Sadly, this t'was not the book for me. It was a DNF as I only made it about 30% of the way through. I did like the band aspect of the story, but it wasn't enough to keep me reading, unfortunately.

In the past I have enjoyed David Mitchell's writing but this was not for me. Most of the characters were just meh. Jasper had too much Jacob deZoet in him to be his own man, his story felt like a retelling of Jacob's in parts.
Elf was a terrible choice for a character. From the name and then on she just bugged me to no end.

Overall I think this could have been 60% shorter and told the same story. Personally I cannot stand the fictionalizations of well known popular culture characters in books such as this. From Jerry Garcia to Leonard Cohen to Bowie to Hendrix. The parts with these famous faces felt forced and like a bad caricature of the well known figures. A big turn off.

I guess I expected better than that ending as well, but was just let down over and over again by this book.

Elf, Jaspar, and Dean are members of the band Utopia Avenue but they are more than that- they are emblems of their time. Set in the 1960s, this is the story of a band which flew to the top but which had its issues. The band and its members navigate all the problems (and good things) of the late 1960s as well as sexism and mental illness. The last is addressed sensitively and with grace. Although this is the most accessible of Mitchell's novels, I think, it's also a challenge in spots. The writing, while gorgeous sometimes, is over the top in others. And, more importantly, it's clear, even to the casual reader that there are characters and themes that are woven in from earlier novels. I know I missed some valuable references. That said, it's an interesting ride that even when it lost me occasionally, still kept me coming back for more. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read for Mitchell's fans and those who would like to try him.

The book is brilliant. It’s a sublime look at music in a certain time and place, and the swinging 60s are alive in Mitchell’s deft hands. The book is a true modern epic, and I devoured it with such joy and exuberance. All I can say is Bravo Maestro!

I did not read Cloud Atlas.

I feel like I need to start with that because my understanding is that there are numerous Cloud Atlas references within this book that went, clearly, right over my head.

As for Utopia Avenue, I liked it. It’s trippy and engaging. The author puts the reader squarely into the sixties music scene, complete with iconic figures from that era, and it’s so very well done.

Our characters are wonderfully vivid and the plot just sings.

I enjoyed this read. Now, I need to read Cloud Atlas.

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

David Mitchell has written another wild ride of a book..Sixties music names familiar names on every page.The authors usual wild imagination makes this a book to enjoy delve into.#netgalley#randomhouse.

I think a 4.5 rounded up just for the inventive use of language and the research behind the story. How fun it was to relive the music and performers of 1967-68! Loved turning the page to discover another familiar name or place or song. Each character was so individually developed that his/her personality just shone on the page. Only one character toward the end went through a period that did not seem to fit well with the rest of the novel. However, the ending was perfect and leaves the reader satisfied.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for the ARC to read and review.

Utopia Avenue is the hottest new band in 1960s England. The four members were brought together by their manager, who saw that their separate potentials could come together and create stardom. And he was right, for two albums, at least.
Well, how does one sum up a nearly 600-page novel we've been waiting five years for? "Sprawling epic" hardly does it justice. This book begins in the gutters of London and ends in the hills of Los Angeles and visits a dozen or more locations inbetween, all while digging deep into the backstories of each of the band members.
Additionally, given that this is a David Mitchell novel, it is set in his existing multiverse and many characters from previous books recur, ranging from Bat Segundo to, of course, Marinus. And naturally, band member Jasper de Zoet is a descendant of Jacob de Zoet, which comes into play quite dramatically. Usually I tell people you don't need to read Mitchell novels in any order to know what's going on, but I think this might be an exception and this one plotline will make a lot more sense if you've read THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET.
I will say it did feel a bit long in the middle, but maybe only because it took most of the book before any temporal or supernatural hijinks occurred, which are my favorite parts of Mitchell novels. But UTOPIA AVENUE is a wonderfully detailed look at the highs and lows of rocketing to fame, with cameos from every musician and culture maker from the era popping delightfully in along the way.
Content warnings: racism, sexism, alcoholism, addiction, abuse, sexual harassment, sibling death, child death, attempted suicide, dated racial slurs.

