I, Grace Note

Pop music trends are mercurial, volatile and fleeting, and talking about the vicissitudes of this industry seems to require a certain kind of hip, detached, ironical voice, which rookie novelist Schwartzman has down pat. The episodic story manages to include plenty of rock talk as it chronicles the daily life of Grace Note, dedicated lead singer of the artsy band Swan Venom. Grace hooks famous producer Jetty McPhereson to work on the band's demo album, but disappoints her colleagues because she can't come through with the necessary cash. She glides through the minor scrapes and pitfalls that beset a struggling, somewhat selfish musician, hoping that her smarts and artistic integrity will empower her career. The real meat of the story starts cooking when Grace meets the reigning king of sleazy, controversial and wildly popular ""power pop,"" Hunter Burns. It turns out that Burns wants to record one of Grace's ballads with his notorious band, Death Threat. Soon Grace's gentle song is turned into an erotic train wreck in the hands of Death Threat, and Grace finds herself knotted in a web of controversy. This drama (which closely mirrors the subplot in the slacker film Reality Bites) can be stiff, particularly when Grace unnecessarily announces herself as ""I, Grace Note."" Aside from such pretentious moments, the protagonist's struggle against ""selling out,"" while trying to defend her position in the avant-garde music scene, holds together. Funky snippets like the music reviews from a New York alternative paper are highly amusing--as murky and confusing as real life. (Aug.)