Deep Cuts

Brickley debuts with a refreshing story of love and ambition in the early 2000s indie music scene. The narrator, Percy Marks, meets aspiring musician Joe Morrow at a bar in Berkeley, Calif., where they’re both in college. Joe, who has a “flawless jawline,” appreciates Percy’s discerning taste, and asks for her feedback on a song he’s working on. She then helps with another song, which winds up launching his career a year later. She’s happy for him, but wonders if she should have received a songwriting credit. Her bittersweet feelings intensify after she makes her first pass at him and he rejects her, preferring to keep her as his “critic.” After she moves to New York City to study music writing, she enters a new relationship with a fellow writer. Though she knows Joe is sleeping with other women on tour, she still has feelings for him. Joe and Percy’s saga reaches a tipping point after Percy has become a successful blogger and Joe, adrift without Percy’s input on his music, takes to plagiarizing her writing. Brickley’s sharp commentary on aughts indie rock will please music fans, but what makes this special is her portrayal of how Joe and Percy are bound by their creative drive even more than by romantic love. It’s a banger. Agent: Anna Stein, CAA. (Feb.)