set in 1990s New York, Jack (a riff on Jack Shit) is a musician. When the frontman of his band goes missing, he goes on a quest to find him.

The writing style here was not for me. It was a bit stream of consciousness for my taste, but that is a personal preference! If you like that style, then this book will probably appeal more to you than me.

The 90s was a really great part of my life. I was in college. I was out on my own and becoming my own person. I have a joke that everyone was in a band in the 90s. This book proves that point. However, the characters in this book were the posers who didn’t really get it. In a time of re-opening of minds, the youth vote, and bands with a real understanding of what it was punk was trying to say without just immitating it, there were a lot of posers who just wanted to be loud. This is a book about them.

This was not my lens of the decade, so maybe that’s why I rolled my eyes through a good portion of it. I got so tired of the language trying so hard to be cool. To paraphrase an actual good band from that time-trying to look like they didn’t try. I found it all so silly….and low. Just the name the lead character has chosen for himself, not to mention the rest of the band, kept me from really connecting with this book. I rounded up half a star just for the nostalgic references sprinkled throughout.

Jack's hunt for his bandmate Earl, who stole and is trying to sell Jack's bass, leads him into a morass in 1993 New York. Know that there are two stories here- and that the mystery, the murder, and so on are really an excuse for the rest of it, which is an atmospheric look at the place and the period, complete with an outsize real estate guy we all know. If you lived in NY in the 90s, you'll read and nod a lot (especially about you know who, whose antics then seem to have been blurred to the rest of the world). At the same time, however, it's a bit frantic, with many characters, and an unclear focus. The satire works (although as I've commented before, Lipsyte sometimes reads as though he's looking down at those who aren't part of the crowd). Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Entertaining read.

I was in a car the other day, driving through the East Village, and we were stopped across the street from the former home of CBGB's. Now, there's a J Crew on the corner, a Chase bank on another corner and a Whole Foods down the street. What has become of the dirty East Village from this fantastic book?

Taking place in 1993, New Jersey born Jack is a bass player in a (struggling) punk band. The lead singer of the band, who is struggling with...ahem, heroin, is currently missing as is Jack's bass. It's a few days before their next gig and Jack doesn't know where to start looking. Thus begins his advenures..

This is part mystery, part character study. If anything, it's more of a story about a time and place that no long exists and is missed.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Entertaining romp through the seedy underbelly of 90s New York City. Fun, clever, but ultimately slight mystery.

Absolutely nothing about this book made sense to me. I don’t even have words to describe it accurately, but I’ll try. It was weird, like an oddball attempt at a comedy/drama novel? I’m not 100% sure.

It follows Jonathan who plays in a band The Shits and changes his name to Jack. His friend steals his bass to sell for drugs. The rest of the book is Jack trying to find Earl.

I didn’t like this one at all. Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a shorter book revolving around some punk rockers living in NYC in the 90s, complete with gross bars, condescending tough guy police officers, real estate developer goons, and a band member with a heroin addiction. I have a sick sense of humor and I was cracking up the whole time. If you’re expecting more of a mysterious and developed plot, this may disappoint you. If, like me, you fled your parents’ home to the East Village at age 18, this read may leave you reminiscing about all the weirdos and, to quote John Green, “the great perhaps.”

I lived in the East Village for 15 years, up until 1993, the year that No One Left to Come Looking for You takes place in that very same locale. Where Jack (nee Jonathan), an aspiring punk rock bassist, feels that he arrived on the scene a decade or so too late, I was there during its heyday, but not a punk rocker (I was and still am an acoustic roots guitarist).

Nevertheless I can SO relate to this story, in this and so many other ways -- a suburban Jersey kid relocating to the Village trying to be a hip musician, feeling like that world has passed him by, torn between trying to be an artist or getting a real job, wondering whether there is any authenticity in a suburban Jersey kid trying to be a hipster artist, and dedicating oneself to a political world view that can best be summed up as armchair radical.

So I just loved this story of young Jack trying to locate his stolen Fender Jazzmaster bass and the drug addled bandmate who likely stole it and may have run into foul play in his attempts to hock it to finance his next fix. Here are all the East Village and NYC denizens that Jack encounters along the way -- from the local homeless guy who you get to know by name all the way up to the probably criminal publicity hound real estate mogul who still haunts our public life to this day.

Yeah, if you don't want to see that guy portrayed in the negative light that all New Yorkers saw him in during the 80s and 90s, you should probably avoid this book. Me, I give Sam Lipsyte credit for accurately recalling what he was like in those days without necessarily citing his more recent impact on the city, nation, and world -- I recall how Spy Magazine routinely roasted him back then, calling him the "short-fingered vulgarian" that we get glimpses of in this book.

