Book Release & Signing Party
Thursday, February 26th, 7-9pm
Elephant Stone Records founder and novelist Ben Vendetta signs and tells stories about the indie music scene of 1985-86 and the legacy of college rock as depicted in his acclaimed novel, “Wivenhoe Park” (published by Cooperative Trade)
A world that included The Jesus and Mary Chain, Easterhouse, Primal Scream, The Cult, The Sisters of Mercy, Meat Whiplash, and all things Creation Records is the backdrop to this coming of age novel set in both the US and the UK.
DJ set courtesy of Lee Joseph. Grab your favorite 80s band t-shirt and dust of those mixed tapes.
Thursday, February 26th from 7pm – 9pm
@ La Luz de Jesus/Soap Plant/Wacko
4633 Hollywood Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90027
(323) 666-7667 info@laluzdejesus.com
A blast from the post-punk past that brings back mid-Eighties Britain in one wired, synaptic rush, a coming-of-age story that is as poignant, political, hormonal and hilarious as the sounds it celebrates.
— Cathi Unsworth, author of Weirdo, Bad Penny Blues, The Singer
Forget the Great American Novel: what people really want is great rock & roll fiction. It’s just a shame it seems such a difficult thing to do. It’s an addictive read, an affirmative and faithful story of sex, drugs and rock & roll. Where an equivalent novel such as Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity becomes ever more unrealistic to get to its happy ending, Wivenhoe Park retains a believable optimism through sheer faith in rock & roll.
— Paul Rayson, Muso’s Guide
What a fun novel with sneaky depth. Vendetta brings back an ’80s era when a stunning, now-legendary post-punk/indie rock scene was blazing in Britain, yet this time, unlike with punk rock, a smaller slice of Americans followed its brilliance. He slyly evokes this in a coming-of-college-age story of throwing off the influence (and snares) of normal Middle American life by instead immersing himself into the thick of the NME/Melody Maker/Sounds-fed maelstrom in England itself.
–Jack Rabid, The Big Takeover
If you were a post-punk kid growing up in the suburban Midwest in the ‘80s, London was your Mecca. Not all of us made the trip that decade, but now we can, thanks to Vendetta’s vivid portrayal of a young Anglophile abroad, drowning out the ache of first heartbreak in a mad dash through the British music scene. If John Hughes were still alive… well… he’d never touch this story. It’s too full of the sort of gritty realism that never made it into his well-scrubbed coming-of-age stories.
– Robert Cherry (former Editor-in-Chief, Alternative Press)
“Wivenhoe Park wrenched me back to a mid-80s Britain where punk was dead and alternative/goth ruled. If birds, booze and Bunnymen are your thing, as they are mine, then dust off your Sisters of Mercy LPs, squeeze into your Meat Is Murder t-shirt and enjoy the ride.”
-Dave Hawes (Catherine Wheel)
Only books and records purchased here will qualify for signing.
Reserve your signed copies today!
Contact the book store for purchase information.
(323)663-0122 or sales@soapplant.com