Jim is a speed-freak bike messenger whose devotion to her drug habit rivals the intensity of her adoration for Ally, her brilliant stripper girlfriend. When she's forced to choose between drugs and the girl, time and again she succumbs to her addiction-but somehow she's still unable to attain the ultimate high she seeks. After losing her messenger job, Jim works first as a downwardly spiraling drug dealer, then as a roadie for a touring all-girl punk band, and engages in short-lived halfhearted romances while pining for Ally. She winds up staying in a squat house in New York City when the roadie gig ends, and finally begins cleaning up her act. But upon eventually returning home to San Francisco, Jim finds that things have changed in a way she can't reconcile. It's only then she realizes the ultimate rush can't be found in sex, drugs, violence, or even Ally-the source of her rapture is something else entirely.
Godspeed was recommended to me by a friend, and when I first picked it up I found I couldn't put it down until it was finished - literally - about 24 hours later. It's a gritty and beautifully rendered novel and one of the best I've read in years (as I work in a bookstore that's a statement not to be taken lightly). It's certainly by far the best lesbian/drug/roadtrip and/or band novel I've read hands down. And be honest; that's what you really want to read about. In an effort to waste no more of your time let me just say: buy this book!
The best punk rock novel ever written!!!!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Not much more can be said. I read this book in 24 hrs. Tried to put it down, but kept snatching it back up. Only thing I would want different is an additional 50-100 pages at the end instead of the cramped 10 or so that wrap the story up. I can't wait for the further adventures of Jim!
Tops on My List!!
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Wow! What a GREAT book!! I was hooked from the first line of Breedlove's Acknowledgements & loved that she included her mother's comment there. For 30+ yrs, I've read a lot of lesbian fiction. I'm soooo tired of thinly plotted mysteries and tooooo many flower-labia, sunset and beaches coming-out romances. Unlike all of them, this story gets into the nitty gritty of a real sort of urban lesbian life, one more complicated than "am I or aren't I?", "will she or won't she" and "will she, with me?" storylines.Reminds me a bit of 'A Crystal Diary : a novel' by Frankie Hucklenbroich, in that it's written (style & content)from inside the head of the protagonist, whether she's high at the time or not. Gives it that sense of NOW, and keeps it real. Like her musicianship with the band Tribe 8, Breedlove pumps it out with this book!
Lynn is my new Herione
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
Pretty damn good book. One of the best 80s San Francisco bike messenger junkie sex-fiend punk rock and roll novels ever written.
amazing read
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 22 years ago
Breedlove's first novel is filled with raw, gritty, and honest prose that captures your attention from page one. "Godspeed" is the most genuine read that I've gotten my hands on in years! Breedlove succeeds, with her first book, where other newcomers have fallen short in the literary world by painting an edgy, but sincere picture of love, sex, drugs, music, and standing outside the "norm". Outstanding job. If you haven't already picked up this book, do so now.
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