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by John Niven

John_Niven Contemporary English
  • ISBN: 043401799X
  • Category: Fiction
  • Author: John Niven
  • Subcategory: Contemporary
  • Other formats: mbr mobi lrf azw
  • Language: English
  • Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd (February 7, 2008)
  • Pages: 336 pages
  • FB2 size: 1259 kb
  • EPUB size: 1371 kb
  • Rating: 4.8
  • Votes: 343
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Synopsis: It’s not dog-eat-dog around her. t’s s-ever-known. Kill Your Friends is a dark, satirical and hysterically funny evisceration of the record business, a place populated by frauds, charlatans and bluffers, where ambition is a higher currency than talent, and where it seems anything can be achieved-as long as you want it badly enough. The Kula Shaker and Jamiroquai albums both go double platinum.

Kill Your Friends' is a scathing satire of the music industry, based on Niven's brief career as an A&R working for a variety of record companies, including London Records and Independiente, during which he passed up the chance to sign Colplay and Muse. It is a wonderful novel with much deserved acclaim, as are his two other novels. As a side note, 'Kill Your Friends' is currently slated to become a film, and is in pre-production at present with a slated 2014 release.

Kill Your Friends is the debut novel by the Scottish writer John Niven. It was published in 2008 by William Heinemann. The novel is set in 1997 at the height of the Britpop music scene. The protagonist, Steven Stelfox, is unhappy about his current position as an A&R agent in the record company he works for in London. Stelfox, uninterested in most music, is jealous of his coworkers' success in finding successful musical acts and attempts to climb the career ladder amidst competition.

John Niven was born in Irvine, Ayrshire. He is the author of the novella Music from Big Pink and the novels Kill Your Friends, The Amateurs, The Second Coming, Cold Hands, Straight White Male, The Sunshine Cruise Company and No Good Deed. Библиографические данные.

Even the ‘Killing your friends’ part is a let down. Steven kills someone that he clearly has nothing but contempt for in the first third of the book

Kill Your Friends' Author John Niven Adapting 'Straight White Male' for TV 04 December 2018 The Hollywood . The book is the one book I couldn't take reading, it's a lot more cynical and black, but the style is very cool, as all books by Nivel

Kill Your Friends' Author John Niven Adapting 'Straight White Male' for TV 04 December 2018 The Hollywood Reporter. The book is the one book I couldn't take reading, it's a lot more cynical and black, but the style is very cool, as all books by Nivel. They are fast, they are black, they are pop literature. So, that this movie is based on a contemporary bestseller known for it's incredible dark style should be a clue.

To call John Niven's Kill Your Friends a satire on the music industry is a wicked understatement. Stelfox's ranting does eventually pall, as The Brits merge into Glastonbury, and Niven's attempt to up the ante by pushing him towards Patrick Bateman-esque monstrosity frankly doesn't work.

The single ‘Local Boy in the Photograph’ by hotly tipped new act the Stereophonics stiffs at 51. Cast release their second LP. The Manic Street Preachers album goes double platinum. The Manic Street Preachers album goes double platinum nt to sign the Audience, an indie band with this girl singer who’s the daughter of the boiler who used to present Blue Peter. Steve Alien, an A&R guy at Warner Brothers, says, I see her developing the way Madonna has. This is probably the dance-album of the decade. MoreLess Show More Show Less.

Kill Your Friends pubs in January from Harper. Check back here in a couple of days for JR’s interview with John Niven. THREE GUYS ONE BOOK originated as a way for three friends in the book business - Jason Chambers, Jason Rice and Dennis Haritou - to talk about books together.

