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Fender Benders
What would happen if you took A Star Is Born, crossed it with Fargo, and set it in Nashville? Eddie Long plans to be a country music star, but he's stuck touring the Mississippi casino circuit. But after his nagging wife apparently dies at the hands of a serial killer, Eddie writes the best song of his life. It goes straight to number one -- and all hell breaks loose. Freelance music writer Jimmy Rogers senses a great opportunity and sets out to write the life story of Nashville's newest sensation. But Jimmy's research unearths some troubling facts about the death of Eddie's wife, facts that could ruin Eddie's burgeoning career -- while making Jimmy a star. Throw in a beautiful and opportunistic country radio deejay, a pair of wily record producers, and a naive young singer-songwriter, and the stage is set. Everybody plans to make a killing -- one way or another. It's murder on Music Row, where things don't always turn out as planned.
336 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
18 people are currently reading
393 people want to read
About the author
Bill Fitzhugh
23 books111 followersBill Fitzhugh worked at several FM rock radio stations in the 1970s and 1980s. Born and raised in Jackson, Mississippi, he prefers The Band, Little Feat, and Van Morrison to Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath, and Iron Butterfly. The author of numerous screenplays and five comic novels, he lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his record collection.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
September 12, 2013
Money turns otherwise rational people into shitheads, and people with more money than sense often turn out to be the biggest shitheads of all. And fame amplifies small idiosyncrasies into major catastrophes, to include drug use, fornication, and anger management issues. These themes run rampant in Bill Fitzhugh’s masterpiece.
Eddie Long, a talented artist looking for his big break, gets it on both ends: Megan Taylor, a newly attached love interest, who is the pitch-perfect gold digger and Big Bill, a record executive with three ex-wives, who’s as unscrupulous as any political fat cat in the DC metropolitan area. Big Bill talks with one hand and shoves every bill he can find down the front of his massive drawers with the other, mostly off of unsuspecting artists too wet-behind-the-ears to notice. And he talks faster than a locomotive without brakes.
As for the best way to describe this book, it’s like Metallica combined with Carrie Underwood and Eminem. For the first part of FENDER BENDERS, I felt like I had wrapped an axle around a tree, but the car was still running, and so I checked my rearview to make sure no one had seen me or the tree, and then I peeled back out onto the highway and kept my eyes on the horizon. Sure, this novel can be discombobulated at times, mostly near the first half of the book, but like my torn up wheels, as long as it helps me reach my final destination, I’m willing to get a bit sidetracked along the way, especially when the payoff makes me glad I took a slight detour. And it all comes together like a 100 piece orchestra reaching the dramatic crescendo.
As for the insights into the music industry, they were refreshing, completely believable (clearly Mr. Fitzhugh has done his homework), and not overdone, at least not any more outlandish than the rest of the novel, which had me in stitches at times. But I ended up getting rather peeved at Nashville, the music industry, and all the ways artists get ripped off in the name of stuffing some fat cat’s bank account. The starving artist never comes out ahead, no sir. Sure, it’s easy to take this novel tongue-in-cheek, but what really caused the air around me to turn hotter than a sauna is that there’s an element of truth, and possibly even more so than just an element, in what this novel brings to light about overzealous pocket stuffing. I mean, when lawyers are showing more morals than record executives clearly there’s a level of corruption proliferating that would make even Enron and WorldCom blush.
If Bill Fitzhugh ever ended up in his own story, he’d be placed in a straightjacket, handcuffed to a bed, and pumped so full of meds, he’d think the world was painted in rainbows with popsicle sticks. So for those of you who like humor, with eccentric characters and eccentric reads being your modus operandi, then you might want to hop in your Mercedes and head on down the highway, where the tea is always sweet, the shrimp are always fried, and your only source of music is country.
Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
Eddie Long, a talented artist looking for his big break, gets it on both ends: Megan Taylor, a newly attached love interest, who is the pitch-perfect gold digger and Big Bill, a record executive with three ex-wives, who’s as unscrupulous as any political fat cat in the DC metropolitan area. Big Bill talks with one hand and shoves every bill he can find down the front of his massive drawers with the other, mostly off of unsuspecting artists too wet-behind-the-ears to notice. And he talks faster than a locomotive without brakes.
