Seventeen-year-old Chris Newsome—academically gifted, an athlete, on his
way to an Ivy League college—and his nerdy best friend Jim Firestone are
obsessed with heavy-metal rock music. One afternoon, listening to the
blaring dissonance of "Hope Against Hope," their favorite CD from their
favorite band, Shallow Grave, Jim shoots himself in the head and dies;
Chris shoots himself and doesn't. The novel follows a double narrative in
alternating chapters: one strand describes the events after these inexplicable
acts of violence from the point of view of Chris's father, Tommy; the other,
from Chris's viewpoint, traces the events leading up to Jim's death and his
own bungled suicide attempt.

     As the two narratives converge, father and son are shocked into greater
understanding of themselves, each other, and their own responsibility for
what has happened. In the final chapter we catch a fleeting glimpse of how
this family may ultimately be able to heal. By dispassionately confronting
the unspeakable, Brutal Music moves beyond the headlines to forge a
compelling portrait of our violent culture, our baffling times.


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JAMES LINDSAY was born in the Bronx and grew up in Monroe, New
York. A graduate of Oberlin College, he also holds an M.A. from Syracuse
University. He lives with his wife, Laurie, and their son in Arlington,
Massachusetts, where he works in the software industry. His most recent
job was promoting the building of personal and fan Web sites by teenagers.
A passionate pop and rock music fan, Lindsay has contributed dozens of
CD reviews to a now-defunct webzine, Occupational Hazards.

What people are saying about this book
"Lindsay's debut novel has a Death of a Salesman quality that deals with
the dark side of the American dream, one of our most enduring literary
themes."—Rick DeMarinis

"A grimly powerful portrait of a traumatized family wrestling with its
demons and inching toward understanding."—Tom Perrotta

"It is wonderfully told, this terrible tale. I read the book because I wanted to
know how Lindsay would deal with teen suicide and heavy metal music. I
thought the book was asking WHY; I never expected to LEARN why. That
there are here both comprehension and redemption is a miracle. I 
doff my hat."—Mary Hood

"Quietly, relentlessly, Lindsay strips away the illusions and defenses of a
son, a mother, and especially a father, who searches like Oedipus for the
cause of their tragedy only to find that the trail leads back home. In this
brief, dark, intense novel, Lindsay's sympathetic identification with his
characters ultimately provides a glimpse of redemption."—George Packer