As the twentieth century breathes its very last, with Britpop at its zenith, twenty-seven-year-old A&R (artist and repertoire) man Steven Stelfox is slashing and burning his way through London's music industry. Blithely crisscrossing the globe in search of the next megahit--fueled by greed and inhuman quantities of cocaine--Stelfox freely indulges in an unending orgy of self-gratification. But the industry is changing fast and the hits are drying up, and the only way he's going to salvage his sagging career is by taking the idea of "cutthroat" to murderous new levels.
Reviews about Kill Your Friends (7):
Tantil
Imagine a character so completely depraved, degenerated and perverted that he makes Hannibal Lecter seem like a Sunday school teacher. Now imagine that character fueled by a mountain of cocaine and an ocean of vodka. Now take away any sensitivity he may have learned for others of a different race, gender, physical capability, social class, postal code or sexual preference. Make him believe that there is nothing so important as the pursuit of money, put him in a nice suit, give him an expense account and turn him loose on the world without a modicum of care about the consequences of his actions to himself or others.

Now if I told you that you were going to read a novel centered on such a character, you might expect it to be a horror novel, or a thriller, maybe a mystery or police procedural. You would probably not expect that it would be the funniest thing you've read in years.

I will caution you here: if you don't think humor can possibly mix with buckets of blood, vomit, urine, feces and semen, or if you couldn't possibly laugh where there is blatant bigotry, or if wretched excess offends you to the point where you lose your sense of humor, this might not be the book for you.

If, however, you're possessed of a strong stomach and aren't easily offended, you're in for a treat.
Ungall
I first read about this novel in an imported ,English music magazine and was immediately intrigued as I had spent 22 years in retail music at the "middle managers " level here in the US .Author Niven worked for a time as an A&R manager for a UK based label , so he knows first hand about what was being snorted in the UK music industry in the 1990's. His scenarios are blunt ,and descriptive whether describing his co-workers , their drug habits or his own characters sexual debauchery ; no holds barred! Highly recommended for those are not afraid to admit that wretched excess exists, if not in our own lives, then in excellently wrought characters in novels.
Marilore
'Kill Your Friends' is a scathing satire of the music industry, based on Niven's brief career as an A&R working for a variety of record companies, including London Records and Independiente, during which he passed up the chance to sign Colplay and Muse. It is a wonderful novel with much deserved acclaim, as are his two other novels.

As a side note, 'Kill Your Friends' is currently slated to become a film, and is in pre-production at present with a slated 2014 release.
Danskyleyn
I ordered this book thinking it would be a fun read where I would get to see some references to my favorite bands. In that aspect, this book did not disappoint. I even appreciated the cameos of my absolute faves- Brett Anderson and James Bradfield. That's why I gave this book 2 stars. Otherwise, this book was a complete rip off of Irvine Welsh. Only, Welsh is a much better read. I almost stopped reading; however, when I begin a book, I just can't leave it unread.
Kulalas
...Burning this book! American Psycho meets Fear and Loathing during my college days and spawns a baby with fetal alcohol syndrome flush with the scars of a failed, coke-fueled back-alley-coat hanger-abortion. This baby is called Kill Your Friends: A novel.
This is a compliment by the way.
I loved this book
kinder
Reminded me of "Out", by Natsuo Kirino with dark, off-hand violence and perverseness, laugh out loud dead-pan gruesome. One roots for Steven Stelfox, a totally amoral, intensely non-PC, psychopath who is totally unlikable, who lacks any censors to his thoughts and ultimate deeds. As in "Who's afraid iof Virginia Wolf" there's a delight in seeing a character(s) cruelly, wickedly, slice and dice other people, reveal thoughts we generally suppress. A good read with, one assumes, more than a little truth to the characterizations of the business.
Eta
Black comedy… must read!!!
Taking a look into the life of what has been recently coined a Professional Sociopath; the protagonist of this book is the most extreme of this phenomenon. With a – shall we say – different sense of right and wrong, this book takes the reader on the professional progression of a music marketing agent.

However be aware, if black comedy offends or is not your cup-of-tea, this book will not appeal. So then do what my partner did and read it like a thriller. John Niven taps brilliantly into mind of a sociopath and with his understanding of the music industry this book leaves you worrying about going into the office on Monday.
I found the beginning somewhat entertaining, mostly because I'm a fan of the music and the artists depicted in the time period. After that it got repetitive and over relaying on the crude imagery, seemed a little like American Psycho without the great writing. Over all I found it dull and didn't even finished it.

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