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Poor Ghost
The Next Great Rock and Roll Novel
On a September afternoon in Santa Barbara, a private jet carrying the members of Poor Ghost—one of America’s most storied rock bands—plunges into the backyard of Caleb Crane, a retired insurance salesman. Still mourning his wife’s death from Covid, Caleb finds himself navigating trauma, grief, and loss, all while his quiet neighborhood is invaded by pushy reporters and rabid Poor Ghost fans.
For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & the Six and its fictional documentary structure, Poor Ghost moves back and forth between the impact of the plane crash on Caleb’s life and an oral history of Poor Ghost—from its beginnings as a working-class punk band to rock icons. As the twisting and turning strands of the plot converge, readers are shown what happens when different worlds (literally) collide with one another, and how we view, negotiate, argue with, and aid those who are unlike us.
On a September afternoon in Santa Barbara, a private jet carrying the members of Poor Ghost—one of America’s most storied rock bands—plunges into the backyard of Caleb Crane, a retired insurance salesman. Still mourning his wife’s death from Covid, Caleb finds himself navigating trauma, grief, and loss, all while his quiet neighborhood is invaded by pushy reporters and rabid Poor Ghost fans.
For fans of Taylor Jenkins Reid’s Daisy Jones & the Six and its fictional documentary structure, Poor Ghost moves back and forth between the impact of the plane crash on Caleb’s life and an oral history of Poor Ghost—from its beginnings as a working-class punk band to rock icons. As the twisting and turning strands of the plot converge, readers are shown what happens when different worlds (literally) collide with one another, and how we view, negotiate, argue with, and aid those who are unlike us.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 19, 2024
3 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
David Starkey
40 books8 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
David Starkey directs the creative writing program at Santa Barbara City College.
Among his poetry collections are Starkey's Book of States (Boson Books, 2007), Adventures of the Minor Poet (Artamo Press, 2007), Ways of Being Dead: New and Selected Poems (Artamo, 2006), David Starkey's Greatest Hits (Pudding House, 2002) and Fear of Everything, winner of Palanquin Press's Spring 2000 chapbook contest. A Few Things You Should Know about the Weasel will be published by the Canadian press Biblioasis next year.
In addition, over the past twenty years he has published more than 400 poems in literary journals such as American Scholar, Antioch Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Cutbank, Faultline, Greensboro Review, The Journal, Massachusetts Review, Mid-American Review, Nebraska Review, Notre Dame Review, Poet Lore, Poetry East, South Dakota Review, Southern Humanities Review, Southern Poetry Review, Sycamore Review, Texas Review, and Wormwood Review. He has also written two textbooks: Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008) and Poetry Writing: Theme and Variations (McGraw-Hill, 1999). With Paul Willis, he co-edited In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (Iowa, 2005), and he is the editor of Living Blue in the Red States (Nebraska, 2007). Keywords in Creative Writing, which he co-authored with the late Wendy Bishop, was published in 2006 by Utah State University Press.
David Starkey directs the creative writing program at Santa Barbara City College.
Among his poetry collections are Starkey's Book of States (Boson Books, 2007), Adventures of the Minor Poet (Artamo Press, 2007), Ways of Being Dead: New and Selected Poems (Artamo, 2006), David Starkey's Greatest Hits (Pudding House, 2002) and Fear of Everything, winner of Palanquin Press's Spring 2000 chapbook contest. A Few Things You Should Know about the Weasel will be published by the Canadian press Biblioasis next year.
In addition, over the past twenty years he has published more than 400 poems in literary journals such as American Scholar, Antioch Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, Cutbank, Faultline, Greensboro Review, The Journal, Massachusetts Review, Mid-American Review, Nebraska Review, Notre Dame Review, Poet Lore, Poetry East, South Dakota Review, Southern Humanities Review, Southern Poetry Review, Sycamore Review, Texas Review, and Wormwood Review. He has also written two textbooks: Creative Writing: Four Genres in Brief (Bedford/St. Martin's, 2008) and Poetry Writing: Theme and Variations (McGraw-Hill, 1999). With Paul Willis, he co-edited In a Fine Frenzy: Poets Respond to Shakespeare (Iowa, 2005), and he is the editor of Living Blue in the Red States (Nebraska, 2007). Keywords in Creative Writing, which he co-authored with the late Wendy Bishop, was published in 2006 by Utah State University Press.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 15, 2025
Starkey's debut into novels is an excellent exploration of Poor Ghost - a famous band who fell tragically from the sky.
