What do you think?
Rate this book
Eddie and the Cruisers
Eddie and his Jersey-bred band, The Parkway Cruisers, were going places. With an album and a few minor hits to their credit the future seemed bright until Eddie died in a fiery car crash. Twenty years later a British rock band turns their old songs into monumental fresh hits. With this comes a surge of interest in the surviving Cruisers and in a rumored cache of tapes that Eddie made before he died. That’s when the killing starts . . .
260 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
About the author
P.F. Kluge
15 books39 followersP.F. Kluge attended Kenyon College and the University of Chicago, and served in the U.S. Peace Corps (in Micronesia). He has worked as a reporter at the Wall Street Journal and as an editor at Life magazine. He has written for numerous publications, including Playboy, Rolling Stone, and Smithsonian, and is a contributing editor at National Geographic Traveler. As Writer-in-Residence at Kenyon, Kluge specializes in the reading and writing of American literature. He is a reporter, a writer, and a teacher.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
February 15, 2023
3.5 stars
"I was alive back then," I said. "It's odd how you keep waiting for your life to happen, to lift off the ground. You wait for that one period of time when you can say to yourself, This Is It! Well.... That was it."
One thing that effects us all is the feeling of nostalgia, a longing for the past in the present. How fast time really flies by, we have no control over it. One of the hidden meanings from the book is we must learn to truly respect the here and now, because before you know it, you’re gone.
'Eddie and the cruisers' is the story of an up and coming band in the 50s, the next big thing about to blow, on the cusp of worldwide fame. It all ends for the cruisers the night their charismatic lead singer Eddie Wilson dies in a horrible car crash, the band part ways soon after Eddies death calling it quits and going their own separate ways.
20 years on 'Eddie and the cruisers' are thrown back into the lime light after a famous English rock group dedicate there success to 'Eddie and the cruisers' giving them a whole new generation of fans which put the cruisers back into the top of the charts. Now 20 years on Questions surface about the mysterious death of Eddie and the lost tapes he recorded secretly with the some of the biggest names in 50s Blues and rock and roll in the weeks before his death. Someone is out to find those priceless tapes, breaking into all the original members homes looking for them. But who? Strange things start happening to all who were involved in Eddies life. Someone is out there who wants the tapes, who would even kill for them. Everyone is a suspect, including Eddie himself, who's been recently haunting their memories.
I enjoyed this book, I have seen the movie and did enjoy it, however the movie and book differ and both go their own way.
A great story full of mystery. It doesn't fail in keeping the reader guessing.
"I was alive back then," I said. "It's odd how you keep waiting for your life to happen, to lift off the ground. You wait for that one period of time when you can say to yourself, This Is It! Well.... That was it."
One thing that effects us all is the feeling of nostalgia, a longing for the past in the present. How fast time really flies by, we have no control over it. One of the hidden meanings from the book is we must learn to truly respect the here and now, because before you know it, you’re gone.
'Eddie and the cruisers' is the story of an up and coming band in the 50s, the next big thing about to blow, on the cusp of worldwide fame. It all ends for the cruisers the night their charismatic lead singer Eddie Wilson dies in a horrible car crash, the band part ways soon after Eddies death calling it quits and going their own separate ways.
20 years on 'Eddie and the cruisers' are thrown back into the lime light after a famous English rock group dedicate there success to 'Eddie and the cruisers' giving them a whole new generation of fans which put the cruisers back into the top of the charts. Now 20 years on Questions surface about the mysterious death of Eddie and the lost tapes he recorded secretly with the some of the biggest names in 50s Blues and rock and roll in the weeks before his death. Someone is out to find those priceless tapes, breaking into all the original members homes looking for them. But who? Strange things start happening to all who were involved in Eddies life. Someone is out there who wants the tapes, who would even kill for them. Everyone is a suspect, including Eddie himself, who's been recently haunting their memories.
I enjoyed this book, I have seen the movie and did enjoy it, however the movie and book differ and both go their own way.
A great story full of mystery. It doesn't fail in keeping the reader guessing.
February 6, 2018
Not unlike certain movies that you know are flawed (including the one made from this book), but you love them all the same, EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS is what film fans would call a “guilty pleasure.” There are a number of over-the-top melodramatic moments and incidents that strain common sense. If I was asked if it was a well-written book, I’d need to answer in the negative. Yet, like a Doc Savage pulp adventure, it was a great deal of fun to read.
I had recently rewatched the movie made from EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS, and I was struck by the number of reviews that referenced, “You should read the book. It’s so much better.” Even so, there were comments citing the extreme melodrama. So, what’s going on here?
For fans of the movie, the book is very different. The core story is there, but there are murders. The “lost album tapes” are extremely different from the movie’s studio recording. Joann Carlino is Eddie’s girlfriend, but is NOT a Cruiser. And Wendell doesn’t die of a drug overdose forcing the need for a replacement Cruiser. Probably the biggest departure of all is Eddie’s reason for the final recording sessions and the ending.
Where the book has a great deal of value is in fleshing out the characters more, providing a much stronger backstory. It also beautifully creates a “you are there” behind-the-scenes feeling for the performances. The “college concert” that was simply nasty in the movie has much more depth here. In short, there is an excellent exploration of creative human emotions and why artistic endeavors can seem so much more larger than life. That is the real gift of the book, EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS.
If you have an interest in 50’s music or the drama of being in an indie band on the rise, this is worthwhile. If you appreciate the scars that can be left by unrealized dreams, EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS has you covered.
You’ll want to see the movie, though. The songs are better.
I had recently rewatched the movie made from EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS, and I was struck by the number of reviews that referenced, “You should read the book. It’s so much better.” Even so, there were comments citing the extreme melodrama. So, what’s going on here?
For fans of the movie, the book is very different. The core story is there, but there are murders. The “lost album tapes” are extremely different from the movie’s studio recording. Joann Carlino is Eddie’s girlfriend, but is NOT a Cruiser. And Wendell doesn’t die of a drug overdose forcing the need for a replacement Cruiser. Probably the biggest departure of all is Eddie’s reason for the final recording sessions and the ending.
Where the book has a great deal of value is in fleshing out the characters more, providing a much stronger backstory. It also beautifully creates a “you are there” behind-the-scenes feeling for the performances. The “college concert” that was simply nasty in the movie has much more depth here. In short, there is an excellent exploration of creative human emotions and why artistic endeavors can seem so much more larger than life. That is the real gift of the book, EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS.
If you have an interest in 50’s music or the drama of being in an indie band on the rise, this is worthwhile. If you appreciate the scars that can be left by unrealized dreams, EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS has you covered.
You’ll want to see the movie, though. The songs are better.
August 21, 2018
A rare case where I love BOTH the film and the book. I saw the film on cable TV, in the summer of '84. I found the book at the library, and really enjoyed it.
The book IS different from the film in many ways,but some scenes in the film are almost word for word from the book.
If you enjoyed the film, I suggest the book. You won't be disapointed.
The book IS different from the film in many ways,but some scenes in the film are almost word for word from the book.
If you enjoyed the film, I suggest the book. You won't be disapointed.
July 25, 2021
2021 reads, #36. It was while recently reviewing James Wallace Birch's If You Find Emory Walden that I first got to talking about one of my favorite movies from my preteen years, the aging '50s rocker saga Eddie and the Cruisers, from that group of films from when we first got cable in the early '80s and everyone had the premium channels and I was exposed to my first wave of complex adult movies, which has had a more outsized effect over my entire arts tastes than probably any other period of film. Looking that up while writing my Birch review let me learn that the movie itself was based on a novel by former Kenyon College professor P.F. Kluge, who's written a bunch more as well but this one unmistakably being more popular than the rest combined, because of the successful film, which sadly seems to have fallen into complete obscurity these days.
And indeed, after recently checking it out from the Chicago Public Library system, I can see that the original story is a complex one as well, written in the late 1970s when disco was at its height, from an aging '50s hard-rocker who missed that sound and those bands in the adult-contemporary age of Barry Manilow and the Bee Gees. It's the story of the band in question, just another semi-pro bar band spending every Saturday night entertaining a group of locals at the neighborhood dive joint on the Jersey Shore. One day the afternoon bartender, a college student home for the summer, gets invited to start writing some lyrics for them so to compose their own songs for the very first time; they go over well enough with the drunk young partiers who constitute their normal audience, they cut one record, it does okay, they have some fun adventures, and then the band members start moving in different directions by the mid-'60s, basically breaking up over just a shared lack of interest in continuing, followed soon after by Eddie's mysterious car crash that left him dead, and the band broken up for good. Now twenty years later, a famous '70s British pop band has started doing tribune performances of many of these songs at their concerts, right as that Grease/Happy Days/American Graffiti retro love for the '50s was suddenly en-vogue for the first time. The original band finally scores an unlikely top-ten hit, they briefly become the only thing the entire nation can talk about for one specific summer, and the hunt is on for the supposed final tapes Eddie made in a warehouse in the desert right before he "died" with reportedly every famous soul band on the eastern seaboard brought together, to create his bizarre and brilliant version basically of Pet Sounds, which would be worth millions now if anyone could ever show up in LA with the masters and convincing proof that they're the owner.
It's this mystery that fuels the actual plotline, which in Citizen Kane style revisits a bunch of people from Eddie's heyday, now twenty years later when disco is king and their genre has been seemingly completely forgotten, and how this suddenly unlikely hit and national attention has shined a light on who they are now in their forties and what kinds of lives they lead. It's this stuff that's really brainy and character-oriented, reflecting the Postmodernist creative writing teacher has was at Kenyon College at the time he wrote it; but it's also a clear-eyed and sincere paean to the 1950s hard-rocking, hotrod culture that was around him when he was a teenager, without nostalgizing all the danger and sex out of it like these retro shows such as Happy Days did, and a really bittersweet look at how all these lives generally got worse (or, well, to be more fair, generally got more boring, worse or better not declared) as they degraded into middle-age and their music degraded into "oldie tour" status (which, to remember, is the years here when the first '50s oldie tours were booked, to take advantage of the Manhattan Transfer/Sh-Na-Na/Grease/Happy Days crowd).
As you can tell, the central mystery driving the plot is: did Eddie fake his own death or not? I can tell you safely without revealing spoilers (since the options constitute all 100 percent of the options) that the movie and the novel end in opposite ways; but to prevent me from accidentally spoiling which one is which for any of you planning on either reading the book or watching the movie, I'm going to move this to a fairly large hidden spoiler below. You won't be missing anything important, just one final thought I had about the book, and you can pick up easily again in the next paragraph you see below that continues this essay for a "general" audience.
Whatever the outcome on the final page or final minute, though, the majority of both mediums' versions remain essentially the same, although with a sadder sense of loss in the book for a simultaneously innocent and sexy age that no longer exists (although there's a lot of that in the movie too). It's interesting that Kluge published this before the popular rise of the punk movement, the Ramones, the craze back towards three-chord garage bands, and the eventual hipster national moment of pure attention these kinds of bands received just a few years after this book's timeline ends. He wouldn't have had to be so sad here about the permanent loss of it like he is; but that's '70s Postmodernist literature in a nutshell, that bizarre blend of academic respect, commercial appeal, and strange sad sense of storytelling. The paper version's out of print, but you can buy an official ebook from the publisher at Amazon for 11 bucks, and I recommend it if you like moody meditations on mortality in that late-'70s period that also saw creative peaks by John Irving, John Fowles, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike and others. Then go watch the movie afterwards, starring young and sexy versions of Tom Berenger, Michael Pare and Ellen Barkin, among many others.
And indeed, after recently checking it out from the Chicago Public Library system, I can see that the original story is a complex one as well, written in the late 1970s when disco was at its height, from an aging '50s hard-rocker who missed that sound and those bands in the adult-contemporary age of Barry Manilow and the Bee Gees. It's the story of the band in question, just another semi-pro bar band spending every Saturday night entertaining a group of locals at the neighborhood dive joint on the Jersey Shore. One day the afternoon bartender, a college student home for the summer, gets invited to start writing some lyrics for them so to compose their own songs for the very first time; they go over well enough with the drunk young partiers who constitute their normal audience, they cut one record, it does okay, they have some fun adventures, and then the band members start moving in different directions by the mid-'60s, basically breaking up over just a shared lack of interest in continuing, followed soon after by Eddie's mysterious car crash that left him dead, and the band broken up for good. Now twenty years later, a famous '70s British pop band has started doing tribune performances of many of these songs at their concerts, right as that Grease/Happy Days/American Graffiti retro love for the '50s was suddenly en-vogue for the first time. The original band finally scores an unlikely top-ten hit, they briefly become the only thing the entire nation can talk about for one specific summer, and the hunt is on for the supposed final tapes Eddie made in a warehouse in the desert right before he "died" with reportedly every famous soul band on the eastern seaboard brought together, to create his bizarre and brilliant version basically of Pet Sounds, which would be worth millions now if anyone could ever show up in LA with the masters and convincing proof that they're the owner.
It's this mystery that fuels the actual plotline, which in Citizen Kane style revisits a bunch of people from Eddie's heyday, now twenty years later when disco is king and their genre has been seemingly completely forgotten, and how this suddenly unlikely hit and national attention has shined a light on who they are now in their forties and what kinds of lives they lead. It's this stuff that's really brainy and character-oriented, reflecting the Postmodernist creative writing teacher has was at Kenyon College at the time he wrote it; but it's also a clear-eyed and sincere paean to the 1950s hard-rocking, hotrod culture that was around him when he was a teenager, without nostalgizing all the danger and sex out of it like these retro shows such as Happy Days did, and a really bittersweet look at how all these lives generally got worse (or, well, to be more fair, generally got more boring, worse or better not declared) as they degraded into middle-age and their music degraded into "oldie tour" status (which, to remember, is the years here when the first '50s oldie tours were booked, to take advantage of the Manhattan Transfer/Sh-Na-Na/Grease/Happy Days crowd).
