Me and Mickie James - Drew Gummerson

Book Details

Country: UK
Language: English
Genre: Modern Fiction
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Publication Date: 2008


Fictional Artist: Down By Law
Genre: Electronica
Country: UK
Real World Analogue: I wrote to Drew Gummerson that the high brow references to films and philosophy had brought the Pet Shop Boys to mind as a similarly esoterically-minded band, and asked whether his keyboard duo Down by Law had been inspired by a specific act.

"Not any group in particular," he replied, "Although I did have in my head 80s electronic pop duos. The name for the group came from a Jim Jarmusch film, Down by Law - obviously.

"I think there's a disparity between the group that they are and the group they think they are. As the book is narrated by the 'me' he thinks he's better than John Lennon. In reality, they are not so good. It's about that dream of being great."

Jacket Blurb: 

Down By Law are a pop duo like no other. For a start Mickie James has a hunchback, but that doesn't matter, he is the talented one. From their base in a disused room at the top of St Pancras Station they plan to take the music industry by storm. Only first they need gigs, a record deal and a flushable toilet.

When they meet the pink-hatted impresario Ivan Norris-Ayres at the local cheese shop, they think things are finally going their way. They are, but not in the way they expected. Via giants in a minor European theme park, weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and an unidentified splinter group of the Viet Cong on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City, they find the path to success is anything but a simple three-chord love song.

Me and Mickie James is a novel of amazing energy and humour about love, fate and the importance of pop music in all our lives.