As well written and funny as this is, I'm tempted to deduct half a star for the plot not really being much of a plot, and what plot there is resolving itself rather abruptly, requiring too much suspension of disbelief. But then this not meant to be a thriller or a mystery or a whatever type of tightly plotted novel you want to call it, it is a humorous study of a character, a time and place, and the people he lived among.

Great stuff if you can relate or are willing to go with it, maybe not so much if this world is totally alien to you. Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for making an advance reading copy available in exchange for an honest review. I love when I can honestly review a title by saying, I loved it!

I was really looking forward to this one due to synopsis unfortunately I just couldn’t get passed the first couple of chapters.

No One Left to Come Looking for You tells the story of Jack S**t, a struggling musician living in New York in 1993. Jack is trying to track down his bass guitar (along with his band's lead singer), and he runs into a fascinating cast of characters while trying to track them down.

The book exhibits Sam Lipsyte's trademark humor and does a great job of putting us into a bygone world of 1990s-era New York. Definitely a fun read!

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

This book follows Jack who is living in 1990’s New York City and is a member of a band. The book centers around him trying to find his missing roommate who stole his bass guitar.

This book is written in a really unique way- the author is definitely talented and has a clever writing style. Even though well written, I had a hard time connecting to the story. I felt like for the right person this book would be amazing but that person just isn’t me. I didn’t like any of the characters and the plot wasn’t engaging. I found Jack really hard to root for- he was pretentious without a reason to be so. Good writing can only take a book so far, it needs something more.

This book was a wild ride through the life of Jonathan, trying to rebrand himself as Jack. Jack is one of the core members of a band, and he wakes up one morning to find his roommate missing, along with Jack's bass guitar. Looking for his roommate and his bass takes Jack through a series of adventures and chaos.

This book is very well written, but a lot of Jack's rambling left me wishing for more. There is not quite enough plot, and when the plot happens it is often convoluted -- and felt rushed.

I definitely felt right in Jack's world, as the descriptions are very vivid, and the supporting characters are all very well developed. I'm a sucker for any book set in New York and did enjoy the descriptions of the 1990's music scene.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book!

This book was everything I wanted it to be. It had me turned pages without even realizing. It was so good!

This one is a mystery that will hit you both emotionally and intellectually. The characters were well developed and showed growth throughout the book. This was my first Sam Lipsyte story and definitely not my last.

I greatly enjoyed No One Left to Come Looking for You because Sam Lipsyte brings a distinct flavor and language to this version of 90s NY that makes it come alive, be it from the characters or the environment itself.

The plot is compelling with a blend of mystery, comedy and social commentary all blending to create a fun wacky story about friendship, music and the lengths that people will go to when they are reaching for a goal. Lipsyte creates characters that I will remember and enjoy thinking about because they each are fleshed out and developed be it hitmen that you may see once to the leads of the story.

Overall Lipsyte's greatest strength is the creation of character and location be it the city of New York or the multiple characters that we meet and I am looking forward to whatever Lipsyte brings us next!

Highly recommend this one! This was my first book to read by this author but definitely won't be my last. The characters will stay with you long after you finish the book and you will find yourself wishing the story would never end.

This was really not the book for me I’m not sure if it was the writing or the story but I just couldn’t get into it at all

This just isn't the book for me. Other people seem to really enjoy it and I can see the appeal but when it comes down to it, it's just not something I enjoyed.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simone & Schuster for providing a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

A solid little mystery and a nice nostalgia trip for the grimy old days of the East Village. Gen X was possibly the last generation to be able to live the dirtbag slacker life; nowadays the members of the fictional band would all have day jobs and make TikToks to promote their music. The mystery is a bit convoluted but the book is a quick read and a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Unfortunately, this book didn't do it for me. I was excited to read it, especially since it was set in NYC during the 90s. I was excited about the unique characters, but I thought they all fell short.

I thought the mystery was kind of confusing and in the end didn't really matter. There was one shocking death, but otherwise, it was just meh.

I wasn't able to connect to any of the characters, and honestly found a lot of the humor in the book to be kind of gross. In my opinion, there really wasn't one likable character and they were all boring. Jack was a bland character and really didn't have many reactions to things. Also, there were so many characters it was hard to keep track of them all.

Maybe this just wasn't a book for me, but it was nothing memorable and nothing stood out. I was expecting a compelling mystery but instead found myself not caring about the outcome.

Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.