With its Shakespearean underpinnings and deeper messages behind the band's lyrics, we explore how music is such a shaper in our lives. How our memories are tied into the music we like, the music we hear and remember, and the feelings that it evoked. How these feelings are connected to the people who make the music and how when something happens to these people, we the music lovers feel that something has touched us as well.
Starkey layers his story by using mixed media, going through the band itself, it's fans, the weirdos, the people whose life changed because a plane fell on their house and their story. He gathers all these separate bits and creates a complex whole.
An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.
With its Shakespearean underpinnings and deeper messages behind the band's lyrics, we explore how music is such a shaper in our lives. How our memories are tied into the music we like, the music we hear and remember, and the feelings that it evoked. How these feelings are connected to the people who make the music and how when something happens to these people, we the music lovers feel that something has touched us as well.
Starkey layers his story by using mixed media, going through the band itself, it's fans, the weirdos, the people whose life changed because a plane fell on their house and their story. He gathers all these separate bits and creates a complex whole.
An ARC kindly provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.
January 31, 2024
Poor Ghost is an interesting and eclectic narrative regarding the aftermath of a plane crash involving the members of a popular band. I found the execution of this novel very intriguing with the use of articles, blogs, social media etc. The exploration of the repercussions of after celebrity tragedy and how it impacts the world, the psychotic fandom that emerges from the woodwork, and ever continuing spinning planet was fascinating and startling.
I am not certain how I felt about the consistent use real celebrities within the context of this novel. I felt that was very distracting rather than immersive. Other than that I found it very unique and enjoyable.
I would really like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author in allowing me to access to this novel.
I am not certain how I felt about the consistent use real celebrities within the context of this novel. I felt that was very distracting rather than immersive. Other than that I found it very unique and enjoyable.
I would really like to thank Netgalley, the publisher and the author in allowing me to access to this novel.
November 7, 2023
Thank you to the publishers - Turner Publishing Company, Keylight Books – for giving me access to this book as an E-ARC via Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
At first glance, its quite the easy story. Plane crashes with a famous band on board in the field of our main character but it turned out to be much more. David Starkey has a way with words and pacing that I found very engaging.
I feel like I really got to know Caleb – the main character if we can call him that – and that the journey he went through emotionally was interesting to read and follow. You really wanted the best for him. That is important in books and this story got there.
The story has a mixed format in which the reader not only get the main story but also other bits surrounding it. There are interviews with the band, comments on YouTube, text conversations. I liked this and thought this format fitted the story as the reader gets to now the impact the band Poor Ghost had on the world the book takes place in (which is our own… just where this band is up there in legend status).
I really enjoyed this story and think it would work good in most formats. Would be interesting to listen to it in audiobook form if it’s ever released in that format too.
Poor Ghost is published on March 19th 2024.
At first glance, its quite the easy story. Plane crashes with a famous band on board in the field of our main character but it turned out to be much more. David Starkey has a way with words and pacing that I found very engaging.
I feel like I really got to know Caleb – the main character if we can call him that – and that the journey he went through emotionally was interesting to read and follow. You really wanted the best for him. That is important in books and this story got there.
The story has a mixed format in which the reader not only get the main story but also other bits surrounding it. There are interviews with the band, comments on YouTube, text conversations. I liked this and thought this format fitted the story as the reader gets to now the impact the band Poor Ghost had on the world the book takes place in (which is our own… just where this band is up there in legend status).
I really enjoyed this story and think it would work good in most formats. Would be interesting to listen to it in audiobook form if it’s ever released in that format too.
Poor Ghost is published on March 19th 2024.
November 26, 2023
I read an advanced readers copy of David Starkey's Poor Ghost thanks to NetGalley and the publisher Turner Publishing Company, Keylight Books. The book is described by the publisher as: “On a September afternoon in Santa Barbara, a private jet carrying the members of Poor Ghost—one of America’s most storied rock bands—plunges into the backyard of Caleb Crane, a retired insurance salesman. Still mourning his wife’s death from Covid, Caleb finds himself navigating trauma, grief, and loss, all while his quiet neighborhood is invaded by pushy reporters and rabid Poor Ghost fans”
.But the book is much more complex, in the way the story is told. It is part Daisy Jones and the Six with a documentary-style “oral history” of the band, interspersed with Caleb’s story, which is always told in particular manner. It isn’t first person, but it is “you were surprised.,” as if the story is being told for Caleb. Then there is a third voice, a set of online chatrooms/forums providing the voice of the legion of Poor Ghost fans,
The format takes a bit to get used to, but it works. That said, I found myself reading more quickly through some of the oral history and wanting more of Caleb’s story. But the book keeps you interested.
