cover image Poet of the Wrong Generation

Poet of the Wrong Generation

Lonnie Ostrow. Harmony Rivers Press, $15.99 trade paper (465p) ISBN 978-0-9974042-0-3

Johnny Elias is a poet and finds affinity with classic rockers and songwriters in 1990s New York City. His love of music is only eclipsed by his love for Megan Price. The two are social stratospheres apart, and their love is pure but not approved of by Megan’s overbearing and deceptive mother, PR guru Katherine. When Megan deals Johnny a heartbreaking blow, his grief pours out into verse and melody. With the help of his mentor, Howard, Johnny finds himself leading charts with a hit single, landing a record deal, and heading up a concert tour. His abrupt rise to fame is countered by the demise of his career and an unlikely path back to the top. Ostrow’s characters are static, especially Johnny, who hardly seems changed from the starry-eyed college student at the novel’s outset; the sole exception is Katherine, whose treachery and deceit reaches Disney-villain-esque proportions. Music-industry information fills the pages, and the author clearly did his research; the backstage world is just as fascinating as front-page stardom. However, the situations and supporting characters are clichés at best, some bordering on empty tropes and generic plotting. (BookLife)