Gary Benchley, Rock Star Tapa blanda - 2005

de Paul Ford

'Before I moved to New York from Albany, I wrote out a careful, step-by-step plan: 1) Rock out; 2) No more data entry.'

Gary Benchley, recent college grad and aspiring rock star, left his dead-end life in Albany to seek his fortune in that hotbed of hipsters Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

Earnestly optimistic and completely confident in his fate, Gary writes of his trials and tribulations securing a roommate, a girlfriend, and even a band the 'world's most inclusive band' complete with a gay synth player, a hot chick drummer, and a cool black bassist. Calling their not- quite-musical sound 'indie prog,' they combine the most pretentious music of the 1970s with the most pretentious music of today. But after a dozen shows and even an album, the band begins to fall apart, and Gary finds himself increasingly disillusioned with his rock star fantasies. In Gary's world, though, the glass is always half full.

Gary Benchley, Rock Star is a hilarious, satirical debut that grew out of Ford's popular column on TheMorningNews.org.