David Mitchell’s latest foray into horology, Utopia Avenue is an utterly engaging, colorful, gritty, total immersion into the 60s rock scene. A real treat for the senses. Loved it!

David Mitchell has become my favorite contemporary author. He has the ability to take subject matter that I personally would not usually be interested in and weave something dazzling and heartbreaking (ahem, Black Swan Green).

Utopia Avenue is no exception. The premise here is mundane, a "biography" of a fictional 60's band, but as usual, there's more to it than that. From the first chapter, the characters are fully formed and the story unfolds organically from each of their point of view, slow and steady in the beginning and then increasingly rushed as the band's fame accelerates. The conclusion is both inevitable (welcome to America!) and devastating. As the novel ends, you can almost feel that you remember Utopia Avenue in real life.

As with all the books in the Mitchell-verse, there is a trace amount of absurdity lying just under the surface as well as the connections to the overarching Horology plots. These glimpses into the larger story and touching base with recurrent characters are why I keep coming back, but I can see how this may be unappealing to some. For me, though, this is another five-star effort and I highly recommend it.

"The long-awaited new novel from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks.

Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967, and fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss and guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet, Utopia Avenue embarked on a meteoric journey from the seedy clubs of Soho, a TV debut on Top of the Pops, the cusp of chart success, glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American sojourn in the Chelsea Hotel, Laurel Canyon, and San Francisco during the autumn of ’68.

David Mitchell’s kaleidoscopic novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue’s turbulent life and times; of fame’s Faustian pact and stardom’s wobbly ladder; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of voices in the head, and the truths and lies they whisper; of music, madness, and idealism. Can we really change the world, or does the world change us?"

I love books about bands that don't exist but totally feel like the should have!

This latest installment in David Mitchell’s literary universe takes us to mid/late 1960s London. The gay Canadian music manager Levon Frankland puts together the band Utopia Avenue. With differing backgrounds and musical styles, the band’s music is very eclectic. With Jasper de Zoet on bass; Dean Moss on guitar; Elf Holloway on keys/piano; and Peter Griffin on drums they rehearse, tour, drive, practice, write, and just work hard. Real musicians of the time and characters from Mitchell’s other books pop in and out. Real life continues and as we learn more about their backgrounds we understand more about their hopes, dreams, and behavior--Mitchell's characters all feel so REAL. As their sales increase, they make it to NY and LA and SF for touring and recording. And then it all falls apart.

The last 5-10% of this book is heartbreaking. I cried (fiction rarely gets me!!). Then I had weird Utopia Avenue-induced dreams all night. And now I have a book hangover. 5⭐️

When the first paragraph of the book contains 7 names including progressive rock band Yes's Rick Wakeman and one of the main characters is named de Zoet, a David Mitchell reader would think that this will be another exciting multi-layered novel and I believe that the expectation will be rewarded as mine was.

I read David Mitchell's books since "Cloud Atlas" (2004), though not chronologically. Personally I enjoyed "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet"(2010) the most because of its tightness and self-containment, I associate David Mitchell more with "Cloud Atlas" and "Bone Clocks" (2014) because of their quirkiness and playfulness.

David Mitchell's signature styles such snappy dialogues between characters, descriptions with a sequence of short efficient sentences, and bursts of emotional or sentimental statements on love, life and death can be found in this new book "Utopia Avenue." And of course the appearance of characters known to us from his other books, endlessly expanding the universe of David Mitchell's fictional world, provides some delight moments. Added is the appearance of real people from the music scene of the late 1960s, putting the fictional band called Utopia Avenue into the music history.

