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Sound on Sound
This inventive first novel deflates the same myths of rock and roll that it glorifies in a vivid exploration of pop culture and the shattered society that emerged from the 1980s. Hi-Fi, a third-rate New York bar band, plays another in a desultory series of low-paying gigs as Reagan's inaugural speech drones from a TV in the background. Equipment falters, band members flex their egos, and the regular crowd shifts from boredom to borderline violence. What begins as an inauspicious account of a typical evening at a nightclub soon gives way to a stupefying catalog of trivia about Hi-Fi, the band with the "suburb sound and the suburb feel."
- GenresNovels
210 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1995
About the author
Christopher Sorrentino
15 books43 followersChristopher Sorrentino (born May 20, 1963) is an American novelist and short story writer of Puerto Rican descent. He is the son of novelist Gilbert Sorrentino and Victoria Ortiz. His first published novel, Sound on Sound (1995), draws upon innovations pioneered in the work of his father, but also contains echoes of many other modernist and postmodernist writers. The book is structured according to the format of a multitrack recording session, with corresponding section titles ("Secondary Percussion", "Vocals", "Playback", and so forth).
His second novel, Trance (2005), an epic fictional treatment of the Patty Hearst saga, used many of the same experimental techniques as Sound on Sound, but, according to Sorrentino, incorporated them more carefully and subtly into the text. The book was widely praised for its lush descriptions, riveting characterizations and dialogue, imaginative departures, and attention to period detail. Trance ended up on several reviewers' "best" lists, was named a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction, and was longlisted for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2009, Trance was named one of the "61 Essential Postmodern Reads" by the Los Angeles Times.
His second novel, Trance (2005), an epic fictional treatment of the Patty Hearst saga, used many of the same experimental techniques as Sound on Sound, but, according to Sorrentino, incorporated them more carefully and subtly into the text. The book was widely praised for its lush descriptions, riveting characterizations and dialogue, imaginative departures, and attention to period detail. Trance ended up on several reviewers' "best" lists, was named a finalist for the 2005 National Book Award for Fiction, and was longlisted for the 2007 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. In 2009, Trance was named one of the "61 Essential Postmodern Reads" by the Los Angeles Times.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 28, 2013
Chris Sorrentino’s debut novel, only and barely available in hardcover, continues the daring and exciting formal adventures found in his father Gilbert Sorrentino’s novels. Structured around five aspects of musical composition and recording, Sound on Sound concerns the hopeless rock band Hi-Fi and their inaugural divebar concert. Making use of Gilbert-approved techniques like detached descriptions (of photos), cryptic footnotes, hilarious parodies, lists, sardonic third-person narration and sly metafictive flourishes, Sorrentino dissects a generation of late-seventies brats posing as nihilists and riffs on the spurious self-mythologizing of rock musicians and the critics who participate. The novel can be read in any order, with the wonderful crankiness of ‘Solo’ and the Q&A format of ‘Vocals’ the most engaging chapters. Chris Sorrentino has an excellent website with an updated archive of his work (including essays on Gil).
August 13, 2026
I came across this book by chance looking through the shelves at Myopic Books here in Chicago. Sitting next to a copy of his father’s Pack of Lies trilogy I was curious about this hardcover Dalkey release that I had never heard of.
Sound on Sound is Christopher Sorrentino’s debut novel. Released in 1995 it hits at an interesting time in American Literature and pop culture. Postmodernism was in a state of revival, progressing past its 60s/70s avante garde into the 1990s mainstream status quo. Sound on Sound is an experimental novel in its own right, utilizing a narrative structure unlike any other I’ve read.
The narrative of Sound on Sound uses a structure that mirrors that of a recording studio. Each section of this book lays a new “track” that adds to the story and elaborates on the last section. It’s said that you could read these sections in any order but I really think there is intention in the way this story is laid out and reading it in order.
The first section of this book tells the story of a local band playing a dive bar in New York in 1981. This section is told in third person, while detailed it is a very general overview of the night’s events. The second section is a collection of footnotes for the previous section, except there are no markings in the first section to coordinate with this section.
The third section is from the perspective of a music journalist type that describes the band from the first section as well as the music scene as a whole. This section revolves around describing a promo photo of the band, where the narrator tells the background of each member. There are mentions of cliches throughout this section while utilizing the “A picture’s worth a thousand words” cliche. From this section we learn that this band is more than just your average local band and it seems they had some cultural impact. Being told from the perspective of the mid 90s, this section offers a retrospective on the band and music of the time.
