Our Noise

Gomez's first novel was originally published as a serialized 'zine distributed through mail-order venues and Tower Records. Then it was noticed--and brought to the attention of publishers--by Bret Easton Ellis. Unfortunately, this tale of a young writer's ingenuity is more interesting than the novel itself, which is low on momentum but well-stocked with Generation X stereotypes. Set in Kitty, a small town in Virginia, an ensemble of post-collegiate characters engage in unsatisfying personal relationships, dead-end jobs, labyrinthine discussions of alternative music and the future. Included are laid-back Eileen, who decides to stay in Kitty after her car happens to break down there; the members of a struggling local band called Bottlecap; and slackers Randy and Chipp, roommates who start an alternative music 'zine. The narrative is determinedly straightforward, often detailing every movement a character makes (e.g., every mouse click of logging into the Internet is described).It lacks the insight or humor that might separate the reader's experience of the book from the apparent dullness of these characters' lives. Instead, there are many 1980s teenage cultural reminiscences (the decade when the group would have been in high school), which comprise the novel's most vivid passages. (Sept.)