Utopia Avenue is a British psychedelic folk rock band with four members formed by Canadian gay manager Levon Frankland in 1967. The book follows this band, mainly focusing on three song writers, bassist Dean Moss, guitarist Jasper de Zoet and folk singer Elf Holloway. Like Ringo Starr in the Beatles, drummer Griff Griffin is present but not conspicuously.

Between 1967 and 1968, the band members get together, create songs and travel together from their hometowns to Amsterdam, Rome, New York, LA and San Francisco while they find love, identity and their own voices (though Jasper de Zoet needs to get rid of the voice in his head first) moving toward or against “the starry path of rock ’n’ roll depravity.”

The story touches many stones of social issues as these very likeable characters navigate the world of the late 1960s when the world was dramatically changing with "transformative dreams" at the backdrop of the social uprising, anti-Vietnam War protests and Chicago riots.

The touch of genre-bending fantasy might be challenging to some readers who are not used to David Mitchell but it is a gamble that the writer took. And it is an inevitable one especially when the character's name is de Zoet.

Be ready to use Google and Youtube a lot while reading this book.

(Thank you, NetGalley, for providing me an advance ticket to the David Mitchell's World.)

Thank you Random House and NetGalley for an ARC of Utopia Avenue in exchange for an honest review.
1967 London - A band is born.
David Mitchell sets their lives, their art and their talents amidst the color and vibrancy of that era.
Chapters are named after band tracks and told through the eyes of each band member. We are witness to their inner struggles, families, love lives, record deals and the rigors of touring and it all feels very real. Mitchell’s inviting and inventive language fills the pages with a kaleidoscope of imagery very reminiscent of the psychedelic 60’s. Cameo appearances by John Lennon, Leonard Cohen, Pink Floyd and an unknown David Bowie (to name a few) contribute to the charm of this novel. Character driven, the reader cannot resist being involved, invested and interested in the world that Jasper, Elf, Griff and Dean live in.
This is a perfect escape of a read .... it has fun, heart, soul, several original lyrics and is thoroughly satisfying.
Highly recommended.

Okay I don't exactly know what I was expecting - Slade House is the only David Mitchell I've read to date (although like every third reader in America I own The Bone Clocks and just haven't started it) and I was absolutely transfixed by it... The writing, the originality, the weirdness - everything about it worked perfectly to my taste as a reader. So I was eager to dive into this one, both because I had such a great experience with Slade and because it was a 60s British music scene story.

Yet from almost the very beginning, I felt like I was reading something in another language - I could follow along okay but still somehow felt like I was missing a context or a set of idiomatic understandings that would make the whole thing resonate. It was frustrating and disconcerting and made the read very difficult and not at all enjoyable as a result. I've looked at a bunch of other reviews, and I'm starting to think what I'm missing is a sense of David Mitchell. Slade House hinted at it, but I think to fully engage with this (or any of his longer works, from what I'm gathering) it helps immensely to have multiple exposures to his writing and Multiverse. So I'm going to set this one aside for now - I really want to like it and give it the read out deserves, but don't feel like I can adequately do that without a little more Mitchell under my belt first...

Utopia Avenue takes readers to the London of the late 60’s as the titular band struggles to make a name for themselves amid the Stones, the Beatles, and Hendrix’s dominating the era’s musical landscape. Told largely from three of the bands members (with brief appearances by other characters) perspectives, the novel follows the group through triumph and tragedy, leading toward an ending which manages inevitable, and heartbreaking, and hopefully uplifting at the same time. And, it does this without depending on the tropey plot points often explored in this type of story. Sure, you’ll see sex and drug use and cameos by musical superstars and hippie icons, but they are never the focus of the story. Instead, Mitchell reveals the bandmembers as complex human beings who, for all of their foibles, come across as ultimately good and deal with complicated issues such as mental illness, grief, sexuality, etc. I think readers will want Utopia Avenue to succeed and that is, perhaps, the novel’s greatest strength.