The fourth section offers a series of interviews with attendees of the live show from the first section. You soon learn that no one account of events is the same and that nothing is to be trusted. The final section takes this evaluation of the night one step further, pushing readers' expectations further.
This is a really unique book and one that I enjoyed reading. It has been a while since I’ve read a book with an experimental narrative structure and no book I’ve read has been told like this. I will say, I found my interest in the narrative start to wain as I entered the latter half. I think the interviews in the fourth section run a bit too long as you get the point pretty quickly and it begins to feel repetitive. The final section also started to lose my interest. After following up a section where you learn not to trust what is being told to you, it's hard to take hold of anything else presented in the book.
While the narrative begins to unravel a little too much for me that isn’t to say it isn’t impressive. This is one of the most ambitious debut novels I’ve read. Like any experimental narrative novel it demands a reread and I feel that I will probably appreciate this book more on a second read through.
I’m surprised that this book has fallen into obscurity. It was printed in its original hardcover and never reissued. Maybe it's that Christopher Sorrentino lives too much in the shadow of his father (someone I’ve yet to read from) or that he is sandwiched between the success of similar authors such as Don Delillo and David Foster Wallace. For its flaws this book deserves to be in the hands of more readers. While a relic of its time it also holds some great everlasting points about modern music. If you are someone who has ever played in a local band, worked a music venue/bar, or spent any time in your local scene this book will speak to you in ways that no other book I’ve read has accomplished.
Sound on Sound is Christopher Sorrentino’s debut novel. Released in 1995 it hits at an interesting time in American Literature and pop culture. Postmodernism was in a state of revival, progressing past its 60s/70s avante garde into the 1990s mainstream status quo. Sound on Sound is an experimental novel in its own right, utilizing a narrative structure unlike any other I’ve read.
The narrative of Sound on Sound uses a structure that mirrors that of a recording studio. Each section of this book lays a new “track” that adds to the story and elaborates on the last section. It’s said that you could read these sections in any order but I really think there is intention in the way this story is laid out and reading it in order.
The first section of this book tells the story of a local band playing a dive bar in New York in 1981. This section is told in third person, while detailed it is a very general overview of the night’s events. The second section is a collection of footnotes for the previous section, except there are no markings in the first section to coordinate with this section.
The third section is from the perspective of a music journalist type that describes the band from the first section as well as the music scene as a whole. This section revolves around describing a promo photo of the band, where the narrator tells the background of each member. There are mentions of cliches throughout this section while utilizing the “A picture’s worth a thousand words” cliche. From this section we learn that this band is more than just your average local band and it seems they had some cultural impact. Being told from the perspective of the mid 90s, this section offers a retrospective on the band and music of the time.
The fourth section offers a series of interviews with attendees of the live show from the first section. You soon learn that no one account of events is the same and that nothing is to be trusted. The final section takes this evaluation of the night one step further, pushing readers' expectations further.
This is a really unique book and one that I enjoyed reading. It has been a while since I’ve read a book with an experimental narrative structure and no book I’ve read has been told like this. I will say, I found my interest in the narrative start to wain as I entered the latter half. I think the interviews in the fourth section run a bit too long as you get the point pretty quickly and it begins to feel repetitive. The final section also started to lose my interest. After following up a section where you learn not to trust what is being told to you, it's hard to take hold of anything else presented in the book.
While the narrative begins to unravel a little too much for me that isn’t to say it isn’t impressive. This is one of the most ambitious debut novels I’ve read. Like any experimental narrative novel it demands a reread and I feel that I will probably appreciate this book more on a second read through.
I’m surprised that this book has fallen into obscurity. It was printed in its original hardcover and never reissued. Maybe it's that Christopher Sorrentino lives too much in the shadow of his father (someone I’ve yet to read from) or that he is sandwiched between the success of similar authors such as Don Delillo and David Foster Wallace. For its flaws this book deserves to be in the hands of more readers. While a relic of its time it also holds some great everlasting points about modern music. If you are someone who has ever played in a local band, worked a music venue/bar, or spent any time in your local scene this book will speak to you in ways that no other book I’ve read has accomplished.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews