As Decade Fades: A Book Review

 

People like to walk down the street with their headphones on, music playing in the background of their life like a soundtrack. They post Facebook status updates that are nothing but song lyrics. No matter what people go through, there is always a song that can be applied to that specific moment.

This idea of a soundtrack to life is something Joshua Fields Millburn explores in his first full-length novel, "As Decade Fades." Millburn, a writer for the popular blog The Minimalists, suffered heavy depression in his late twenties, as his mother died, his marriage ended, and he realized that life wasn't giving him satisfaction. That's when he became a minimalist and started his blog. Now, he channels his feelings during that era of his life into "As Decade Fades."

“I’m not Jody Grafton, the novel’s broken and bruised main character," Millburn writes on his blog. “I have, however, felt all the emotions in this book, felt them down to my bone marrow. But I think you have, too.”

"As Decade Fades" is about a musician named Jody Grafton, a one-hit-wonder of sorts who has hit rock bottom in life. The story follows Grafton as he travels to Brooklyn to help his friend with some music, even though Grafton himself has given up on music. Grafton is facing what he calls a mid-mid-life crisis. An explanatory line from the book reads, "He wasn't sure what had happened, but one day he woke up halfway between somewhere and nowhere and he was twenty-something and nearing thirty as the decade faded."

Grafton has multiple flashbacks during his time in Brooklyn, and the story is told partially in the present day, partially through flashbacks to the past, and partially through music reviews and articles about Grafton. This adds an interesting layer of depth to the novel, but sometimes it makes it hard to follow the timeline.

Through it all, Grafton notices the most interesting little details, from the number of ice cubes in the glass of lemonade, to the way that no one in the airplane can figure out how to get the bathroom door open. Sometimes these details are pretty gross. At other times they are beautiful things people normally wouldn't think of. Grafton can be a very crass character at times, and makes some terrible decisions, yet the reader ends up rooting for him, hoping he will get his life together.

Everywhere he goes, song lyrics jump into his mind. Lyrics that he's written in the past, lyrics that someone else has written, and lyrics that he thought of in that moment. It's as though his life is music to him. Even though he tried to give up music, he can't escape it entirely.

The book was written in an emotional melancholy style that will appeal to some and not others. Blogger Nelle Guebara appreciates the style, saying that "Millburn has been able to elicit from his readers the same emotional reactions Grafton is feeling." However Jake McCrary, reviewing the book on goodreads, described it as "crammed too full of metaphor to the point of being distracting."

It's always interesting to see how bloggers make the shift into novel writing. For the most part, Millburn, has handled this shift well. Though some scenes are slightly crass, readers will be drawn in by Millburn's obvious talent at crafting words.


Further Information:

Title of Book: As Decade Fades

Cost: $15 for paperback, $7 for Kindle edition

Size: 284 pages

Publisher: Asymmetrical Press

Release Date: Dec. 25, 2012

Author Website:  http://joshuafieldsmillburn.com/

Author's Blog: http://www.theminimalists.com/