What I wish I had was a better sense of Poor Ghost’s actual music; we get the lyrics and the crazy song names, and comparison bands (often referencing real bands and to the best of my knowledge, producers), but that’s just a minor quip.
This is an interesting book and worth the time to read.
.But the book is much more complex, in the way the story is told. It is part Daisy Jones and the Six with a documentary-style “oral history” of the band, interspersed with Caleb’s story, which is always told in particular manner. It isn’t first person, but it is “you were surprised.,” as if the story is being told for Caleb. Then there is a third voice, a set of online chatrooms/forums providing the voice of the legion of Poor Ghost fans,
The format takes a bit to get used to, but it works. That said, I found myself reading more quickly through some of the oral history and wanting more of Caleb’s story. But the book keeps you interested.
What I wish I had was a better sense of Poor Ghost’s actual music; we get the lyrics and the crazy song names, and comparison bands (often referencing real bands and to the best of my knowledge, producers), but that’s just a minor quip.
This is an interesting book and worth the time to read.
March 24, 2024
Poor Ghost are an evergreen rock band, reinventing themselves and holding on to an appeal that reaches across decade and spanning generations. That is until the plain they are flying in comes crashing out of the sky, landing in the backyard of an unassuming retired insurance salesman, Caleb Crane.
What follows next is like nothing I've ever read before. There are three distinct, interwoven sections - Caleb's story; the oral history of the band; and the texts and forum postings of the band's fans, all drawing closer and closer to one ultimate finale.
While this was marketed as satire, the themes in this range from dementia and elder care (Crane's father), Q-conspiracies, Covid, music, rabid fandoms and so much more, leaving one thoughtful, perhaps, rather than laugh-out-loud. Many real, contemporary events are referenced , giving the story a fixed date stamp
I would very much like the band Poor Ghost to be real, because the music and the albums mentioned in the story were so detailed and there were moments I wanted to google further about them (before remembering they're fictional!). There are many real artists name-dropped throughout the story, from U2 to Timbaland, and mentioned as being influenced, influencing or connected in some way to the fictional band.
This was a well written, interesting, thought provoking story that I'll be thinking about for a while.
~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~
What follows next is like nothing I've ever read before. There are three distinct, interwoven sections - Caleb's story; the oral history of the band; and the texts and forum postings of the band's fans, all drawing closer and closer to one ultimate finale.
While this was marketed as satire, the themes in this range from dementia and elder care (Crane's father), Q-conspiracies, Covid, music, rabid fandoms and so much more, leaving one thoughtful, perhaps, rather than laugh-out-loud. Many real, contemporary events are referenced , giving the story a fixed date stamp
I would very much like the band Poor Ghost to be real, because the music and the albums mentioned in the story were so detailed and there were moments I wanted to google further about them (before remembering they're fictional!). There are many real artists name-dropped throughout the story, from U2 to Timbaland, and mentioned as being influenced, influencing or connected in some way to the fictional band.
This was a well written, interesting, thought provoking story that I'll be thinking about for a while.
~ Many thanks to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~
March 19, 2024
I'm very happy to say that I enjoyed this novel a lot. However, I was a little bit worried about it at first, due to the alternating chapters that are written in the second-person point of view.
I generally dislike reading stories told in the second person, so I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the chapters written that way. In fact, after a couple of chapters like that, I was very close to putting the book aside and marking it as a 'DNF' (did not finish), because of how much I normally dislike reading the second person.
Thankfully, though, I kept reading the book - and I'm very glad I did. I quickly realized that author David Starkey is a very clever and talented writer. He made those second-person chapters quite compelling to read and I ended up pushing aside my normal disdain for that point of view. After a while, because of how good the story is, I even began to forget that I was reading chapters written in the second person. Also, without giving away anything here about the story, I can now understand why the author chose to write those chapters in the second person. It didn't make sense to me at first, but it did over time.
Not every chapter is told from that point of view, though. Some are told in an oral history format, as if we're reading a biography about the band members of the fictional band Poor Ghost, with each of the members giving us their perspectives on different things about their lives. In that regard, it reminded me a lot of how the story in Taylor Jenkins Reid's exceptional novel 'Daisy Jones & The Six' was written.
Other chapters throughout 'Poor Ghost' are presented quite differently. Some are written in the form of them being excerpts from newspaper stories, online message boards, text messages, and more.
It's quite a unique way it's all structured and I think the author did a very impressive job with it all.
