Utopia Avenue
One of the most anticipated books of summer 2020—USA Today, Time, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, The Guardian
Utopia Avenue is the
strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s
psychedelic scene in 1967, Utopia Avenue embarked on a meteoric journey from
the seedy clubs of Soho, a TV debut on Top of the Pops, the cusp of chart success, glory in Amsterdam, prison
in Rome, and a fateful American sojourn in the Chelsea Hotel, Laurel Canyon, and
San Francisco during the autumn of ’68.
David Mitchell’s kaleidoscopic novel tells the unexpurgated
story of Utopia Avenue’s turbulent life and times; of fame’s Faustian pact and
stardom’s wobbly ladder; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of
voices in the head, and the truths and lies they whisper; of music, madness,
and idealism. Can we really change the world, or does the world change us?