When I was putting together my TBR pile for this year I specifically went back to lists of much older cannonballs for books I didn’t get to and was bummed about having not read and added a handful of them to this year. I’m having mixed results with that plan, though, although Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs by Dave Holmes got three stars from me which is better than the other so far, French Milk (incidentally I added them both in 2016 and both are memoirs).
So, what is Party of One? It’s the coming of age of Dave Holmes who if you are an elder millennial like me, or on the younger side of Gen X, you may remember Dave from coming in second place on MTV’s Wanna Be a VJ contest and his subsequent few years working on the network (1998-2002). Dave is self-described as someone who has always felt on the outside of life – which is something that I can relate to. Holmes tells us his story in a warm tone of self-awareness and humor, but there’s something off balance in the proportion of the book focusing on his life before age 22 and the rest, especially the post MTV years.
Holmes can write; I found myself engaged with the writing even when my interest was waning. Which is mostly why I landed on three stars because while this is well written, and Holmes does a commendable job of balancing what he wants to say versus what he knows audiences are going to want him to write (thoughts on Jesse Camp who won Wanna Be a VJ), I definitely stalled out at various times. I’ve seen other reviewers complain that in sections of the book, particularly his college and early career, that it felt like reading about someone who failed upward. And yes… that can be a way to read this, but Holmes actions in those years read as self-sabotage to me because once he lands in the world that makes the most sense for him to be in – music and other pop culture – all the effort he had put into fitting in was now put into doing the thing and it made all the difference. But my gripe is that the subtitle lied! I was anticipating that Homes would deep dive on a song and how it related to a part of his life, as one would expect from a music nerd of notoriety. Nope. Music and its place in Holmes life was well discussed but there was not a lot said about the specific 21 songs used as chapter titles. I was annoyed.
Bride of New France is my next up in the books from many years ago that I try to read again, maybe that one will be the one that makes me glad I launched this plan and continues an upward trajectory of ratings.