As you can tell, the central mystery driving the plot is: did Eddie fake his own death or not? I can tell you safely without revealing spoilers (since the options constitute all 100 percent of the options) that the movie and the novel end in opposite ways; but to prevent me from accidentally spoiling which one is which for any of you planning on either reading the book or watching the movie, I'm going to move this to a fairly large hidden spoiler below. You won't be missing anything important, just one final thought I had about the book, and you can pick up easily again in the next paragraph you see below that continues this essay for a "general" audience.
Whatever the outcome on the final page or final minute, though, the majority of both mediums' versions remain essentially the same, although with a sadder sense of loss in the book for a simultaneously innocent and sexy age that no longer exists (although there's a lot of that in the movie too). It's interesting that Kluge published this before the popular rise of the punk movement, the Ramones, the craze back towards three-chord garage bands, and the eventual hipster national moment of pure attention these kinds of bands received just a few years after this book's timeline ends. He wouldn't have had to be so sad here about the permanent loss of it like he is; but that's '70s Postmodernist literature in a nutshell, that bizarre blend of academic respect, commercial appeal, and strange sad sense of storytelling. The paper version's out of print, but you can buy an official ebook from the publisher at Amazon for 11 bucks, and I recommend it if you like moody meditations on mortality in that late-'70s period that also saw creative peaks by John Irving, John Fowles, Margaret Atwood, Joyce Carol Oates, John Updike and others. Then go watch the movie afterwards, starring young and sexy versions of Tom Berenger, Michael Pare and Ellen Barkin, among many others.
December 29, 2008
While I preferred the Hollywood ending more, and found the use of violence unnecessary, this is an terrific read. Kluge creates an stellar Rock Legend with soul, passion and an amazing reverence for pop-culture influences. It's fascinating to read through the mind of Frank the Wordman and see his naivete for racial music blossom into an understanding of the cross cultural musical pollination his friend found so important and unattainable. The ending is a bit of a let down after such an amazing journey, but I think the movie is a great companion to the hole the original denouement left.
February 3, 2010
Eddie and The Cruisers, the movie has been on TV recently and it’s a movie I usually watch, and I decided I wanted to read the book to see how it compares to the movie. Did the screenwriters just adapt what was in the book? Or was the book a starting point for them? And, of course, it adds to the eternal debate which is better, the book or the movie? This is a review of P.F. Kluge’s Eddie and The Cruisers (until the last paragraph).
Frank Ridgeway is a high school English teacher who is getting a divorce and pretty much doesn’t like the students he teaches or his life. In his past he was a guitar player and lyricist for the 1958 era band Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers, who‘s lead singer, Eddie Wilson, died mysteriously. After one of Frank’s classes he’s contacted by a reporter, Elliott Mannheim, who is doing a retrospective story on The Cruisers because their song “Far Away Woman“ has been getting some airplay, and there‘s a rumor of undiscovered recordings Eddie made right before he died. After the interview with Mannheim, Frank is contacted by Doc Robinson, the former manager of The Cruisers who was somewhat of schemer/scammer but now is making a living as a DJ at a college radio station. Doc tells Frank there may be tapes, he doesn’t know but he started the rumor there were to flush them out if there were any tapes. And this is where the plot starts to get a little implausible to me. Doc tells Frank he needs to seek out all the old Cruisers and see if they know or have the tapes. Why doesn’t Doc do this himself? Frank agrees to do this at the very least to make peace with his past.
As Frank visits all the old Cruisers, Salvatore “Sally” Amato, Kenny Hopkins, now a Reverend, Wendell Newton, and finally Joann Carlito, he starts hearing how Eddie, the month before he died rented a Quonset hut in Lakehurst New Jersey ostensibly to record music that would bring together black and white music. Wendell, who is in a mental institution swears that Eddie brought together ‘the kings” of black and white music and they had jam sessions. But the characters and their motives seem forced like actors trying to make an unwieldy script work. Frank and all the other Cruisers suspect the reporter of trying to steal the tapes (if they exist) with no real evidence or actions by the reporter to suspect him of that.
This is where I find more implausibility’s. The Parkway Cruisers are described as a small local N.J. band that released one album and they’re playing small bars and Eddie is able to summons rock legends “the kings” of music? Eddie for no stated reason abandons The Cruisers, he doesn’t take any of them to the jam session except Wendell. As in the movie Eddie considers Frank important to the band because he’s “The Wordman,” and Eddie also tells everyone it’s ‘words and music” that make the band. If words and music were so important to Eddie and Frank was the “Wordman,” why didn’t Eddie take Frank to Lakehurst?
Another shortcoming of the novel is that Kluge introduces characters that go nowhere, and don’t really add anything to the understanding of Eddie or the music, such as Eddie’s wife and parents. The characters of the reporter Elliott Mannheim and his girlfriend appear in the beginning, disappear, only to reappear at the end. Joann Carlito appears as an after thought, her position is never really delineated, she’s “Eddie’s girl” other than that we don’t know if she’s in the band and a back up singer, like in the movie, or someone just hanging out with Eddie and the how and why of that aren’t explained too much. As the relationship with Eddie’s wife isn’t explained.
