I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay

This is the first of Toby Litt's books that I've read. It's pretty much ensured that it won't be the last.The novel charts the course of a [fictitious] Canadian indie band called Okay (though it's lowercase italics, thanks) through the recollections of its drummer. (He's named after a sexually transmitted disease, as are all of the quartet.) It's structured as a series of short stories, and they cover the gamut of band experiences: shitty venues, groupie-shagging, drugs, death, religion, booze, [...]

“Sex, drugs & rock’n roll”, une expression qui colle bien à ce titre de Toby Litt. Reçu dans le cadre de l’opération Babélio/Masse-critique, c’est le thème centré sur l’histoire d’un groupe de rock qui m’avait tenté. Complètement embarquée dans le “Owen Noone & Marauder” de Douglas Cowie il y a 5 ans, je n’ai pas retrouvé le même engouement pour cette pseudo-biographie.Le texte prend la forme d’un interview. Le narrateur- qui s’adresse à un journalis [...]

I should lay my cards on the table first of all: I think Toby Litt is one of our finest living British writers. That said, I find some of his books too visceral or uncomfortable, and sometimes wish he would just write something nice, like Beatniks. My wish was granted in I Play The Drums In A Band Called okay. As a fictional (and utterly convincing) band memoir, it naturally contains plenty of overdoses, infidelity and vomit, but above all it is a book about love and family, growing up and growi [...]

Clap is the drummer in a band called okay. This book is full of short stories of the band while on tour, with family, relationships, births and deaths. I found it a bit slow at first and couldn't really see the point of the stories as I didn't know where they were going. But after a few more chapters I began to warm to the characters. The band are great. They're a proper rock band, each with a problem whether it be drugs or alcohol or both. I did find it hard to follow at times with it being sho [...]

I liked that it wasn't your typical 'rock n roll memoir', there's the drugs, the women, the trips to rehab, the bad ideas, but mostly these were told by the narrator as they happened to the people around him, and I like that. I like that it was written from the perspective of the drummer, not the frontman, the star. There's bits that make you laugh, bits that make you want to cry a bit, but mostly it's relatively believable. A few of the stories were not so much in keeping with the other, and I' [...]

Novel about the drummer in a rock band from Canada called Okay and the book is okay. Sorry. Not a lot of depth to it and it meanders all over the place thanks to its lack of arc set-up but it is a fun read for music fans. I wish Litt wouldn't have given all the characters these absurd nicknames--Crab, Mono, Syph, Clap--as that was pretty annoying. Just use people's names rather than that silliness. Not sure why that bugged me so much. I also wish there would have been more scenes about making mu [...]

Only two stars for this "novel". Once in a while I like to read a bundle of short stories but I thought this was pretty bad. It might've been a more enjoyable book if the drummer of okay (lower italics, thanks.) was a drummer of a real band. Now it was just a collection of stereotypes spread over different people. There's a cocky lead singer, an alcoholic guitarist, I don't even know which instrument Mono played and an irrelevant drummer. Some stories I did enjoy, such as Roots, Lydia, Her and ? [...]

From my review in the Guardian:"Life goes on and on, and on. There is plenty of story here, but little plot, and no tension. Some scenes are touching, especially when a young fan kills himself, but too many are plodding, overlong, and full of platitudes. Of course, rock bios are often disappointing lists of minutiae about musicians you love. I Play the Drums in a Band Called okay is sometimes just such a list (including six pages of discography), but about people who don't actually exist."Read [...]

I grabbed this off the shelves on a hunch and it turned out much better than I thought it would. Not quite as cohesive as I might prefer, it's written as a series of short, 5-10 page episodes that are strung together chronologically, but not necessarily written to have anything to do with each other. Litt has a great voice and I'd love to hear from a reader with more first-hand knowledge how close he comes to the experience of being in a large-ish, mostly famous band.

I liked it but I wasn't blown away. There was something I both liked and disliked about the almost unconnected chapters in the book (which weren't unconnected, of course, but each one of them could have almost stood on its own without the help of the previous ones). I wanted a bit more of a narrative sequence. More of a history to follow.But I really liked the last 4 or 5 chapters. Very emotive ones. Made me realise that perhaps I had connected more than I thought with the character.

This is not just about being in a band, but more about the life journey of a musician. The character is instantly likeable and by the end of the book, you feel as if you know the guy. You rejoice in his successes and sympathise with his failures. It's sold as a short story book, but everything is interrelated and the chapters follow on from one another, so I read it like the good novel it was. Recommended!

Twenty years in the life of a fictional rock and roll band told via a series of anecdotes. An entertaining look at the highs and lows with some self discovery along the way, but doesn't quite live up to the promise of its cover blurb in the comedy stakes.

Perin hauska ja nokkela kirja muusikkona - tai no rumpalina - olemisesta bändissä. Ei ihan fiktiivinen The Hammer od Gods, vaan enemmän seuraavaa sukupolvea ja vähemmän munahikeä.Ihan loppuun asti ei jaksa kantaa, mutta yllättävän pitkälle.

Meh.

Maybe not quite 4, but close enough. A series of short stories related to a fictional band from youth to middle age as told by the band's drummer. Decent writing.

Not even that funny

Quite a funny book but as it was pretty much lots of separate short stories about the same characters, I found it quite hard to get into so gave up about half way through.

I've never been in a band, so I can't really know, but to me this book seems like a really spot on depiction on what being in a succesful band does to you. Loved it.

'Okay' is still my favourite non-existing band. ever.

Even though this is more a collection of short stories than a novel, it is a good read. Nice coming-of-age novel, though it helps to be interested in music.