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Book Review: Party of One: A Memoir In 21 Songs by Dave Holmes


My Rating:
3 out of 5 Stars!

My Review:
I wanted to read this book because I mean hello Dave Holmes wrote it so I was sure it would be filled with nostalgia...which it totally is!!!! The nostalgia is strong with this one!  Boys and girls get ready to be transported back in time with this one! Hats of to Dave Holmes for writing a memoir in such a unique and for the lack of a better word cool way! A memoir in 21 songs is a totally genius concept in my book! The song choices and stories are interwoven gloriously! While reading this book I discovered that Dave Holmes is a pretty funny dude and seems like a pretty cool person! You will like this book if you are a music fan, pop culture fan or a human! Dave presents his stories in a way that I found to be very relatable to anyone who grew up as a human! No spoilers I promise but  Dave shares some pretty cool music related stories! Would I recommend this book?...Absolutely! I mean who doesn't wish they could go back in time even just for a little bit? With Party of One that wish can totally come true!

 Description:
From former MTV VJ Dave Holmes, the hilarious memoir of a perpetual outsider fumbling towards self-acceptance, with the music of the '80s, '90s, and today as his soundtrack

Dave Holmes has spent his life on the periphery, nose pressed hopefully against the glass, wanting just one thing: to get inside. Growing up, he was the artsy son in the sporty family. At his all-boys high school and Catholic college, he was the closeted gay kid surrounded by crush-worthy straight guys. And in his twenties, in the middle of a disastrous career in advertising, he accidentally became an MTV VJ overnight when he finished second, naturally, in the Wanna Be a VJ contest, opening the door to fame, fortune, and celebrity—you know, almost. 

 In Party of One, Holmes tells the hilariously painful and painfully hilarious tales—in the vein of Rob Sheffield, Andy Cohen, and Paul Feig—of an outsider desperate to get in, of a misfit constantly changing shape, of a music geek who finally learns to accept himself. Structured around a mix of hits and deep cuts from the last four decades—from Bruce Springsteen's "Hungry Heart" and En Vogue's "Free Your Mind" to LCD Soundsystem’s “Losing My Edge” and Bleachers’ “I Wanna Get Better”—and punctuated with interludes like "So You've Had Your Heart Broken in the 1990s: A Playlist" and “Notes on (Jesse) Camp,” this book is for anyone who's ever felt like a square peg, especially those who have found their place in the world around a band, an album, or a song. It's a laugh-out-loud funny, deeply nostalgic story about never fitting in, never giving up, and letting good music guide the way.

 Description from Amazon.com

 About the Author:
Photo: © Caryn Leigh Posnansky

Dave Holmes is a writer, comedian, and television personality who has hosted shows for MTV, CBS, Bravo, Comedy Central, E!, FX, and Ovation. Recently named one of NPR’s 10 Favorite Pop Culture Personalities, he is a editor-at-large for Esquire.com, an on-air personality on SiriusXM’s The Spectrum, and a performer at the iO West and Upright Citizens Brigade theaters . He lives in Los Angeles.

 From Hardcover edition

 Follow Dave Holmes on Twitter! https://twitter.com/daveholmes

 Note: I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.



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