The world that Kluge is familiar with is what stands out. He knows schools and the academic life. The scenes at Frank’s prep school ring the truest, the descriptions and the motivations of the kids at school, even the Toby Tyler scene works much better in the book and isn’t as awkward as it is in the movie. What Kluge doesn’t know or isn’t able to render is a feeling for Eddie and The Cruisers or their music.
There’s a lot of ambivalence in the characters starting with Eddie, there’s not much of a mystery if Eddie is dead or how he died. The Lakehurst tapes, did Eddie make any tapes or not? In the beginning Doc admits he put out the rumor of there being tapes but no one in the story has any idea if there are any tapes or if they should be looking for them? I think Kluge wasn’t clear whether this was supposed to be a detective story, or a murder mystery, there’s a double murder towards the end but it’s cleared up within a half a page, or if Kluge was trying for something else all together.
Movie vs. Book - By the above review you can tell the screenwriters of “Eddie and the Cruisers” stripped the story down to its skeleton and added a more plausible story based on the elements of the novel. I think, in this case, the movie is a little better than the book.
Frank Ridgeway is a high school English teacher who is getting a divorce and pretty much doesn’t like the students he teaches or his life. In his past he was a guitar player and lyricist for the 1958 era band Eddie and the Parkway Cruisers, who‘s lead singer, Eddie Wilson, died mysteriously. After one of Frank’s classes he’s contacted by a reporter, Elliott Mannheim, who is doing a retrospective story on The Cruisers because their song “Far Away Woman“ has been getting some airplay, and there‘s a rumor of undiscovered recordings Eddie made right before he died. After the interview with Mannheim, Frank is contacted by Doc Robinson, the former manager of The Cruisers who was somewhat of schemer/scammer but now is making a living as a DJ at a college radio station. Doc tells Frank there may be tapes, he doesn’t know but he started the rumor there were to flush them out if there were any tapes. And this is where the plot starts to get a little implausible to me. Doc tells Frank he needs to seek out all the old Cruisers and see if they know or have the tapes. Why doesn’t Doc do this himself? Frank agrees to do this at the very least to make peace with his past.
As Frank visits all the old Cruisers, Salvatore “Sally” Amato, Kenny Hopkins, now a Reverend, Wendell Newton, and finally Joann Carlito, he starts hearing how Eddie, the month before he died rented a Quonset hut in Lakehurst New Jersey ostensibly to record music that would bring together black and white music. Wendell, who is in a mental institution swears that Eddie brought together ‘the kings” of black and white music and they had jam sessions. But the characters and their motives seem forced like actors trying to make an unwieldy script work. Frank and all the other Cruisers suspect the reporter of trying to steal the tapes (if they exist) with no real evidence or actions by the reporter to suspect him of that.
This is where I find more implausibility’s. The Parkway Cruisers are described as a small local N.J. band that released one album and they’re playing small bars and Eddie is able to summons rock legends “the kings” of music? Eddie for no stated reason abandons The Cruisers, he doesn’t take any of them to the jam session except Wendell. As in the movie Eddie considers Frank important to the band because he’s “The Wordman,” and Eddie also tells everyone it’s ‘words and music” that make the band. If words and music were so important to Eddie and Frank was the “Wordman,” why didn’t Eddie take Frank to Lakehurst?
Another shortcoming of the novel is that Kluge introduces characters that go nowhere, and don’t really add anything to the understanding of Eddie or the music, such as Eddie’s wife and parents. The characters of the reporter Elliott Mannheim and his girlfriend appear in the beginning, disappear, only to reappear at the end. Joann Carlito appears as an after thought, her position is never really delineated, she’s “Eddie’s girl” other than that we don’t know if she’s in the band and a back up singer, like in the movie, or someone just hanging out with Eddie and the how and why of that aren’t explained too much. As the relationship with Eddie’s wife isn’t explained.
The world that Kluge is familiar with is what stands out. He knows schools and the academic life. The scenes at Frank’s prep school ring the truest, the descriptions and the motivations of the kids at school, even the Toby Tyler scene works much better in the book and isn’t as awkward as it is in the movie. What Kluge doesn’t know or isn’t able to render is a feeling for Eddie and The Cruisers or their music.
There’s a lot of ambivalence in the characters starting with Eddie, there’s not much of a mystery if Eddie is dead or how he died. The Lakehurst tapes, did Eddie make any tapes or not? In the beginning Doc admits he put out the rumor of there being tapes but no one in the story has any idea if there are any tapes or if they should be looking for them? I think Kluge wasn’t clear whether this was supposed to be a detective story, or a murder mystery, there’s a double murder towards the end but it’s cleared up within a half a page, or if Kluge was trying for something else all together.