𝑻𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝑼𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒊𝒂 𝒊𝒔

𝑨 𝒄𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒑𝒍𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒖𝒏𝒓𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒍

𝑾𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒍𝒊𝒑 𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒋𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕,

𝑮𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔 𝒈𝒆𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒏

𝑴𝒂𝒌𝒆𝒔 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒘𝒐𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕’𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒊𝒏𝒕

Can the same be said about building a band? 𝘜𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘢 𝘈𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘶𝘦 is about the rise and fall of a British band, new on the London psychedelic scene in 1967. Elf fronts the group, a folksinger whose break-up with her boyfriend Bruce has her on the edge of quitting the music scene altogether. It all changes when she is approached to bring the spirit of folk to a new group. Of course she disappoints her family, who don’t much like a daughter ‘cavorting’ in Soho. They’d far rather Elf start a family, settle herself. But she is only now beginning to understand her own desires, seeing what others hint at. Jasper de Zoet is the character that had the most draw for me, tormented by Knock Knock, a noise that haunts his mind. Is it madness, is it real? Is there another being trying to push him out? Or is this just the crossed wires of genius, talent? His guitar playing is beyond divine, if only he could master his mind. His story confronts mental disturbances and those of another realm, which makes this more than just a typical band’s journey. Where hallucinogens create an altered reality for those on a high with Jasper, it seeds naturally. To his band-mates he is ‘Mr.Enigma’, spaced out more often than not. Dean Moss is the luckless, blues bassist who is sick of being skint, especially now that he’s been booted out of his band. When Levon Frankland offers him a place to sleep he asks only for a small favor, listen to a band- he lures Dean into the group that doesn’t exist yet, one he is curating. Even if Dean fears Levon’s queerness, that the man could be making a pass at him, it beats dodging landlords and being anywhere near the father who tried to destroy his dreams with his mean fists, the same ones he used on Dean’s mother, long gone. Drummer, Peter Griffin “Griff”, just like Dean comes from working class people, at home in his skin, enjoys his drink, and a little anarchy. He has his jazz, his joking, his growling and his thunderous drumming.

They light the sky like a comet, for a bit anyway. No one can alter what’s coming. The band may be a distraction from real life, but it’s always waiting to take you down. Love betrays, there is incarceration, mental collapse, David Bowie, death, fame and every ugly beast that hitches a ride. Of course a band Mitchell writes about is going to be ‘eccentric’. I really kept reading for Jasper though, because he is the universe here. Through him the reader catches a glimpse of what it’s like to live in a brain that tries to sink you. Mind-bending.

Publication Date: July 14, 2020

Random House

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for gifting me with a coveted ARC from David Mitchell. I admit my track record with Mr. Mitchell’s previous tomes have not been successful so I was overly optimistic this stand alone would convert me. Sadly, this wasn’t the case.

Having read others reviews it seems this is indeed part of the Mitchell Universe and I can see now, why I felt like the odd kid out. I had this feeling, the entire time I was reading the novel, that I was missing the “joke, never quite getting the punchline.

Set in 1960’s London, at a time when rock and roll is starting to find its stride, an up and coming band tries to make it big on the music scene, This is the literary version of Daisy Jones & The Six, but for me it was difficult to follow and became marred down in zaniness, bizarre celebrity encounters and a never ending plot.

After weeks of trying to reach the conclusion and then discovering I still had another 45 % left in the book, I decided it was time to move on.

I must admit, this is probably a case of Right Book, Wrong Reader.

David Mitchell may be my favorite author of all time, but I think this was my least favorite book. It was just slow/boring for the first half and I had little interest in picking it up. Skimming ahead, I read the sections which seemed closer related to The Bone Clocks and Thousand Summers ( loved both) but by then I was no longer invested in the story. I will probably give this book another try on audio as I can’t believe David Mitchell could write a book I wouldn’t enjoy.

I am part of the 2% of people who have not read or seen Cloud Atlas, which was written by this author. I own it, but haven't gotten around to reading it yet, so this was my first David Mitchell novel and I am really impressed! The writing was good and he set the scene so well. I highly recommend it!