Tuesday, May 6, 2014

New book review: Rick Springfield - Magnificent Vibration

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Magnificent Vibration is the beautiful brainchild of Rick Springfield's imagination with enough of his real life mixed in for authenticity.

Despite what your dirty minds are thinking, the book is about a man who, newly-divorced, emasculated, and feeling he has nothing left to live for, comes across a self-help book titled Magnificent Vibration: Discover Your True Purpose with a toll-free number handwritten inside which appears to be the direct telephone number to God. As his relationship with God and religion has always been a rocky one, he sets out trying to determine why he has been chosen to communicate directly with the Supreme Being and see if he can get some of his big questions about life and the universe answered at the same time.

And there are some dirty bits.

Okay, a lot of them.

But I won't give away any spoilery bits of the book - there are other places on the web for that if you don't feel like reading it yourself, but I suggest you do.

Unless you're gonna be a prude about it, then just skip it, because frankly, I don't wanna hear it.

I pre-ordered Rick Springfield’s Magnificent Vibration in August when it first became available to do so, and I took the day off from work for its release & downloaded it onto my Kindle just after midnight. (Amazon.com, I do not appreciate the additional 15 minutes I had to wait as I hit refresh on my Orders page!) I laughed a lot and cried a little.

I’ve followed Rick’s career since I was in single digits and have read his memoir more than once, so it was easy to spot the semi-autobiographical elements of Magnificent Vibration, though the names, genders, and relationships were changed (that’s what makes it fiction, folks!). I love his self-deprecation and his dark humor. His style of writing almost makes it seem like we are reading the journal of his hero, Horatio (Bobby) Cotton. (I even like that the characters of his novel have names reflecting people important to him. This novel is truly from an intimate place within him – and that doesn’t mean only the detailed and numerous sexual references. But if you’ve read his memoir, you will know that that, too, is a trademark aspect of who Rick Springfield is.)

I love that his many pop cultural references are decidedly geeky and he opens a window to his world of the (for some) un-cool. The fact that I got all of those geeky pop cultural references places me squarely in his boat of the un-cool, the place I most proudly choose to be.

Possibly my favorite part of the book (aside from the stunner of an ending!) is the description of his rental car and all references to it woven throughout the book. I giggled like a lunatic alone in my room all night as I raced with our heroes through the streets of Los Angeles and beyond.

When my hardback and audiobook arrive, I shall have to revisit the story and the now-beloved characters, this time more leisurely and with greater understanding.

Order your own:
From the publisher
From Amazon

Get a signed copy at one of his book signings

From the website:
Unable to attend one of the scheduled Magnificent Vibration book signings? We’ve received plenty of feedback from folks wishing for a signing in their area, so Rick has arranged for a special opportunity for fans and readers to get an autographed, personalized copy of his new novel delivered to your door! For a limited time, you can order Magnificent Vibration from Changing Hands Bookstore and have it signed and personalized by Rick and delivered by mail! Deadline to order is the end of the day on May 15. Complete details and ordering information here: http://changinghands.com/event/springfield-may14


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Photograph by Kym DeGenaro