As for the best way to describe this book, it’s like Metallica combined with Carrie Underwood and Eminem. For the first part of FENDER BENDERS, I felt like I had wrapped an axle around a tree, but the car was still running, and so I checked my rearview to make sure no one had seen me or the tree, and then I peeled back out onto the highway and kept my eyes on the horizon. Sure, this novel can be discombobulated at times, mostly near the first half of the book, but like my torn up wheels, as long as it helps me reach my final destination, I’m willing to get a bit sidetracked along the way, especially when the payoff makes me glad I took a slight detour. And it all comes together like a 100 piece orchestra reaching the dramatic crescendo.
As for the insights into the music industry, they were refreshing, completely believable (clearly Mr. Fitzhugh has done his homework), and not overdone, at least not any more outlandish than the rest of the novel, which had me in stitches at times. But I ended up getting rather peeved at Nashville, the music industry, and all the ways artists get ripped off in the name of stuffing some fat cat’s bank account. The starving artist never comes out ahead, no sir. Sure, it’s easy to take this novel tongue-in-cheek, but what really caused the air around me to turn hotter than a sauna is that there’s an element of truth, and possibly even more so than just an element, in what this novel brings to light about overzealous pocket stuffing. I mean, when lawyers are showing more morals than record executives clearly there’s a level of corruption proliferating that would make even Enron and WorldCom blush.
If Bill Fitzhugh ever ended up in his own story, he’d be placed in a straightjacket, handcuffed to a bed, and pumped so full of meds, he’d think the world was painted in rainbows with popsicle sticks. So for those of you who like humor, with eccentric characters and eccentric reads being your modus operandi, then you might want to hop in your Mercedes and head on down the highway, where the tea is always sweet, the shrimp are always fried, and your only source of music is country.
Cross-posted at Robert's Reads
July 12, 2017
This was my first reading of author Fitzhugh and definitely won't be the last. This book had a little bit of everything. Aspiring young country singer, Nashville, Music Row history, music producers & agents dirty tricks, those that made it and those that didn't, murder, mystery and plenty of humor. Humor may be a bit dark for some but I enjoyed this book so much I finished it in two settings. Would highly recommend to others. You definitely won't get a "headache" from reading it.
January 5, 2017
Second book in the DIE LAUGHING box set. As a fan of music,this keep me interested from the very first page until the ending. Bill Fitzhugh is right up there with Paul Levine, Carl Hiaasen and Tim Dorsey in my opinion!
June 21, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book, but still confused about who the biggest killer was...
April 24, 2021
If you understand the statement “Writing about music is like dancing about architecture,” then you will know some of why I have such a hard time describing the extreme pleasure I had reading FENDER BENDERS.
Eddie Long had a plan. He wanted to become a country music star, so he set about making it happen. He practiced his guitar, took some classes at night school, and started playing at dives and bars, paying his dues. When his wife Tammy died suddenly, a deep and profound song found its way from his soul. Not a dry eye remained in the house the night he debuted “It Wasn’t Supposed to End That Way.” Eddie knew he had a hit, so he moved on to Nashville.
Now Jimmy Rogers followed Eddie’s career from the very beginning. He figured there was a book in this story somewhere, depending on whether Eddie made it big or not. Jimmy’s girl Megan had eyes for Eddie, too, but with something very different than a book in mind.
About the time Eddie met up with the artist management firm of Herron & Peavy in Nashville and struck the most unique contract known to country music, Jimmy was frantically working on Eddie’s biography and discovering that Eddie’s wife didn’t die naturally. Neither did three other people who had headaches one night. Seems like a serial killer might be on the loose.
Add to that the fact that Herron and Peavy weren’t exactly choir boys. Twisted legal contracts and complicated money schemes bring some disgruntled clients to this scenario. Take all these ingredients, mix, and you have the wild romp that ensues in FENDER BENDERS.
It takes an ingenious and wacky mind to take all these varied storylines and have them flow so incredibly smoothly. I am amazed at just how well all the clues tumbled together and fell over each other. Coincidence? No way. Kind of like writing a song where all the elements must gel just right. Poetry to music. Understated hilarity is what Bill Fitzhugh brings with his writing.