As a music fan, I especially loved the parts of the book about the music of Poor Ghost. From what I understand, the author is a musician. I'm not at all surprised. To me, it was very clear that he is a music lover himself.
The more I read about the music of the band Poor Ghost, the more I kept wishing that they had been an actual real band. I wanted to hear the songs and albums I kept reading about!
I'm very glad I read this book and I look forward to reading more fiction by author David Starkey in the future. I hope this is the first of many novels by him.
NOTE: I received an advanced reading copy of this novel from the publisher.
I generally dislike reading stories told in the second person, so I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to enjoy the chapters written that way. In fact, after a couple of chapters like that, I was very close to putting the book aside and marking it as a 'DNF' (did not finish), because of how much I normally dislike reading the second person.
Thankfully, though, I kept reading the book - and I'm very glad I did. I quickly realized that author David Starkey is a very clever and talented writer. He made those second-person chapters quite compelling to read and I ended up pushing aside my normal disdain for that point of view. After a while, because of how good the story is, I even began to forget that I was reading chapters written in the second person. Also, without giving away anything here about the story, I can now understand why the author chose to write those chapters in the second person. It didn't make sense to me at first, but it did over time.
Not every chapter is told from that point of view, though. Some are told in an oral history format, as if we're reading a biography about the band members of the fictional band Poor Ghost, with each of the members giving us their perspectives on different things about their lives. In that regard, it reminded me a lot of how the story in Taylor Jenkins Reid's exceptional novel 'Daisy Jones & The Six' was written.
Other chapters throughout 'Poor Ghost' are presented quite differently. Some are written in the form of them being excerpts from newspaper stories, online message boards, text messages, and more.
It's quite a unique way it's all structured and I think the author did a very impressive job with it all.
As a music fan, I especially loved the parts of the book about the music of Poor Ghost. From what I understand, the author is a musician. I'm not at all surprised. To me, it was very clear that he is a music lover himself.
The more I read about the music of the band Poor Ghost, the more I kept wishing that they had been an actual real band. I wanted to hear the songs and albums I kept reading about!
I'm very glad I read this book and I look forward to reading more fiction by author David Starkey in the future. I hope this is the first of many novels by him.
NOTE: I received an advanced reading copy of this novel from the publisher.
February 17, 2024
Poor Ghost by David Starkey i March s sheer brilliance in its format, concept and narrative. Poor Ghost are a famous rock band whose private jet crashes into the Back yard of Caleb, a widower
Calebs world is turned upside down as media pundits descend onto his quiet neighbourhood, invading his sanctum and disrupting his grieving process
The book has multiple povs, the documentary, the band history, tthe interviewer of Caleb and the babbling masses online. David Starkey at once writes a novel that is interesting and engaging as a story, but also reflective of soceity today and how media and celebrity clash with privacy and real life
A brilliant read and very well done.
Thank you to Netgalley, Turner Publishing Company, Keylight Books and David Starkey for this brilliant ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own. Poor Ghost is due to publish on 19 March 2024
Calebs world is turned upside down as media pundits descend onto his quiet neighbourhood, invading his sanctum and disrupting his grieving process
The book has multiple povs, the documentary, the band history, tthe interviewer of Caleb and the babbling masses online. David Starkey at once writes a novel that is interesting and engaging as a story, but also reflective of soceity today and how media and celebrity clash with privacy and real life
A brilliant read and very well done.
Thank you to Netgalley, Turner Publishing Company, Keylight Books and David Starkey for this brilliant ARC. My review is left voluntarily and all opinions are my own. Poor Ghost is due to publish on 19 March 2024
March 8, 2024
I can’t decide between 3 and 3.5 for this.
A plane crashes into Caleb Cranes backyard with only one survivor and it happens to be a famous bands private plane. It explores a Covid/post covid world and the grief of losing loved ones during the pandemic all while piecing together what happened with the plane crash.
Personal preference is probably why I didn’t rate this higher. I don’t really like second person POV. I think it was to connect the reader more to Caleb but I felt more disconnected with that writing device.
I thought the story was solid and explored many hard themes really well including grief, qanon conspiracies, the division covid created in families with ideologies and alternative “facts” which was interesting to explore still feeling quite close to the covid times.
Thanks to NetGalley and Turner Publishing for an eARC.
A plane crashes into Caleb Cranes backyard with only one survivor and it happens to be a famous bands private plane. It explores a Covid/post covid world and the grief of losing loved ones during the pandemic all while piecing together what happened with the plane crash.
