Promote What’s Great…

Jamey Jasta, on his excellent podcast The Jasta Show, often says “Promote what’s great, not what you hate,” and today I’m taking his advice. I recently read a book called A Million Miles by Amy Fleisher Madden that I loved so much it compelled me to tell every one of my friends about it. When I ran out of friends to recommend it to (more quickly than I care to admit) I decided to write a post about it. And here we are.

You know that feeling when you hear a song that hits so hard you're convinced it was written directly for you? That's how I felt reading A Million Miles. Amy Fleisher Madden's debut novel is set in 1999 and follows the protagonist, Maddy, as she hops in a van with her favorite band, Crimson + Clover, as they tour the United States. This is not a stadium tour with stories of excess about rock stars living the sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll lifestyle. These are teenagers / twenty-somethings playing in small clubs and bars with tales of being ripped off by shady promoters, sleeping on the floors of anyone who will open their doors to a band of modern-day gypsies, and of the intimate relationships forged by a group of people trapped amongst one another 24/7 for months at a time. 

I devoured this book in three days and it only took me that long because life got in the way. It's a book I could not put down and didn't want to end. A Million Miles is one of the best books I've read in years (and I've read a whole lot of them) and I cannot wait to read what Amy Fleisher Madden comes up with next.