University of Death

by Sean McManus

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Publisher: www.sean.co.uk
Copyright: © 2007 Sean McManus Standard Copyright License
Language: English
Country: United Kingdom
Edition: Second Edition
Download: 1 documents, 2735 KB

Printed: 380 pages, 6" x 9", perfect binding, black and white interior ink

Description:

A hilarious satire of the music industry
University of Death is a heavy rock band with a highly theatrical stage show, led by Dove. His record label cooks up a plan to secretly sell computer-generated music using software hidden on fans’ PCs. The melody generator doesn’t work, though, so the record label ends up breaking in at Dove’s home studio and stealing his jams. Dove comes after his label boss in a finale that sees the whole music industry come crashing down.

This novel explores how fans relate to their favourite bands, how businesses use technology to manipulate consumers, and what would happen if the music industry disappeared overnight.

About the author
Sean McManus has written for Making Music, Melody Maker, Future Music, Internet Magazine, and many more. His non-fiction books have been published by Pearson Education and Management Pocketbooks. Visit Sean's website for more info.

Keywords:


Listed in:

Literature & Fiction

Stats:

Lulu Sales Rank: 5,483
Average customer rating:
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3 votes
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Reviews:

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Review from MusicTech Magazine
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1 Dec 2008
"The novel satirises the music industry and the clichéd types that populate it, the lead character an affable fellow who you can't help but like - his meditations at his monitor screen, desperately trying to sort ideas, will be familiar to most of us who create music either for a living or for love. Amusing and well written."
- MusicTech (November 2008)
Review from Metal Hammer Magazine
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1 Dec 2008
"A fun novel about the problems faced by musicians in making their mark on a music industry that's falling apart. A bitter satire that works its way up to a memorable finale."
- Metal Hammer magazine (September 2008)
Review from Record Collector Magazine
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1 Dec 2008 (updated 1 Dec 2008)
"Raising a number of surprisingly sophisticated issues, this book is enjoyably cynical about the seemingly cold-hearted and impenetrable nature of the record industry and peppered with a number of highly comical cameos from the cream of rock'n'roll, which ensures that it never feels like heavy going."
- by Lewis Heritage, books reviewer, Record Collector magazine issue 350 (June 2008)
A great read [ No Rating ] 22 Jan 2008 (updated 22 Jan 2008)
(Disclosure -- I am a friend of Sean's)



"University of Death" is easy to read, funny, thought provoking, and contains realistic, well fleshed out characters.



It presses many of my personal buttons -- music, computer technology, and the way Internet culture impinges on real life.



I don't hesitate to recommend it to anyone who shares any of those buttons.

The puns -- they're a big part of the fun.
A laugh a minute!
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1 Jan 2008 (updated 1 Jan 2008)
I thoroughly enjoyed Sean McManus's clever take on the state of the bland, manufactured, brand-saturated music industry we live in today -- and the measures companies will go to in their relentless bid to get you hooked to the latest catchy tunes.

Mixing surrealist scenes, retro references, 'guerilla' campaigning and the internet, University of Death (the name of the main band in the novel) is a must for true music lovers. I won't give too much away, but read the first couple of chapters and you'll get a good feel for the novel.

A word of warning: there are a lot of groan-worthy puns in this book (a lot!) but I forgive the author for them!
A cracking read
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11 Dec 2007
by
I don't read a great deal of fiction these days but this book -- mixing the U.K. music scene, dingy London suburbs, and old computer games in a new conspiracy theory -- was just too good to miss.

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