Some Strange Music Draws Me In
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Some Strange Music Draws Me In
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Narrated by:
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Oliver James Parkins
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By:
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Griffin Hansbury
About this listen
It's summer, 1984, in blue-collar Swaffham, Massachusetts. Mel is thirteen, drinking a Slush Puppie at the drugstore, when she hears a voice, ‘deep and movie-star dramatic, like Lauren Bacall': Sylvia.
What follows is a story of transgender awakening. Sylvia's shameless swagger and tough-girl trans femininity is an affront to the Swaffham locals, and her presence triggers hatred and, ultimately, violence. But it is also a catalyst for Mel. Through her friendship with Sylvia, Mel comes to realize that not only is there a world beyond Swaffham, there are other ways of being, free from the class and gender roles embodied by her cruel, vulnerable mother Irene or her best friend, the troubled Jules.
Narrating this blistering coming-of-age tale from the present day is Max–formerly Mel, long since transitioned–who finds himself back in Swaffham while on leave from his job for defying speech codes around trans identity.
In prose rich with allusions to Carson McCullers, Jan Morris and Patti Smith, Some Strange Music Draws Me In is a compassionate, gripping and emotionally charged narrative. In focusing on the pre-transition subject, Griffin Hansbury explores the dangerous forces they often must escape to survive.
©2024 Griffin Hansbury (P)2024 W.F. Howes LtdCritic reviews
‘This gorgeous, propulsive novel is filled with beauty and danger, youth and wisdom and the life-saving lifelines of counterculture. With writing so tense and honest and real, I recognised this place and these people deeply, and felt them all in my heart long after the book was finished.' Michelle Tea
‘Some Strange Music Draws Me In is a story of how latent queerness can point toward the exit from poverty and despair. It's about inter-generational queer care, about how even with a clean getaway we nurse our wounded pasts . . . a book filled with compassion.' McKenzie Wark
‘Some Strange Music Draws Me In is luminous, propulsive, tender, and full of light. Hansbury's prose is both scathing and soulful, delivered with care and grace and aplomb. This novel's warmth is palpable, and Hansbury has crafted a truly rare thing–a gift and a guide.' Bryan Washington
What listeners say about Some Strange Music Draws Me In
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 20-08-24
Powerful, tender, and painful.
A sharp and devastating story of young trauma and the bewilderment of aging.
Mr Hansbury so meticulously and accurately details the experiences of discovery, dread, growth, and violence, in past and present both. The pacing of the multiple stories being told at once, as well as the grander narrative pulling everything together into a grand crescendo, is sublime. Mr Hansbury's characters are all cannily observed, but Max in particular is sensitive, patient, frustrated, and remorseful, and he makes for such an evocative and relatable narrative voice - I truly cherish his wisdom.
Mr Parkins displays incredible range with his performance; cruelty, innocence, longing, grief, and joy are all delivered with such control and measure, that each voice is a person you can see and feel clearly. Pitch, tone, dialect, and emotion are all so carefully considered and realised. I found myself absolutely elated by the voices of some, such as suave and guarded Sylvia, and dreading the presence of others, such as Max's desperate and wrathful mother. I am very much looking forward to hearing more work from Mr Parkins - he clearly puts as much hard work into his performance as he does dynamic talent.
I finished this book at 4am, unable to stop listening once I'd started, gripping my pillow and shedding tears of pain, fury, satisfaction, and genuine happiness. I am so grateful for this woeful, wonderful experience - this is a very special story.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Theo Garner
- 20-08-24
Absolutely delicious prose
I read a physical copy of this novel and loved it so much that the minute I finished it I downloaded the audiobook and started reading it again. I could continue in this way forever, reading and rereading this utterly singular book. Not only are the characters and plot beautifully balanced, immersive, and enthralling but the prose itself is shockingly, at times even disturbingly, gorgeous. I kept having to pause to read passages aloud to anyone who would listen. What a joy, to encounter a trans masculine narrative which feels just as tricky, nuanced, and wonderful as trans masculinity is. What a rarity. I hope less so in the years to come. I do believe I will spend the rest of my life trying to create something that speaks to my lived experience as truthfully and artfully as Some Strange Music Draws Me In.
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