Personal preference is probably why I didn’t rate this higher. I don’t really like second person POV. I think it was to connect the reader more to Caleb but I felt more disconnected with that writing device.
I thought the story was solid and explored many hard themes really well including grief, qanon conspiracies, the division covid created in families with ideologies and alternative “facts” which was interesting to explore still feeling quite close to the covid times.
Thanks to NetGalley and Turner Publishing for an eARC.
March 24, 2024
This is a book about a plane carrying a rock band, how it crashed and what happened after. While the story is quiet on the outside, for the most part, there are a lot of moving parts as we see the stories of band members and family.
The story is particularly interesting to me because it's set in time around the pandemic, with all the effects on interactions, such as how it limited the band's movement. I'm not sure what the point was but it was interesting and I feel like everything was tied up to my satisfaction.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
The story is particularly interesting to me because it's set in time around the pandemic, with all the effects on interactions, such as how it limited the band's movement. I'm not sure what the point was but it was interesting and I feel like everything was tied up to my satisfaction.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this
March 1, 2024
[3.5 rounded up] A plane carrying famous rock band Poor Ghost comes crashing down in insurance salesman Caleb Crane’s backyard, turning his quiet life upside down. Caleb seems, to me, to represent the people - all of us who lived through COVID, lost loved ones and never quite got back to “normal.” He finds himself making connections with the trespassing fans who hang around the crash site. Caleb’s story is intertwined with an oral history of Poor Ghost, which, by the end, feels somehow inseparable.
I’m not sure I really understand what this book was trying to say, but I enjoyed reading it. In addition to the “mixed media” format, mixing online comments with magazine articles and text messages, I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding what actually happened on the plane. Even though we can never know for sure (we weren’t on the plane, after all) I felt satisfied with the explanation we ended up with. This book doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending, but it felt resolved.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I’m not sure I really understand what this book was trying to say, but I enjoyed reading it. In addition to the “mixed media” format, mixing online comments with magazine articles and text messages, I was intrigued by the mystery surrounding what actually happened on the plane. Even though we can never know for sure (we weren’t on the plane, after all) I felt satisfied with the explanation we ended up with. This book doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending, but it felt resolved.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 19, 2024
Poor Ghost is a smart, witty novel that draws the reader in from the first page to the last. After a private jet carrying the famous rock band, Poor Ghost, crashes in his back yard, a lonely man who is mourning his wife's death must now deal with a motley crew of die-hard fans. As these Poor Ghost fans continue to invade the man's yard--and life--he learns to connect with others in a way he never had before.
July 2, 2024
I don't know how I feel about it. I got a lot of pleasure in knowing where this fictional story takes place--the author lives next door and bases the story in our 'hood, so I felt like an observer or witness with all the references. But sadness prevails throughout, and despite wry humorous bits and realistic characters, the overall story did not do it for me. To quote Randy Jackson, "For you, for me, Dawg, it was just ok."
March 17, 2024
Satire, social remark, and a everyman involved in the crash of the jet of a famous rock band. There's the story of Caleb, the everyman, and the story of the band.
An entertaining story the will surely appeal to fun of stories featuring rockstarts.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
An entertaining story the will surely appeal to fun of stories featuring rockstarts.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine
March 30, 2024
This was an interesting look at fame, stardom, and fandom. Sadly, almost all of the music references, aside from U2 and Taylor Swift, were essentially lost on me. My tastes run more toward Merle Haggard. The epilogue felt odd to me - It just didn’t fit the tone of the rest of the story.
November 4, 2024
"Poor Ghost is a gem of novel that draws the reader in from the first page to the last. The detail to rock n’roll history is incredible and a bit humorous at times. I wouldn’t be surprised if it is made into a movie!
June 9, 2024
The dog doesn't die.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 9, 2024
Poor Ghost is like nothing I've ever read. It's a second person account of a plane crash into your backyard, with one of the most famous bands as the passengers. Most die in the crash, all but one band member, and the story ensues. What I found most fascinating was the structure of the narrative, oscillating between current and past, different methods of communication (texts, magazine and news headlines and interviews with the former band members). It was all weaved well together, with short, engaging chapters. David Starkey is a great writer. I am also a big fan of music in general, and this was a viivd and intriguing account into some of the intricacies of musicians, fans, and the whole scene. I was a little confused and not fully invested in the ending, but in that way, it was probably best, since it tool a bit of an unexpected direction, which made sense of some of the earlier aspects and author choices, once you think about it (mini spoiler alert). And yet in some ways, I am still not sure what to think about. But I contend that's part of the author's genius.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews