Author: Kathryn Harrison File Type: epub Early on an April morning, eighteen-year-old Billy Frank Gilley, Jr., killed his sleeping parents. Surprised in the act by his younger sister, Becky, he turned on her as well. Billy then climbed the stairs to the bedroom of his other sister, Jody, and said, Were free. But is one ever free after an unredeemable act of violence? The Gilley family murders ended a lifetime of physical and mental abuse suffered by Billy and Jody at the hands of their parents. And it required each of the two survivorsone a convicted murderer, the other suddenly an orphanto create a new identity, a new life.

Author: John Darnielle File Type: epub Black Sabbaths Master of Reality has maintained remarkable historical status over several generations its a touchstone for the directionless, and common coin for young men and women whove felt excluded from the broader cultural economy. John Darnielle hears it through the ears of Roger Painter, a young adult locked in a southern California adolescent psychiatric center in 1985 deprived of his Walkman and hungry for comfort, he explains Black Sabbath as one might describe air to a fish, or love to an android, hoping to convince his captors to give him back his tapes.**ReviewMention in Harp Magazine (Grayson Currin) [T]he focus of Darnielles fans has always been on hislyrics and the stories contained within them. Now hes stepped off the stage and sat down at is typewriter to deliverMaster of Reality, his first novel and a stunning piece of rock criticism andappreciation. Readers are likely to come to Master of Reality from avariety of backgrounds. Some will comeas Mountain Goats fans wanting to see Darnielle tackle a novel, others as BlackSabbath fans wanting to read about a favorite album. Some will simply be fans of the cult-popular33 13 series, which has now grown to dozens of books, yet kept its level ofquality very high. Hopefully, there willbe others who will pick it up as novel first, because it truly is a first-ratestory, full of moments that will pluck at your heartstrings as youre broughtback to the moment you first fell in love with a piece of music, when an albumprovided not just the soundtrack to your life but also the meaning behindit. If, by some strange chance, none ofthis happens, well, youre probably going to at least dust off your old Sabbathvinyl, and theres nothing wrong with that either. NewPages.com [Darnielle] straightjackets the essence of Black Sabbathwhere 40 years of music musings and cultural damnation have failed. Raoul Hernandez, Austin Chronicle (Raoul Hernandez) Total affection for, and strong identification with, musicis a cross-generational experience, and though the motivation behind the 33 13series meshes nicely with a post-Generation X obsession with the minutiae ofpersonal experience, its also immediately accessible to anyone whos everwritten favorite lyrics on her algebra notebook. While nostalgia runs thick inDarnielles book (the nature of the series essentially demands this), theres agreater point about music and memory to be found in Rogers story. Indulgencein the memory of intense feelings can be strangely comforting, and perhaps evennecessary. Or, as Roger puts it It doesnt have to mean that to everybody, andit means more no matter what... Thea Brown, The L Magazine (Thea Brown) Darnielle, singer and songwriter for the much-loved bandThe Mountain Goats, cuts right to the chase in his short novel, the blunt,direct tone of his adolescent protagonist Richard Painter perfectlyencapsulating the enduring appeal of metals great progenitors. Its all aboutthe Mighty Riff when it comes to Sabbath everything else is secondary, andwhile one could easily make a case for at least half a dozen albums thatdeserve the 33 13 treatment, the riffs that define this particular album are,to echo young Rogers sentiment, unfuckwithable. Adrien Begrand, Popmatters.com (Adrien Begrand) Mountain Goat John Darnielles off-stage literaryproclivities are no secret, which makes us all the more excited for his firstnovel, a paean to Black Sabbaths Master of Reality. The book is the latest in Continuums 33 13series ultrasmart series of elegant, pocket-size appreciations of rock albumsas diverse as the Beatles Let it Be and My Bloody Valentines Loveless. Darnielle unpacks the classic, riff-erificalbum as a scrabrous series of diary entries written by a teenager in a Southern California mental institution. Those curious tosee the budding rock critic off-stage or who are simply bonkers for Sabbath areadvised to check out this reading. Tayt Harlin, New YorkMagazine With his short stories masquerading as songs, JohnDarniellefounding member of the Mountain Goatshas crafted a wide range ofoff-kilter characters. He continues thistradition with Roger, a fifteen-year-old patient in a psychiatric hospital andthe protagonist of Darnielles first book, a loving diary-style exploration ofBlack Sabbaths Master of Reality, part of Continuums 33 13 series...Inspiredby his real-life experiences as a psychiatric nurse (and love of all thingsmetal), Darnielles literary debut is a fast, addictive read that also tugs onthe heartstrings of sensitive Ozzy fans. Exclaim magazine Interviewed in Philadelphia Weekly The Mountain Goats John Darnielle Is Good At Writing! People love The Mountain Goats because all their songscontain SAT vocab words and are like little stories. So its unsurprising that JohnDarnielle can also work up some music-free compositions, like his contributionto Continuums 33 13 series of books inspired by classic albums, a novel aboutBlack Sabbaths Master of Reality. He also recently wrapped up a stint of guest blogging atPowells excellent blog, which is worth revisiting if youre curious about hisfeelings about heavy metal (he likes it! and is very knowledgable about it!).And if you live in New York,you can come to a reading of the Black Sabbath book next Saturday at HousingWorks and witness his non-singing talents in person. MediaBistros Galleycat Interviewed by Gothamist Review Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1 {behavior url(#ieooui) } Style Definitions * table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name Table Normal mso-tstyle-rowband-size0 mso-tstyle-colband-size0 mso-style-noshow yes mso-style-parent mso-padding-alt0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt mso-para-margin0in mso-para- .0001pt mso-pagination widow-orphan 10.0pt Times New Roman mso-ansi-language #0400 mso-fareast-language #0400 mso-bidi-language #0400} Id like to give a special shout-out to John Darnielles book about Black Sabbaths Master of Reality, published as part of Continuums 33 13 series of album-themed books...If you like the band, youll like this book. If you like intense young-adult takes like The Perks of Being a Wallflower, youll like this book. No matter what, by the end, youll be racing to purchase Master of Reality, which is a beautiful thing. -USA Today, PopCandy