Not knowing much about the country music business detracted nothing from my enjoyment of this inspired frenzy. Expert details were scattered liberally throughout the story. I never knew what the differences between, say, digital and analog recording sessions were, but I have a pretty good inkling about it now. Was this explanation just a way to show off Fitzhugh’s research? Nope. A well calculated clue, just as every detail included was. Turns out that the explanation was integral to the story, I just didn’t know it until later.
It bewildered me how what should have been such a simple story could become so incredibly elaborate yet could also be so very subtle as to have me doubting my own senses. I am not quite sure which direction is up, but I am sure that this was a highly satisfying tale that left me breathless and smiling. Be sure to treat yourself with this refreshingly different view of reality.
Disclaimer: Any similarities between my husband “Bill Herron” and the character “Big Bill Herron” are completely imagined, except for the name.
Eddie Long had a plan. He wanted to become a country music star, so he set about making it happen. He practiced his guitar, took some classes at night school, and started playing at dives and bars, paying his dues. When his wife Tammy died suddenly, a deep and profound song found its way from his soul. Not a dry eye remained in the house the night he debuted “It Wasn’t Supposed to End That Way.” Eddie knew he had a hit, so he moved on to Nashville.
Now Jimmy Rogers followed Eddie’s career from the very beginning. He figured there was a book in this story somewhere, depending on whether Eddie made it big or not. Jimmy’s girl Megan had eyes for Eddie, too, but with something very different than a book in mind.
About the time Eddie met up with the artist management firm of Herron & Peavy in Nashville and struck the most unique contract known to country music, Jimmy was frantically working on Eddie’s biography and discovering that Eddie’s wife didn’t die naturally. Neither did three other people who had headaches one night. Seems like a serial killer might be on the loose.
Add to that the fact that Herron and Peavy weren’t exactly choir boys. Twisted legal contracts and complicated money schemes bring some disgruntled clients to this scenario. Take all these ingredients, mix, and you have the wild romp that ensues in FENDER BENDERS.
It takes an ingenious and wacky mind to take all these varied storylines and have them flow so incredibly smoothly. I am amazed at just how well all the clues tumbled together and fell over each other. Coincidence? No way. Kind of like writing a song where all the elements must gel just right. Poetry to music. Understated hilarity is what Bill Fitzhugh brings with his writing.
Not knowing much about the country music business detracted nothing from my enjoyment of this inspired frenzy. Expert details were scattered liberally throughout the story. I never knew what the differences between, say, digital and analog recording sessions were, but I have a pretty good inkling about it now. Was this explanation just a way to show off Fitzhugh’s research? Nope. A well calculated clue, just as every detail included was. Turns out that the explanation was integral to the story, I just didn’t know it until later.
It bewildered me how what should have been such a simple story could become so incredibly elaborate yet could also be so very subtle as to have me doubting my own senses. I am not quite sure which direction is up, but I am sure that this was a highly satisfying tale that left me breathless and smiling. Be sure to treat yourself with this refreshingly different view of reality.
Disclaimer: Any similarities between my husband “Bill Herron” and the character “Big Bill Herron” are completely imagined, except for the name.
July 29, 2018
Written by a former radio guy, this book is pegged as a mystery set with a backdrop of the Nashville music scene, but it's really more of a parody and offbeat look at the record business and radio than it is a mystery. The characters are quirky and a bit stereotyped--but the best part of the book for me was the inside jokes that only someone familiar with the record industry or radio would understand. Recommended for anyone who's worked in radio or the music business and is in need of a few laughs.
February 2, 2019
Another fun, fast read. This is the third book by Fitzhugh I've read, and the commentary, characters, pacing, plotting, and creativity serve well to mitigate the darkness and cynicism that underlie the whole story. Fitzhugh has a great knack for language and setting, but I wished there were more revelations at the end. In fact, I wished it had been longer so that all the various arcs could have been better interwoven.
May 29, 2019
An effective entry into the humorous crime novel genre that takes place in and around the Nashville country music industry at the turn of the century. The story tends to drag occasionally when overtaken by the intricacies of music recording and publishing, and the book's main plot twist is easily guessed way before its gradual reveal, but Bill Fitzhugh introduces enough colorful characters and interesting side plots (even if some of them never go anywhere, including an inexplicable and obtuse running gag about attributing a quote to a musician) to keep the story engaging and entertaining until the end.
