Fabulous Review of Silverman from Booklife!

Just finished dancing around the room to celebrate the fabulous new review of Silverman at Booklife. Yes, I’m gonna quote it here in its entirety:

“This exuberant novel by Wergland plumbs life’s tricky questions with lots of heart. When his past and present collide, Ben Silverman must grapple with the future of his music and his marriage. Ben has reunited with his band Da Funk for a comeback show at Manhattan’s Roseland Ballroom. When he’s offered a record deal to bring Da Funk back into the spotlight, he turns it down, determined to move on with a more financially secure life. His second marriage is crumbling and threatens to topple once an old flame reignites a passion Ben hasn’t felt in years. Meanwhile, a hectic accounting job keeps him from fully devoting himself to his band.

“Wergland’s sharp characterizations will capture the attention of readers of character-driven fiction. Ben’s indecisiveness on how to handle relationships with his wife Ingrid and his lover Alison highlights his own sense of unfulfillment, and Wergland’s deft portrait of Ingrid, the beleaguered mother and neglected wife, stirs sympathy. Silverman wraps its very human drama in a story that’s also convincing when it comes to the art and business of music, with Ben’s connection to his musical legacy given equal weight with his personal struggles. Wergland reveals a good ear for indie and rap: Da Funk’s gritty, sometimes tentative lyrics reflect a band re-establishing themselves as adult artists. Ben’s connection to his musical legacy is given equal weight as his personal struggles as he tries to reconcile his new life with his past.

“Wergland tempers the heavy human drama with welcome comic touches. Baby Zack, the cause of Ingrid and Ben’s sexual frustrations, is known as the “Immobilizer,” and Ben wonders distractedly, if he turns out not to be present his child’s development, who will teach Zack about “Mozart, the Marx Brothers, the expansion of the cosmos.” With refreshing wit and intimacy, Wergland creates a nuanced portrait of a family on the brink of collapse.

“Takeaway: An intimate portrait of a musician torn between past and present makes for a funny, heartfelt novel.”

Yesss!!!