Hey guys! As promised I am writing a separate review for Band in the Wind by William John Rostron. The reason I want to do a rewrite is that I screwed up the review I did for the Online Book Club. I will still link to the original review at the end of this review. I can’t correct the existing review and repost it. That review is Onlinebookclub.org’s now. This gives me a chance to give more detail than I did before, and I don’t have to worry about guidelines here.
I won’t be doing this all the time, it’s just Mr. Rostron deserves my best effort because the book was good! I will put this review in place of what is currently in the featured section on my website.
Okay, so, let’s get started.
The Plot
It’s 1967 and Johnny “Cipp” and his bandmates are catching the eye of the local music scene. The band is talented and it is tight. The future is exciting and bright for a bunch of inner-city kids who love the music more than they love the “perks.” Each band member is his own brand of musical genius and Johnny loves every one of them. However, the band is dead both symbolically and literally. Johnny is the only survivor of the band and he’s not taking it well.
The story of Those Born Free, the name of the band, is told in Johnny’s journal. We, the reader, meet Johnny in the early 1990s. He is a middle-aged man who has drunk and self-medicated his way through adulthood. He writes with a love and an excitement that is infectious to the reader. I for one was all in once the story found its groove.
In between Johnny’s journal, there is an omniscient narrator. The narrator's job is to introduce the villains of the book and provide social and cultural commentary on 1960’s New York. Johnny does not live in an accepting and free-thinking world. At times, he feels the world is closing in on him. The villains of this story are a little over the top, but I disliked them and honestly feared for the band, so, mission accomplished.
The end result of this story is a well designed confessional of a man who flew too close to the sun and never recovered from the fall.
What I Think…
By the time I finished this book I was invested in the young men cruelly ripped out of their dream. I longed for Johnny’s journal entries because it was so engaging. When the narrator took over I would check out. The 1960s holds a personal fascination for me. So, I understand the Civil Movement and the racial tension that was very common at the time.
For someone who has not studied history or is too young to care, the narrator provides important context. You should be concerned for Johnny when he “crosses the line” into the black neighborhood. The fact that the “n-word” is used so liberally is not as shocking to a modern reader if you understand the period. As a side note, if racism is a trigger for you, this book could be a rough read. Johnny isn’t racist, but he is passive and the world he inhabits is that of scared, entitled white men fighting back against a perceived social imbalance. Camden Heights is not a nice place in this story and for that reason, I wanted the kids to do well and get out.
What I liked about the book.
One word, Bracko. Bracko is the lead guitar player in the band and if he had been a real person, my highschool self would have followed him around like a puppy. The guy comes from an abusive home, music is his only language, and I LOVED him. I crashed so hard when Johnny explained what happened to him in his journal.
The other guys have equally tragic ends, but Bracko’s is the one that made me pump my fist and internally scream. I played As My Guitar Gently Weeps until I went to sleep for this character.
I appreciate that Johnny is written like a real kid. He does some stupid stuff. He’s not street smart to the point that you could call him cool. He’s good at getting out of the way and that’s about it. I was glad it didn’t all come to him easily, he had to work for his arc and he provided a very emotional and satisfying ride for me.
Closing Thoughts
There is a sequel to this book called Sound of Redemption. I am curious about it because I want to hear about Johnny’s muse’s side of the story. Mr. Rostron provided some background to his writing process. It was nice to hear that the tragedy of the band was fictionalized and that the reason Johnny felt so authentic was that the writer was Johnny. The appendix of the story gave me a deeper appreciation of the story. Mr. Rostron did admit that his villains were intentionally over the top, so I didn’t feel so bad about rolling my eyes a few times.
Overall, I liked Band in the Wind and would recommend it. As promised you can read my original review for Onlinebookclub.org here (just please don’t go full grammar-nazi-troll on me, I’ve beaten myself up enough for both of us.)
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