection of stuff that survives the breakup. The bass guitar begins as an afterthought – something not returned to a cheater who deserves it back – over his head. She starts out as a Horatio Alger hero for the modern age – a girl in a modern-day sweatshop, proofreading texts for medical authors, under the hawk-eye of a boss who makes her tremble. The musical life, that she has found through her boyfriend, serves as her escape. Her self-loathing is amplified by the presence of her sister, Lizzie, who is beautiful, smart, witty, and in love with a married man.

Margo enters Kit’s life through a band party in which they click over the small talk of the trade. What unites them is more the revenge fantasy of forming a band and surpassing their cheating boyfriends than their passion for musical expression. While hatching the plan for the band, from which Broad Street gets its name, the young women find that they really do have passion, and they can write sweet songs, angry songs, and passionate songs in addition to revenge songs. More importantly to them, they become best friends. Diligently, they work to master their instruments, find a permanent drummer, and become the best girl band in Philadelphia. Throughout the birth and launch of the band, we find the young women, especially Kit, drunk, hung over, and naked next to a man they didn’t know or who exploited them. Screwing and getting screwed. A continuous metaphor for the music business from women who were still at its periphery.

Kit’s great triumph comes near the end of the book, when she reconciles with the father from whom she badly longed to win respect. Because she needed some money to produce a professional demo, she has to make nice with Papa – where she is redeemed when he tells her that she doesn’t need to make it big to win his love.

Does the band hit it big? Do they get that breakthrough recording contract? Those are not the key questions asked by Broad Street. Rather, the book asks the question, “What does a young person need in order to emerge as a fully fledged adult in the postmodern world?” No one who reads this book can look back at her own postcollegiate years the same way.

[Darlene · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was contacted by Clea Mahoney who works for Philadelphia Stories, a small non-profit arts & literature publication. They recently started a book publishing division and Broad Street is their first released novel. She asked if I'd read and review Broad Street for my blog and I'm so glad I did because I really enjoyed it.

The novel follows Kit and Margo as they decide on one very drunken night to form a band in order to get back at the men in their lives who are both in bands themselves. What follows is an absolutely crazy ride full of seedy bars, bikers, wild parties, trying to secure gigs and most of all trying to get themselves a decent drummer while trying to succeed in a male dominated business back in the mid-90's.

The author really draws us into the lives of these girls especially Kit's and it turns out that Kit was my favorite character in spite of some of the things she did which horrified me. At the start of the novel Kit has just broken up with her boyfriend Dale and is feeling more than a little lost. She ends up going to the party where she meets Margo and she's feeling out of place with all these people who knew her when she was a couple so she resorts to more than a few drinks which ends in her drunken agreement to form a band. They start practicing together and get some gigs and begin meeting a lot of people. Kit somehow ends up drifting off in the wrong direction in terms of alcohol, drugs and sex though and she makes a lot of really unwise decisions. At the same time you ask yourself is this part of the whole scene or is it just Kit trying to find out who she really is and where she belongs? What I liked best was as the story progresses we can see Kit changing and realizing just how much she really does have to offer to herself, her family and the world around her.

I really enjoyed the book and read it in a couple of sitttings. I was hooked from the first page and interested to find out how things would end for Kit. For those who find the rock scene with alcohol, drugs and sex offensive then you may not like the book but this book holds so much more than that in terms of strong women and finding yourself in a sometimes mixed up world. Anyone interested in forming a band or is part of one would definitely enjoy it. For me it was a fun and fast read.

The author, Christine Weiser is part of her own band, Mae Pang, which she coincidentally formed with a friend of hers and they too had a hard time securing a drummer.

http://peekingbetweenthepages.blogspo...