Movie vs. Book - By the above review you can tell the screenwriters of “Eddie and the Cruisers” stripped the story down to its skeleton and added a more plausible story based on the elements of the novel. I think, in this case, the movie is a little better than the book.
February 29, 2020
Eddie and the Cruisers is one of my favourite films of all time, so how I didn't know it's based on a novel until I unwrapped this book last Christmas is beyond me.
I haven't seen the movie in years because it's impossible to get hold of. There's a copy recorded from TV in my parents' house, but it's on VHS, and it's hard to find a device to play it on these days. From what I remember though, the plot is very similar even though events take place in a slightly different order, which I understand can be necessary for the different format.
This has everything I love - rock music, mystery and great characters. The book didn't disappoint, and now I find myself looking for the music online and desperately trying to get a copy of the film somewhere. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
I haven't seen the movie in years because it's impossible to get hold of. There's a copy recorded from TV in my parents' house, but it's on VHS, and it's hard to find a device to play it on these days. From what I remember though, the plot is very similar even though events take place in a slightly different order, which I understand can be necessary for the different format.
This has everything I love - rock music, mystery and great characters. The book didn't disappoint, and now I find myself looking for the music online and desperately trying to get a copy of the film somewhere. If you have any suggestions, let me know.
April 24, 2018
If you only know the movie, you don't know Eddie or the Cruisers. While the basic framework is similar - flashing back and forth from the 50's to the (then) present to tell the story of a band that never was but might have been - the prescience and universality of the characters crafted by Kluge, his insightful observations on the sharp pains of youth and the dull aches of middle age, and the third act that was radically altered by the movie producers combine to make the novel superior.
Read it today and then share it with anyone you know who had a misspent youth, a lost love, or a friend who left to soon.
Read it today and then share it with anyone you know who had a misspent youth, a lost love, or a friend who left to soon.
April 22, 2009
A great movie! I never even knew a book existed. It's been out of print for eons, only to be brought back in late 2008. The book is good, but isn't exactly like the movie, (most aren't). The book, like the movie deals with the one member of the Cruisers and his life after the death of Eddie. Unlike the movie, Eddie is not alive at the end of the book. It's a good read if you're a fan of this cult classic.
June 13, 2014
It IS the movie and it ISNT the movie. As usual there are some obvious differences but for the most part it's easy to pull scenes from movie into your mind while reading. For all it's differences I loved this book. It was darker than the movie but I think that's only because Hollywood couldn't pull it off and stopped at coming close.
It's a great book.
It's a great book.
July 23, 2014
Some thoughts on this great book:
http://blog.oup.com/2014/07/eddie-and...
http://blog.oup.com/2014/07/eddie-and...
July 18, 2023
i could have sworn that I saw the film based on this book back in the 1980s, but now I'm not so sure. Perhaps it was that the soundtrack, by John Cafferty & The Beaver Brown Band, was so ubiquitous.
Frank Ridgeway was the lyricist for an up-and-coming 1950s band, the titular Eddie and the Cruisers. Now a high school teacher, he's surprised when his students start raving about this song called "Far-Away Woman" by "some old group." He's not quite ready to reveal his part in the band ... but soon other members of the group are reaching out to him. A journalist named Elliot Mannheim is looking for some "lost tapes" made by Eddie Wilson before his untimely passing, and the Cruisers are trying to figure out who might have them.
The problem is, someone seems to be trying to pick off the Cruisers and their families as they talk to one another more ... and no one knows quite who to trust.
This was an outstanding look at both the early influence years of rock music, as well as the nostalgia circuit that continues to thrive today (albeit with artists who were John Cafferty's contemporaries rather than those of the titular Eddie).
I didn't see the "whodunnit" coming; suffice to say the ending was also more than satisfying. Recommended for those with an interest in the subject matter.
Frank Ridgeway was the lyricist for an up-and-coming 1950s band, the titular Eddie and the Cruisers. Now a high school teacher, he's surprised when his students start raving about this song called "Far-Away Woman" by "some old group." He's not quite ready to reveal his part in the band ... but soon other members of the group are reaching out to him. A journalist named Elliot Mannheim is looking for some "lost tapes" made by Eddie Wilson before his untimely passing, and the Cruisers are trying to figure out who might have them.
The problem is, someone seems to be trying to pick off the Cruisers and their families as they talk to one another more ... and no one knows quite who to trust.
This was an outstanding look at both the early influence years of rock music, as well as the nostalgia circuit that continues to thrive today (albeit with artists who were John Cafferty's contemporaries rather than those of the titular Eddie).
