Coming of Age in the New Wave Rock Mid '80s: A Woman's Journey [Episode 233]

Booked On Rock with Eric Senich

Author Suzanne Mattaboni is this episode’s guest. She recently released the second edition of her novel, Once In a Lifetime, a coming-of-age story set in the mid-1980s against a backdrop of vibrant music and art. The main character, an ambitious, new wave-influenced art student from Long Island who’s dying to kick-start her career—and her love life for that matter. She’s saving to get overseas to London, where the excitement of the post-punk era is coming to a head. To save for the trip, artsy Jessica and her avant-garde roommates take jobs in a progressive restaurant town on the Delaware River, where they deal with waitressing chaos, mystics, punk clubs, drag queens, mosh pits, and other assorted tribulations in an effort for Jess to find out what “real life” beyond the college classroom is like. Then she meets a daredevil new wave guitarist who spins her head like a record, potentially distracting her from her goals. In addition to an awesome backing soundtrack, the book leverages feminist themes, since the women of the ‘80s were the first generation to be told they could “have it all”—love, education, friendships, meaning, sex, careers, happiness, you name it. Except maybe the world wasn’t completely ready for those women to have it all. Which was a tough wall to push down. And this still resonates today.
Suzanne is on the show to talk about the book, what inspired storyline, the characters in the book, her experiences being a women of the ‘80s and more.
Purchase a copy of Once In a Lifetime
Visit the Once In a Lifetime website
Visit Suzanne Mattaboni's website
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