[Meredith Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

oh my. this book was like a crash; i didn't want to see it but i couldn't look away.

first off, the time this novel is set seems to bounce around at will, putting itself in whatever year is appropriate for the current action. second, it's funny that the main character is a proofreader when there are so many blatant mistakes in this book - capitalization, spelling, etc. at one point, they're watching a videotape and it's referred to as a disc; i don't know about you but i never heard anyone call a vhs tape that...a dvd, yes.

the characters were completely one-dimensional and the story was very weak. seemingly important characters were introduced, only to never be seen again. all the little twists (the record guy is shady? nuh-uh!) were obvious.

it's a shame because i had a lot of hope for this book - i thought it would be an awesome tale about a cool girl band in early 90s philadelphia. it wanted to be that but didn't achieve it. the book might have been more interesting from margo's point of view, actually. kit is a terribly unlikeable main character.

one final thought: the fact that there was another girl band in the book and the two bands had this rivalry (there can only be one all-girl band ruling philly!) was extremely contrived and very un-feminist, something i thought the book was trying to be.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fast and Fun, Girl-Band Broad Street Rocks!
A debut novel for Christine Weiser. Christine knows whereof she speaks, having "been there and done that". The characters begin as "dumped" by their band member boyfriends, depressed, and lacking confidence, but getting together and forming their own band, as Kit describes it "garage rockabilly punk", with the intent to "show" the guys, and even outshine them, turns out to be exactly what they need. The characters are fun, enjoying the limelight perhaps too much, and gaining recognition as they go along. It is a story with many ups and downs that ring true in the world of rock. Playing in seedy bars, drugs, sex, wipeout drunken day-after mornings, cons, backstabbing and camaraderie, all are there, along with the constant search for replacement drummers. It's fast-paced, witty, bonding, with a sense of strength building among the girls from the start to the end of the book. The ending took me a bit by surprise. I felt the story itself was a bit crowded, in that what normally would take years seemed to take only weeks. A light, fun and quick read, this book would probably most appeal to the late teen through 20s crowd.

[Sunny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although I enjoyed this book, I gave it three stars because it does not seem like the author knew how to end the book. I was left with a feeling that I was given a delicious meal but not enough to fill my appetite. The book was a fast read and it was very fun to read about the rock and roll lifestyle of the 90's which is the time period this book was set in.[return][return]I would most likely not recommend this book to my friends as this is not the type of literature they are usually interested in. But for those who like rock and roll, this would be a good book for them. And I especially think this book would be good for those who were in the music scene in the early 90's or have an appreciation for grunge.

[Karen Toz · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a former college DJ in the late 80s & a lover of good garage band live music, I really enjoyed this book. Christine Weiser did a wonderful job of bringing the music scene to life. I loved getting to know Kit, the main character and bass player for Broad Street - cheering her on and relating to many of her struggles. In addition, reading about some of the classic Philadelphia haunts such as the Trocadero and Middle East brought back some great (& crazy) memories for me. Definitely a fun and interesting read.

[Alycia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great book especially if you are familiar with Philadelphia. She goes to Oscar's more than once! Her writing style is easy and makes you want to keep reading.

There were a few timing issues that made me wonder what year this book was supposed to take place in. At the end, you find out exactly what year it is, so some things mentioned are definitely post 1994.
Also, this woman took way too many cabs for where she was going but it was the 90's, so maybe it's right on that it wasn't as safe to walk around. And I wanted more closure with her sister, but I guess that's life!

[Suzanne Sotzing · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could say I liked this book more, but I just couldn't get into it. It just seemed to plod along and go nowhere. The characters were totally forgettable and the main character was so insipid that I just wanted to slap her. The bad choices she continued to make over and over again just added to my frustration. To agree with some other reviewers, this novel is supposedly set in the early 1990s and some things just don't make sense. I don't recall everyone having access to cell phones...and if they did, they were huge devices that certainly wouldn't fit in someone's handbag.

[courtney · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is a fun, quick read about a mid-90s rock band comprised (mostly) of women. the book is satisfyingly familiar, set in philly bars and clubs i have been to. i loved the tension wieser creates between "real life/real job" and the music. and i loved that she raises questions of what role does feminism have in the rock world, what is expected of women today, and are we fools for wondering?

[Marina · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really fun! A very easy read. It brought back such memories of the Philly music scene in the 90's. It was especially poignant having been a band gal during that time in Philadelphia. I thought there were some great feminist themes, and I would have enjoyed reading a bit more of the author's ideas on that theme.

[Michelle]

Love...love...love this book!!!!

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun, fast-pace book about a girl punk band in Philly in the 90's. Great book club read!!!!!

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was so much fun to read. Weiser creates this fabulous world of chick rockers, booze, men with a skillfully written dose of uncertainty, wit and truth.