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Sign up todayDeep Cuts
A Novel
Narrator
Jayme Mattler
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Length
9 hours 9 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“As a xennial with a deep love of 2000s indie music, this book grabbed me instantly with name drops like the Shins, Fiona Apple, Interpol, and Neko Case. But it kept my attention with the unbelievably relatable Percy and her personal struggles to connect with people and find her own voice. Tracked over decades, the turbulent relationship between Percy and rockstar-in-the-making Joe is in turns beautiful and devastating, but always feels tangibly real. The narrator captures Percy’s voice wonderfully, making us feel both her frustration and joy. Absolutely brilliant work! And be sure to check out the accompanying playlist, highlighting many of the songs referenced in the book. There are some certified bangers in there, I guarantee!”
— Greg • Brick & Mortar Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Were you a music snob in the early aughts? You will see yourself here - not in an unflattering light!”
— Cait • Gibson's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“This book gave me nostalgic feels in all new places - what a great story, and soundtrack, specific to the 2000s music scene, yet relatable for so many. ”
— Alissa • South Main Book Company
Bookseller recommendation
“I already know this book will be one of my favorite reads of 2025. Don’t mistake this for a love story with a soundtrack - it’s so much more. The author brilliantly tracks the cultural shifts, big feelings and significant events- both personal and global of the early 2000s- through the lens of music, lyrics, shows and bands (some real, some not). Starting when the protagonist/first person narrator, Percy, starts college, the book takes us through her early adulthood, as she expresses her feelings through song choices, lyrics and shows. Her relationship with would be, could be, maybe (?) rock star, Joe, is at the center of things, but it’s not all about him - it’s about Percy. If pressed, I’d compare this book to an Alison Espach novel - thoroughly entertaining, but also insightful, smart and honest. And like Espach, Holly Brickley nails the ending. ”
— Molly • Scrawl Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Not only couldn't I "put" this down, the second I finished it, I wanted to start it again. This book rocks! It's pitch perfect! (Puns intended.)”
— randy • Left Bank Books
Bookseller recommendation
“A stunning debut from a new powerful voice in fiction, Deep Cuts will be a must-read for fans of Tomorrow, & Tomorrow, & Tomorrow and music-lovers alike. The decades-long friendship between Joe, a talented musician, and Percy, a virtuoso music critic and the silent partner to his song-writing, is at times fraught but always heartfelt and genuine. I couldn't put this one down and didn't want it to end! ”
— Molly • Maria's Bookshop
Bookseller recommendation
“A stunning and highly compelling debut. Holly Brickley has composed a magnificent ode to growing up. At the center of her messy and loveable cast of characters is music, the propulsive and inexplicable force that drives the story along. I absolutely loved this and can't wait to see what this author does next!”
— Sara • Paragraphs Bookstore
“Tender as a ballad and pleasurable as a pop song, Deep Cuts is both a romp into the indie sleaze era of the early aughts and a timeless love story.”—Coco Mellors, New York Times bestselling author of Blue Sisters
“Warm, nostalgic, totally engrossing. I loved this novel.”—Liz Moore, New York Times bestselling author of The God of the Woods
Look, the song whispered to me, that day in my living room. Life can be so big.
It’s a Friday night in a campus bar in Berkeley, fall of 2000, and Percy Marks is pontificating about music again. Hall and Oates is on the jukebox, and Percy—who has no talent for music, just lots of opinions about it—can’t stop herself from overanalyzing the song, indulging what she knows to be her most annoying habit. But something is different tonight. The guy beside her at the bar, fellow student Joe Morrow, is a songwriter. And he could listen to Percy talk all night.
Joe asks Percy for feedback on one of his songs—and the results kick off a partnership that will span years, ignite new passions in them both, and crush their egos again and again. Is their collaboration worth its cost? Or is it holding Percy back from finding her own voice?
Moving from Brooklyn bars to San Francisco dance floors, Deep Cuts examines the nature of talent, obsession, belonging, and above all, our need to be heard.
Holly Brickley studied English at UC Berkeley and received an MFA in fiction from Columbia University. Originally from Hope, British Columbia, she now lives in Portland, Oregon, with her husband and their two daughters. Deep Cuts is her first novel.
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Audiobook details
Author:
Holly Brickley
Narrator:
Jayme Mattler
ISBN:
9798217066889
Length:
9 hours 9 minutes
Language:
English
Publisher:
Penguin Random House Audio Publishing Group
Publication date:
February 25, 2025
Edition:
Unabridged
Libro.fm rank:
#6,721 Overall
Genre rank:
#888 in Fiction - Literary
Reviews
“This dazzling debut isn’t so much a ‘will they/won’t they’ story as it is a ‘should they?’ With an assured, conversational tone, appealing characters, and an emotionally resonant love story, this one is sure to win the hearts of many readers.”—Booklist, starred review“A promising debut notable for sharp characterizations and a vividly conveyed sense of time and place.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Brickley debuts with a refreshing story of love and ambition in the early 2000s indie music scene. . . . Brickley’s sharp commentary on aughts indie rock will please music fans, but what makes this special is her portrayal of how Joe and Percy are bound by their creative drive even more than by romantic love. It’s a banger.”—Publishers Weekly
“This is rich, immersive, and transportive storytelling, full of Walkmans and CD folders, love and yearnings (oh, is there yearning), and exceptional music writing. Songs and lyrics become charged with meaning as the characters use music to understand themselves and each other, and the result is breathtaking. Can you tell I’m obsessed? I really think this is going to be huge.”—The Bookseller, “Book of the Month” (UK)
“Every writer knows the highest compliment is envy: I wish I’d written that. Holly Brickley’s Deep Cuts is a joy: fizzy, moving, endlessly smart. Brickley doesn’t just write well about music, she anatomizes why and how we love it, and she makes us feel the stakes of that love. So, I wish I’d written that.”—Claire Dederer, national bestselling author of Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize
“Smart, sensitive, and assured, Deep Cuts tells us as much about the hearts of its music-loving characters as it does about music’s power to distill overwhelming feelings into indelible art. Holly Brickley’s wonderful debut novel is every bit as satisfying as the songs she writes about. Brickley is the real thing, and so is Deep Cuts.”—Peter Ames Carlin, New York Times bestselling author of Bruce and The Name of This Band is R.E.M.
“Deep Cuts is an incredibly special book, one of the best I’ve read in a very long time. Moving, beautiful, rich with emotion, it’s an epic love story and the story of a woman finding her creative power, all rolled into one. Extraordinary.”—Beth O’Leary, Sunday Times bestselling author of The Flatshare and The Switch
“I absolutely loved Deep Cuts—clever and heart-wrenching and addictive, the kind of novel that grabs you in an instant and takes you reeling through its pages.”—Miranda Cowley Heller, author of the #1 New York Times bestseller The Paper Palace
“I find it hard to remember the last time I found a novel so relatable and enjoyable. Prepare to fall in love with Percy and Joe this spring.”—Gillian McAllister, New York Times bestselling author of Wrong Place, Wrong Time
“Clever, nostalgic, and deeply geeky. Deep Cuts is a literary indie-pop classic—brilliantly constructed, with a raw, heartfelt energy that captures an era. There is such a range of music, I ended up listening to so many wonderful, forgotten tracks while reading this.”—Florence Knapp, author of The Names Expand reviews
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