The Last of the Better Days Ahead

by Charlie Parr

The first book from Minnesota Blues legend Charlie Parr.

108 pages, Perfect Paperback

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

"This isn't an autobiography. I made all these stories up, if you can even call them stories - they are more like fragments of unfinished songs. Or daydreams, maybe. I've always wanted to see what would happen if I didn't carve away all the non-song bits., but instead went on to finish my thought without regard for how my guitar would interact with the words."

I hadn't heard of Charlie Parr or his music prior to his publisher putting this book on my radar. Strangely, in the collection's prologue, Charlie warns readers away from listening to the album of the same name, even though these are meant to be companion pieces, as he admits he hasn't listened to the record in quite a while.

Of course, as I waited for the book to arrive, I did a quick youtube search and gave some of them a listen. I find him to be similar in many ways to Will Johnson, and oh god don't kill me, David Duchovny. There's this deep, raspy, salt-of-the-earth feel to their music, which also shows up beautifully on the page when they put pen to paper.

In this collection we meet a variety of characters, many of them blue collar workers doing what they can to scrape by, in these gorgeously depicted blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments of their lives. I picture them in clothes with the knees and elbows worn thin, with dirt streaked cheeks and cracked fingernails, wind tussled hair and smile lines a mile deep. I imagine they smell of grass and motor oil and cigarettes and pine soap. And I am expecting them to become my friends.

Each story sings - some quietly, some more loudly. A truly lovely collection, not a bad one in the bunch.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would categorize this as a collection of snippets, vignettes and not-quite short stories....a few were really lovely. My favorites were Blues for Whitefish Lake and Decoration Day. Charlie Parr is a national treasure.

[Mason Pfaff · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's Charlie Parr, of course it's good.

Decoration Day, Bed of Wasps, Blues for Whitefish Lake, and Everyday Opus standout among a pretty solid collection of stories.

[Elsa · Rating 3 out of 5]

He really broke down my ideals of structure in novels. These are all short stories, some with very little trajectory or direction, but there is a story and descriptions that inspire and I remembered parts of my own midwestern path thru them. Others stories were so hard to follow because there was nothing to cling to. He says these may be unfinished songs in some ways explored through longer form writing. This is something one can get away with, I suppose. But how did he? Now I’m excited to listen to the album associated and fill in the blanks with my own projections. Cheers to readings by local musicians.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably only of interest to Parr fans but I enjoyed these little snippets of writing. Like Parr, I’m not sure how to classify them (short stories? Long songs? Blurbs of life?), but his writing made them interesting enough to keep going.

I did see a theme throughout that can also be found in his music, that of a decaying America. Parr is a throwback, which I say with the utmost respect. The people in this book are too. And maybe that’s enough.

[Joe · Rating 5 out of 5]

short stories that are light on narrative but heavy on tone, detail, and emotion. a great accompaniment to charlie's music and likely best suited to existing fans

[AutomaticSlim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bought this at a show from the man himself.
Top notch guitar player, excellent songwriter... decent writer

Round up 3

[Ahnika Berg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funky and interesting and beautiful reminiscent short stories

[Ozzy Sents]

Charlie Parr the man you are. Blues of Whitefish Lake 1975.