J. Eric Smith''s bracing debut novel Eponymous paints a darkly humorous, yet reality-rooted, portrait of frustrated musician (but successful music critic) Hutson Colcock Collie Hay III. This entertaining, engaging novel is crafted with a detailed understanding of the forces that drive and foibles that define the music industry on both a national and a local plane, focusing heavily on the regional element of the music-making experience, where the vast majority of contemporary musicians and writers spend their careers, far removed (literally and figuratively) from the bustling industry hubs of New York City, Los Angeles or Nashville. In so doing, Eponymous illuminates the reality that most regional musicians, critics and music-lovers alike experience, wrapping love, loathing and the dirty realities of rock and roll into a bracing, fast-paced whole thats guaranteed to appeal to readers who enjoyed Nick Hornbys "High Fidelity or Cameron Crowes Almost Famous.