I didn't see the "whodunnit" coming; suffice to say the ending was also more than satisfying. Recommended for those with an interest in the subject matter.
November 16, 2011
I saw Eddie and the Cruisers several, several times whilst growing up, it was one of my favourite films, so I thought I'd give the book a go. It was well written, Kluge clearly had a passion for music and that came across quite clearly in the novel. My only issue was sometimes the detail got a bit carried away and it dragged a little, otherwise, I thought it was pretty fantastic.
I preferred the ending of the movie over the book ending, but it's still a great read if you loved the film as much as I did.
I preferred the ending of the movie over the book ending, but it's still a great read if you loved the film as much as I did.
May 30, 2008
If you like good ole music and are interested in the 50s decade, this may be a good read for you. Also, if you are into music and anything about it, you may find this of interest. The plot was good; it was like a mystery/music drama. The movie was okay but if you're like me and you like the book first you can't help but compare. The book had a more defined climax whereas I felt the movie was toned down a bit and did not reflect the true plot of the book.
February 2, 2011
Not even bothering to write a review, I'll just quote Sherman Alexie from the introduction: "This is a novel about sex, drugs, rock and roll, murder, and the caesura. How could one not love it?" Indeed Mr. Alexie, indeed.
December 28, 2021
This is the second book by P.F.Kluge that I have read, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I like his writing, and the evocation of the Jersey shore is great.
April 17, 2009
It was OK, but the whole mystery side of it was a little weak.
July 17, 2022
I was glad I read this and the ending had a surprise twist.
March 23, 2014
This was a fun read, and hard to put down. Naturally very different than the movie, but enough crossover with the dialogue and Kluge's writing to be able to appreciate the similarities more than mourn the differences. A thriller for sure, Kluge seems to capture the changing world that was the 50's and preceded the 60's. Fun read, fun movie too! Now I finally have the words to go with the music.
January 25, 2013
I am a huge fan of the movie yet I always felt the plot was kind of silly and over dramatic in the typical 80's way. The book has a similar plot but it is changed just enough to make the story seem plausible. The book is available on Kindle but that edition isn't listed.
April 28, 2013
Watched the film as a kid a million times on HBO, waited too long to read the novel, more of Kluge's trademark exploration of middle aged ambivalence about vocation, love and what we remember throughout life. This makes my 3rd Kluge book read this year.
June 2, 2014
I loved this movie and the book fleshed it out a bit more. Not sure it would have read the same though had I not seen the movie and heard the soundtrack. I did like this ending A touch better than the movie
March 24, 2018
Normally I like to read the book first, but, sad to say, until I found this at a secondhand shop recently, I didn't realize that the movie I saw probably three times while it was still at the theater back in the earlyish 80s--because I liked it that much!--was even based on a novel. Well, even though it's been that many decades ago now, so many of those scenes came so vividly back to life in my mind while reading this, so I'd say the movie was a very faithful adaptation in all ways that matter (and, yeah, the book's even better). It was a lot of fun going down that lane again, and I'll now definitely be seeking out other Kluge titles.
If you happen to find the same copy I did, though, I'd advise skipping the intro by Sherman Alexie. I gather that prior to his recent "Me Too" travails Alexie had amassed fans of his own as a writer, but I'm also willing to bet that didn't happen based on what he's written here. It's difficult to understand why the publishers of this edition even okayed Alexie's words being included here. They are far inferior to the novel itself and, from what I can tell, the intro has more in the way of "foundational issues" that he says Kluge's book does. It was weird to even read Alexie saying that, and it's unfortunate that his assessment is now tied to even one edition of this book.
First lines:
"Writers and would-be writers--I put myself in the second group--are always carrying on about how they need an ideal place to work: a lighthouse, a forester's cottage, a garret or a gatehouse. I'm laboring in much less picturesque surroundings: a rented trailer in a mobile-home park in Melbourne, Florida."
If you happen to find the same copy I did, though, I'd advise skipping the intro by Sherman Alexie. I gather that prior to his recent "Me Too" travails Alexie had amassed fans of his own as a writer, but I'm also willing to bet that didn't happen based on what he's written here. It's difficult to understand why the publishers of this edition even okayed Alexie's words being included here. They are far inferior to the novel itself and, from what I can tell, the intro has more in the way of "foundational issues" that he says Kluge's book does. It was weird to even read Alexie saying that, and it's unfortunate that his assessment is now tied to even one edition of this book.
First lines:
"Writers and would-be writers--I put myself in the second group--are always carrying on about how they need an ideal place to work: a lighthouse, a forester's cottage, a garret or a gatehouse. I'm laboring in much less picturesque surroundings: a rented trailer in a mobile-home park in Melbourne, Florida."