December 11, 2020
It wasn’t a bad book but it took me forever. I couldn’t get into the swing of it for some reason. It had all the right elements, funny murder mystery but for some reason I couldn’t pick up the tempo. Oh well.
February 19, 2021
This book was in a bundle of five “comic crime novels” I downloaded. This one was structurally well written and pretty interesting, but it was much too long and far from hilarious. About 1/4 should have been edited out.
February 28, 2022
A fun, funny, southern-fried thriller. The characters are colorful, lovable, and surprising and I love all the insider info on the country music business. All the twists and turns kept me turning pages late into the night.
March 4, 2025
Not the best of the Fitzhugh books in my opinion, but still worth a read. Eddie and his BFF Jimmy both have dreams of making it big and work toward making those dreams a reality, regardless of who is in their way. Lots of scheming, wheelin' and dealin'.
October 16, 2025
Entertaining from first page to last
Entertaining from first page to last. The technical side was over my head, but never detracted from the story. I plan to follow this up with more from Bill.
Entertaining from first page to last. The technical side was over my head, but never detracted from the story. I plan to follow this up with more from Bill.
August 28, 2017
My first Fitzhugh. I'll read more.
April 28, 2021
Fun ride through the Nashville music scene, with all the local landmarks featured.
July 15, 2023
I like Bill Fitzhugh's plotting, but this one took a really long time to get into.
May 16, 2025
DNF 50%, this felt like it wasn’t going anywhere. Pass
July 29, 2025
funny enough but convoluted and I got bored. DNF
February 9, 2016
Eddie Long knows that he can be the next country superstar and he just needs the right break to convince everyone else that he is just what Nashville needs. He has spent several years headlining at bars, casinos and frat parties while his wife Tammy stayed at home not being completely faithful to her country boy hubby. Tammy seemingly meets her maker at the hands of a poisoning serial killer and the distraught Eddie feels a song bubbling up from inside his soul. "It Wasn't Supposed to End this Way" is Eddie's anthem for his lost love and it puts him on the fast track on the country music scene. An ingeneous internet campaign, unscrupulous managers and a bossy girlfriend named Megan help Eddie achieve the stardom he knew he was destined for.
A freelance writer, and friend of Eddie's, named Jimmie Rogers has been following Eddie's career since the early days. The gold-digging Megan had been Jimmie's girl until she saw greener pastures and much more income with Eddie. Jimmie had been writing Eddie's biography and now sees a new and exciting angle could be added to the book. What if Eddie were the murderer? As Eddie's star rises in Nashville publishing houses clamor for Jimmie's manuscript and soon Jimmie has a national best-seller on his hands.
This is the second book I have read by Fitzhugh and although I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first ("Heart Seizure") this was still a fun ride through the music scene. The author writes with a great deal of humor and really fleshes out his characters very well. There were so many secondary characters in this story that it was difficult to keep them all straight although by the end of the book they had all played a part in Eddie's story. The mystery itself was not important but it made for a great "did he or didn't he" storyline.
A freelance writer, and friend of Eddie's, named Jimmie Rogers has been following Eddie's career since the early days. The gold-digging Megan had been Jimmie's girl until she saw greener pastures and much more income with Eddie. Jimmie had been writing Eddie's biography and now sees a new and exciting angle could be added to the book. What if Eddie were the murderer? As Eddie's star rises in Nashville publishing houses clamor for Jimmie's manuscript and soon Jimmie has a national best-seller on his hands.
This is the second book I have read by Fitzhugh and although I didn't enjoy this one as much as the first ("Heart Seizure") this was still a fun ride through the music scene. The author writes with a great deal of humor and really fleshes out his characters very well. There were so many secondary characters in this story that it was difficult to keep them all straight although by the end of the book they had all played a part in Eddie's story. The mystery itself was not important but it made for a great "did he or didn't he" storyline.
August 18, 2013
This was one wacky look at the country music industry. The author managed to create an interesting situation (aspiring country music star's wife dies and he writes a song about losing her that is so full of hurt and pain it becomes an instant success) and continually toss in interesting plot twists while poking fun at the industry itself and revealing how some producers function.
If I was more "in-the-know" about the player in country music I might have actually recognized the thinly disguised characters. However, I was so busy enjoying the fast-paced story, the clever dialogue, the well placed plot twists, that I didn't even realize that it wasn't a mystery at all, but rather an expose of the the industry disguised as a comic-filled novel. The guy slipping poison into the headache powder is never exposed, never uncovered, and his motivation for murder is never revealed.. why? Because the novel is about the country music world...
A good book and a lot of fun.
If I was more "in-the-know" about the player in country music I might have actually recognized the thinly disguised characters. However, I was so busy enjoying the fast-paced story, the clever dialogue, the well placed plot twists, that I didn't even realize that it wasn't a mystery at all, but rather an expose of the the industry disguised as a comic-filled novel. The guy slipping poison into the headache powder is never exposed, never uncovered, and his motivation for murder is never revealed.. why? Because the novel is about the country music world...
A good book and a lot of fun.
February 9, 2017
Fun funny stuff!!
September 23, 2012
Of all the books by Fitzhugh I like this the best. I love the bitter humour, the original plot and, most of all, the terrifyingly authentic horror stories from the insides of the music industry. guaranteed to strike fear into the hearts of all creative people. but what a relief to read it like it really is
oh, and did i say how heartbreakingly funny?
love the characters, and love the style.
Fitzhugh, i only have one reservation: why don't you write any more?
p.s. this is so frighteningly accurate that I even referred to it (only to myself of course) during recent contract negotiations.
talk about gallows humour...
read it and you'll know what I mean.
oh, and did i say how heartbreakingly funny?
love the characters, and love the style.
Fitzhugh, i only have one reservation: why don't you write any more?
p.s. this is so frighteningly accurate that I even referred to it (only to myself of course) during recent contract negotiations.
talk about gallows humour...
read it and you'll know what I mean.
August 12, 2014
I got this as part of Die Laughing: 5 comic capers for $.99 from the Kindle store. The other books are Lost Vegas By Steve Brewer, Favor by Parnell Hall, Habeas Porpoise by Paul Levine, and Buck Fever by Ben Rehder. I love all the Ben Rehder and Bill Fitzhugh books I've read so I didn't mind taking a chance on the other 3 for less then a buck. I've already read Buck Fever a few times but I'm glad to own it digitally. Ben Rehder is a great author! Fender Benders is a good read and if you like both kinds of music, Country and Western, you may appreciate it more.
February 28, 2014
Oooooh, I LOVE this guy! Silly, funny, witty, an evil disection of the Nashville music scene and country music marketing, along with a mystery that only sorta gets solved. "Her smile was as wide as Junior Samples," "He was starting to sweat like a pedophile on a playground" -- this man can turn a phrase! Lots of fun!
July 20, 2014
Needs a proofreader
Needs a proofreader
It's a fun book, a bit cliche. I read on kindle and I wonder if the published edition of a decade and more ago has all those typos and bigger errors. or did they submit a rough document for e-book. A book with an established publishing house and a history should be more polished.
Needs a proofreader
It's a fun book, a bit cliche. I read on kindle and I wonder if the published edition of a decade and more ago has all those typos and bigger errors. or did they submit a rough document for e-book. A book with an established publishing house and a history should be more polished.
August 20, 2014
This was a crazy fun story set just before cell phones were common and digital media was beginning to alter the music industry. The narrative includes all sorts of details about how artists create the tunes that eventually make it on the air. The best elements were related to the backstory of murder and intrigue that give the tale an edge. It was a lot more fun than I expected.
May 2, 2008
Great parody of the current "country" music business in Nashville and kind of a fun murder mystery. I think it was just OK for me because it jumped around a lot and I couldn't quite tell who did what to whom for how many jelly beans.
March 23, 2011
The murder plot never really gets resolved which is kind of nice and frustrating all at the same time. A part of me wants to know who actually did it but the other part really likes that it leaves it up to the reader. Otherwise a funny book and a fun read.
July 9, 2015
I struggled with reading this book; mainly because I'm not particularly interested in the subject matter. However, I plodded on until I finished it and found it was well-written - I just couldn't empathize with most of the characters. Still, I rated it 4.4 stars.
September 9, 2016
Great story, fun characters, I could almost smell the sawdust on the Opry floor. Music, murder, conspiracies, and the best shrimp in the south. What more could a tale about making the big time in Nashville need?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews