Suzy, Led Zeppelin, and Me

I'm really not sure what i expected from this book, but it turned out to be fabulously not what i expected.Millar writes this one much in the style of one's stream of consciousness diary. From chapter to chapter he jumps from present day(ish) to Led Zeppelin to Zed to Cherry to Glasgow and back again. It's random and at times laugh-out-loud funny, yet poignant and nostalgic at the same time.If you remember that first heart palpatating crush and the connected heartbreak; if you remember the first [...]

The book was an enjoyable quick read. I was amused that Martin Millar would assure the reader on the first page that, "No part of this novel is longer than a rew hundred words. Even with a short attention span, you'll be able to read it easily, a little at a time." Towards the end he even mentions that he goes back and edits out all of his larger words and puts in simpler words in thier place. Very different from the last book I read.The narrative meanders from present time to the author's teen [...]

"My life was heading for a disaster. If I carried on being a fat person no woman would ever want to go out with me. No woman would even want to be seen with me. I would never be successful at anything and I wouldn't have any friends. I wouldn't deserve them, being so obese."-"I looked at Led Zeppelin, standing on the stage, here in Glasgow at last. Already I felt satisfied. I wasn't attractive. I never would be. I'd never get the girl I wanted. I didn't have any money. I didn't have many friends [...]

Found this one at the local library sale. Was only going to grab a book or two for a dollar each, but since it was also "fill a bag for $4"at's what I ended up doing. Lucky for me I did, because this one wasn't on my radar at all and will likely end up being the best of the lot. The title sold it for me. It's the story of a 40ish year old man named Martin, who relates his early teenage years when he loved Led Zeppelin and an untouchable girl named Suzy. Martin is a bit of a nerd with not too man [...]

This is a slight book, but that's okay. It felt kind of like a Nick Hornby novel to me. In this case, Martin (now an adult) relives a pivotal event in his teens by describing it to his female friend Manx, whom he befriended because he saw her wearing a Nefertiti hat. The event: a Led Zeppelin concert in Glasgow in 1972 when Martin was 15. At that time, Martin and his best friend were both in love with a girl named Suzy, who was already in love with Zed, the hands-down coolest guy in Glasgow. So, [...]

Fun book. The narrator looks back at the crowning event of his youth, a 1972 Led Zeppelin concert in his hometown of Glasgow, Scotland, a place no one ever thought would draw in the likes of this monster band. He and his best friend both have helpless, hopeless crushes on a beautiful girl who is going out with the cool kid at school. What brings them and another, geekier girl together, is the announcement of this once-in-a-lifetime concert.Perfectly told, with great characterizations and a danci [...]

I'm pretty starry-eyed about this author right now. I'll be scooping up as many of his titles as I can in the coming weeks. SLZ&M is an excellent photograph of frustrating-not-yet-adulthood and how nothing is as good or awful or important as it was at that age and how that is something to be relieved and yet also regretful about. It's short and not too weighty, but it's beautiful.

Trashed this at slightly over halfway through.This seems to be a largely autobiographical work based on 15 year old Martin Millar. And, as autobiographies tend to go, it's incredibly boring. The writing is easy enough to ingest (like a bag of potato chips), but it's lacking substance (like a bag of potato chips). It's slow and meandering, nothing happens AND THERE IS NO PLOT. Do yourself a favor and pass on this one.

You know the scene: you wake up, somewhat tentatively. You know you had too much to drink last night. But, hey, you had a productive day yesterday, the gin tasted soooo good, the company was delightful. And – oh bliss! – it’s Sunday! Not only that, but the clocks went back, so you got a wee cheeky extra hour with which to disarm the hangover! You roll over luxuriantly, feeling pretty damn good. Then you start with horror as you set eyes on what’s lying on the pillow next to you, and you [...]

This is clever and sweet and makes me very nostalgic for the 70's.

The only introduction to Martin Millar I had before this was "The Good Fairies of New York" which frankly, I haven't read. I would see it in the bookstore on shelves or at friends' houses, and I'd glance at the back of the cover, before wincing and putting it down again. The back of the cover, at least, read like one of those sort of irritatingly knowingly clever books. Sort of 'Look, it's cute, because they're fairies see? But now they're in a big city! Ha!'At any rate, on my last trip to the b [...]

It took me a while to get into this book. But the last half flew by very easily. I enjoyed the simple premise of one person's relationships with his friends back when he was a teend the subsequent complexities of these relationships as time goes on - and landmark moments that occur in the main character's life. I like that the main character's life in his teens is intercut with his current world. Older, wiser (maybe) and with much of a reminiscent heart thinking about his past. It was easy to ge [...]

L'incontro con Millar è sempre piacevole. Incontrare i suoi personaggi uno spasso. L'autore non si smentisce, infarcendo una probabilissima autobiografia di ironia, musica e personaggi ordinari, fatta eccezione per un cammeo di quelle fate scozzesi di cui avevamo fatto la conoscenza in "Fate a New York". "Io, Suzy e i Led Zeppelin" narra la crescita di un ragazzino, l'adolescenza in ogni suo frangente scandita dalla musica ad ogni ora del giorno. Il primo amore (impossibile), l'amico più grand [...]

Strangely poignant and touching story. A semi-autobiographical tale of the author's teenage misfit years, when he was overweight, awkward, uncool and desperately in love with a girl who just does not think of him "that way". His only comfort and solace comes from listening to Led Zeppelin records, painstakingly remembering all the lyrics and obsessively humming the riffs. Then his life is bisected by a once in a lifetime event - Led Zeppelin playing live in Glasgow. Everything becomes split into [...]

This book was randomly given to me by a friend who knows my love of music. The cover didn't specifically grab me amongst the other books my friend gave me but then I saw the words "Led Zeppelin" and went bananas. I read the first page and was instantly sucked in by the simplicity of it (especially the line about how this book isn't going to be a long boring one). I found myself flicking through the pages like a maniac and then it was finished! This book is a testimony to how literature can be si [...]

Have I told you about Martin Millar? You should read his stuff. Really. This one is not as steeped in fantasy and is also autobiographical. He shifts narrative voice between his 15 year old self, obsessed with Suzy and Led Zeppelin, and his current adult self in the process of writing the book. You don't feel like you're reading an adult's recollection of their teenage years; you're actually getting the teenager's voice and perspective. All of the self absorption and self loathing that we felt a [...]

This is marked as fiction, but it's based on real events in Martin Millar's adolescence. Millar attempts -- and fails pretty miserably, in my opinion -- to capture the angst of first love. The book is just directionless and pretty trivial. I will say, however, that Millar does a good job (hence the two stars instead of one) of capturing how a type of music can define a period of your life so completely, and how just one concert, one live music experience, can become a pivotal moment in your exis [...]

I definitely enjoyed this, some parts more than I have his other books I've read (Good Fairies of New York; Milk, Sulphate and Alby Starvation). While not including as much magic as Good Fairies of New York, he still inserts a bit of mythology into an interesting memoir of a teenager going to a Led Zeppelin concert. However, unlike Good Fairies of New York, the book could have been just as successful without magic, as it played such a small part and seemed a little awkward when it did enter into [...]

I adored parts of this book. Though I didn't feel it was altogether phenomenal, the portions where the main character is retelling his childhood days and his obsession with Led Zeppelin make this read totally worth it. I laughed at the deadpan humor, and related to the boy's enthusiasm over what he thought was the greatest band in the world, at what he thinks is the best gig they ever played. If you love rock 'n roll, or have ever been in love with a band or musicican, "Suzy, Led Zeppelin, and M [...]

I picked up this book because I'm a HUGE fan of martin Millar's Kalix the Lonely Werewolf Girl series. This story wasn't as involved but the characters were just as flawed and likable. It was a fun ride (especially for anyone who likes rock music)and it was funny as his works generally are. It was a trip back to high school with all the heart break and firsts that come along with it. The guy doesn't get the girl but there are lessons to be learned. I recommend it to anyone who needs to escape th [...]

I'm not sure what shelf to put this one on - it's not quite historical fiction. For all I know, it's autobiographical. It's funny. It's not paranormal because he knows the dragons aren't quite real.Can I say I'm impressed that someone can make a whole book out of one concert played in Glasgow in a tiny venue during the 70s? And that it rings true for someone else growing up in the 70s?Millar's writing is quirky and funny and touches your heart in a quirky, funny, yeah-we-were-all- idiots-but-it- [...]

Fabulous! It was a joy to read this book. How many of us can relate to being and feeling nerdy when we were in school, or to the feeling of unrequited love and having the biggest and stupidly insane crush on the coolest boy/girl in school, or being a diehard fan of your favorite band? For Martin it was Led Zeppelin, for me it was Duran Duran. This book is fabulous. It reads fast. Its smart and funny. Its moving. An absolutely fabulous reading experience.

I heartily recommend this for those like me who are nostalgic for a simpler time, before the internet and mobile phones made it possible to do/see/learn anything at anytime. When kids had more in common because they had a smaller culture plate to feed from before the internet blew up in to a ADHD smorgasbord of curiosity and subsequent boredom. Plus, knowingly, it's written in short 2-3 page chapters specifically to help that kind of modern, internet-addled mind.

One of the few books I've read more than once - not so much because it's a great work of literature (not really), but because I was the author's age at that time and I love Led Zeppelin - this took me back to the concert I never got to see. And, of course, you need to play Led Zeppelin while reading it.

I didn't really like this book as much as I liked the other two, I guess it had something do with the lack of the supernatural element, although I enjoyed the Led Zeppelin references, I like the idea of living for one event and having that burned into memory. All and all kind of boring, but not bad

This felt like more of an autobiography than a novel. It's a intimate look at the teen angst suffered by the author on his high school days. We learn about his first love, Suzy, and his undying devotion to Led Zeppelin.

For anyone who was an adolescent and loves music. Doesn't matter what time or what band. Although this is Led Zeppelin in '72, it could be Van Halen in '80 or Nirvana in '93. This is your life if you were clueless about girls, but your favorite band never let you down.

eh. if you want to know what it was like to be an unattractive social outcast teenager who's wild about Led Zeppelin, Glasgow 1972. Skip it.

Very entertaining, and at times moving novel; How it feels to be a teenage boy (in 197o's Scotland)Lots of fun

Probably my favorite of his books. For me, it caught perfectly the trying times of high school, and how totally important music was then