February 8, 2018
Eddie and the Cruisers (1980)
• by P.F. Klug
“A fictional examination of my weakness — lifelong weakness — for the songs of my youth. Hits come and go, the products of a season; but they return — sometimes, they seduce and reproach.
The novel is set in New Jersey, much of it in Vineland where I had a summer job on the town newspaper in 1962. The novel and the film have been described as a rock and roll Citizen Kane. To this, I do not object.
The first Eddie And The Cruisers (movie) was directed by Martin Davidson. The sequel, Eddie Lives, is a talent-free embarrassment.”P.F. Kluge
Fabulous!
BOOK LIST
Williamson Turn 2017
The Day That I Die 2016
Season for War 2014
MacArthur's Ghost 2013
The Master Blaster 2012
A Call from Jersey 2010
Gone Tomorrow 2008
Final Exam 2005
Biggest Elvis 1996
● Eddie and the Cruisers 1980
.
• by P.F. Klug
“A fictional examination of my weakness — lifelong weakness — for the songs of my youth. Hits come and go, the products of a season; but they return — sometimes, they seduce and reproach.
The novel is set in New Jersey, much of it in Vineland where I had a summer job on the town newspaper in 1962. The novel and the film have been described as a rock and roll Citizen Kane. To this, I do not object.
The first Eddie And The Cruisers (movie) was directed by Martin Davidson. The sequel, Eddie Lives, is a talent-free embarrassment.”P.F. Kluge
Fabulous!
BOOK LIST
Williamson Turn 2017
The Day That I Die 2016
Season for War 2014
MacArthur's Ghost 2013
The Master Blaster 2012
A Call from Jersey 2010
Gone Tomorrow 2008
Final Exam 2005
Biggest Elvis 1996
● Eddie and the Cruisers 1980
.
March 9, 2022
Like many other people, I came across this novel through the film, Eddie and the Cruisers. The novel of course has a lot of what made the movie great but the author also expands on Eddie himself and the different relationships he had with each Cruiser.
Eddie had this idea to create a new kind of music that had never been done that he thought was going to make him famous. The Cruisers weren’t just a hobby, but instead what Eddie revolved his entire life around. I also enjoyed how Joann and Frank’s relationship was expanded upon as well.
Overall, if you enjoyed the film, I think you would enjoy the book as well.
Eddie had this idea to create a new kind of music that had never been done that he thought was going to make him famous. The Cruisers weren’t just a hobby, but instead what Eddie revolved his entire life around. I also enjoyed how Joann and Frank’s relationship was expanded upon as well.
Overall, if you enjoyed the film, I think you would enjoy the book as well.
June 18, 2020
I was on a nostalgia trip while Amazon shopping, so I bought the soundtrack to the film version of this story. One of the comments mentioned that the film was based on a book, which was news to me. So, of course, I had to hunt down the book because my library didn't have it.
I enjoyed the story, it does differ from the film, it's almost noir-ish. I don't want to spoil the story, or the differences from the film, but if you like mysteries, where there are lots of possible guilty parties and lots of motivations, try this book out.
I enjoyed the story, it does differ from the film, it's almost noir-ish. I don't want to spoil the story, or the differences from the film, but if you like mysteries, where there are lots of possible guilty parties and lots of motivations, try this book out.
June 10, 2023
I was surprised to realize, or have merely forgotten, that the movie was based on a book. I’m also surprised to find that for once, for me, the movie was better but then it could just be that I adored anything with Michael Pare. When I realized a few weeks ago that there was, in fact, a book it went straight to the top of my list. It was a tough read in some parts. I found it got a bit wordy. I felt like I was bogged down in some parts and found myself skipping ahead. I enjoyed the journey down memory lane and enjoyed the areas that didn’t parallel the movie. All in all a decent read.
September 12, 2020
I loved the movie and finally got around to finding (actually my lovely wife found it for me) and reading the book. The book is written from Frank’s perspective and I loved being inside the mind of my favorite character from the movie. The movie was close enough to, but different enough from the book, that reading the book now was a nostalgic, but still page-turning experience.
August 30, 2021
Very like the movie in many places and very unlike it in others. I think I actually liked the movie better, but I have been wanting to read this for years, and it was well worth reading. Unfortunately I had to pay >$10 for it because I could never get the library to buy it. Was it worth $10 since it's so much like the movie, and I like the movie better? Probably not, but at least I have relieved the years-long nagging wish to read it.
I have also read his novel Biggest Elvis, and it was even better.
I recommend both if you can get them without paying so much.
I have also read his novel Biggest Elvis, and it was even better.
I recommend both if you can get them without paying so much.
March 5, 2018
Loved the movie, tolerated the sequel, had to read the book. Finally, I did. It was worth the read. It's a bit like movie, but not exactly which is helpful. Now, off to Spotify for the soundtrack. Ahh, memories.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews