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The fictional rock star has become a staple of modern fiction—from Don DeLillo’s mid-70s Dylan stand-in Bucky Wunderlick to Richard Katz, the aging punk in Jonathan Franzen’s Freedom. Can you match these fictional bands with the novels they appeared in?
- The Flaming Dildos: “Unlistenable” San Francisco punk band. Formerly known as The Crabs, The Crimps, The Scrunch, The Gobs.
A. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
B. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
C. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
D. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
E. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
F. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
G. King Dork by Frank Portman - Walnut Surprise: Alt-country band whose NPR-friendly debut, Nameless Lake, wins a Grammy nomination and is praised by Michael Stipe and Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy.
A. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
B. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
C. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
D. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
E. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
F. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
G. King Dork by Frank Portman - The Paranoids: 1960s teen band with Beatles haircuts and fake English accents. Sample song: “Too Fat to Frug.”
A. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
B. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
C. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
D. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
E. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
F. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
G. King Dork by Frank Portman - Barrett Rude Jr. and The Subtle Distinctions: 1960s and ’70s R&B outfit whose singles include “Step Up and Love Me,” “Silly Girl (Love Is for Kids),” and “It’s Raining Teeth.”
A. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
B. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
C. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
D. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
E. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
F. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
G. King Dork by Frank Portman - Balls Deep: One of 25 bands formed by two teen rocker wannabes. Others include Tennis With Guitars, Green Sabbath, Liquid Malice, and The Sadly Mistaken.
A. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
B. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
C. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
D. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
E. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
F. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
G. King Dork by Frank Portman - Vitaly Chernobyl and the Meltdowns: Cyberpunkers whose sound is “a tornado of mostly high-pitched noise and distortion, like being flung bodily through a wall of fishhooks.”
A. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
B. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
C. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
D. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
E. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
F. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
G. King Dork by Frank Portman - The Heaven Seventeen: In a future dystopia, they’re No. 4 on the top-10 list (after Goggly Gogol, The Humpers, and Johnny Zhivago). Inspired real-life British synth trio Heaven 17, whose 1983 album, The Luxury Gap, hit No. 4 on the UK pop charts.
A. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
B. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
C. A Visit From the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan
D. Freedom by Jonathan Franzen
E. Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
F. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
G. King Dork by Frank Portman
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