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Utopia Avenue

The Number One Sunday Times Bestseller

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Utopia Avenue

By: David Mitchell
Narrated by: Andrew Wincott
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About this listen

Utopia Avenue might be the most curious British band you've never heard of.

Emerging from London's psychedelic scene in 1967, folksinger Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss, guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet and jazz drummer Griff Griffin together created a unique sound with lyrics that captured their turbulent times. The band produced only two albums in two years, yet their musical legacy lives on.

This is the story of Utopia Avenue's brief, blazing journey from Soho clubs and draughty ballrooms to the promised land of America, just when the Summer of Love was receding into something much darker - a multi-faceted tale of dreams, drugs, love, sexuality, madness and grief; of stardom's wobbly ladder and fame's Faustian pact and of the collision between youthful idealism and jaded reality as the '60s drew to a close.

Above all, this bewitching novel celebrates the power of music to connect across divides, define an era and thrill the soul.

©2020 David Mitchell (P)2020 Hodder & Stoughton Limited Fiction Historical Fiction

Critic Reviews

"One of the most brilliantly inventive writers of this, or any country." (Independent)

All stars
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Wonderful story, great characters, excellent musical knowledge and an incredibly entertaining performance from the narrator. Thoroughly recommend !

Epic!

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I really enjoyed it from start to finish. His view of the mind is extraordinary.

Another David Mitchell Masterpiece

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As many have noted, even for fans of David Mitchell's writing this was a hard one. What went wrong? Was it that the narrator, brave and flexible, couldn't , and maybe shouldn't be expected to, conjure up with any authenticity the voices of the familiar- Bolan, Bowie, Brian Jones, Keith Moon, Mick Jagger and Jimmy Hendrix - or fictional - the typical reader of the Daily Telegraph and an Italian promoter? Was it that the integration of the cast of sixties characters became such a cliche that the out dated attitudes of the times appeared clunky rather than cool.
Utopia Avenue attempts to build on something cleverly creative, but aside from it being quite obvious that David Mitchell has never been in a band, its main failing seems to be that it is a clumsy recreation of an era of which has been said "If you remember the Sixties, you weren't there" by an author who having been born in 1969, clearly wasn't there at all. Oops I wrote this review before I had finished the book, I wasn't even going to finish it, but something compelled me to go down the self absorbed slippery slope into the finale which frankly was too much for even a fan of his previous work.. I began to feel like I was absorbing something akin to the madness of one of the characters, we have the appropriation of Indigenous Australian culture and dialogue in German and French. as the story literally shatters through a glass darkly.

Underwhelmed on Utopia Avenue

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Sensational story that’s beautifully read! Loved listening to it (after reading it a few years back).

Utopia delivered!

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Andrew Wincott's narration is odd at times, but he does such a great job with the dialogue that it eventually slips into the background.

As for the book itself, there is enough here for fans of David Mitchell. The fantastical elements in his work should mean you are already tuned for enough suspension of disbelief to accept the truly absurd regularity of famous names. It should also be obvious to anyone who has that Mitchell has never been in a band, or actually had any personal experience of the drugs he writes about. Otherwise, the only other minor gripe is silly overuse of voices that 'detonate'...

It's not his best work, but I can't say I didn't enjoy it.



Eventually satisfying

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Very much a novel exploring the UK and US music scene of 1967-1968. it will therefore interest some, but might bore others. The signature magical realism of David Mitchell is only playing a tangential role in this novel. The narration by Andrew Wincott is truly outstanding and brings all characters to life.

A road trip of a story with stunning narration

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As good as any of Ken Follett historical novels. Simply fantastic. Love the characters, the time, the music. Wonderful narration transported me. Thank You David Mitchell.

Favourite book of 2020.

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I doubt I'll ever find a book that so well encapsulates Summer of love Rock'n'Roll world (not that I was there). Has a soundtrack to (e.g 19th nervous breakdown was playing on the cafe Radio), id switch to the songs sometimes to get the vibe. What fun. Only didn't give it 5 stars because I save that for the very very special

Music Enthusiasts Must Read

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I enjoyed this well written and performed story to the end. The characters were fun and I cared about their lives. Lots of real life facts about this Era throughout the story.

Engaging romp through the 60's

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David writes like no other. Is he a writer who likes poetry, or a poet who likes writing.
He's also quite unique as he introduces characters and events from his other novels. Which gives all his novels a connectivity, pretty much what Cloud Atlas is about.

The best writer that I know of.

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