Rock And Hard Places

Andrew Mueller is Australian by birth, a Londoner by choice, a wanderer by nature, and a journalist by profession. Unable to decide between being a rock critic, travel writer, or foreign correspondent, he hit upon the novel, if time-consuming, solution of trying to be all three at once. In Rock and Hard Places, published originally in the U.K. in 1999, now re-envisioned and updated and available for the first time in the United States, he travels to Lebanon with the Prodigy, comes to America with Radiohead, and goes all over the place with U2. He ventures to Bosnia Herzegovina with an aid convoy in the middle of the war, sees Def Leppard play in a cave in Morocco, and attempts to ask the Taliban not only what they think they’re up to, but who they fancy for the World Cup. He flings himself head first down the Cresta Run, sits in Stalin’s armchair, chases ambulances through Moscow, chases some kind of lost tribe in India, wakes up at least once in a park in Reykjavik, and strongly advises avoiding the seafood salad in Sapporo Airport. He’s funny. Occasionally he makes a point.

Jim Rooney has just finished his memoir about his days as a drummer for the Johnny Sands Band, a hugely popular 1970s American rock group, when he dies in a suspicious car crash. His widow suspects he was murdered, in part because all traces of the manuscript have disappeared, and hires private investigator Mike McMahon, who moonlights as a junior college instructor teaching a class in in the history of rock 'n' roll, to look into it. McMahon is torn between his commitment to the case and his commitment to his on-again off-again girlfriend, Becka Goldberg, professor of Anglo-Saxon literature at San Francisco State. Ultimately, McMahon uncovers the truth behind the band's untimely end, a result of the death of its front man in a plane crash the night of what turned out to be their final concert, all of which would have been part of Rooney's memoir.

On Sunday April 27, 2003, 27-year old Aron Ralston set off for a day's hiking in the Utah canyons. Dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, Ralston, a seasoned climber, figured he'd hike for a few hours and then head off to work. 40 miles from the nearest paved road, he found himself on top of an 800-pound boulder. As he slid down and off of the boulder it shifted, trapping his right hand against the canyon wall. No one knew where he was; he had little water; he wasn't dressed correctly; and the boulder wasn't going anywhere. He remained trapped for five days in the canyon: hypothermic at night, de-hydrated and hallucinating by day. Finally, he faced the most terrible decision of his life: braking the bones in his wrist by snapping them against the boulder, he hacked through the skin, and finally succeeded in amputating his right hand and wrist. The ordeal, however, was only beginning. He still faced a 60-foot rappell to freedom, and a walk of several hours back to his car - along the way, he miraculously met a family of hikers, and with his arms tourniqued, and blood-loss almost critical, they heard above them the whir of helicopter blades; just in time, Aron was rescued and rushed to hospital. Since that day, Aron has had a remarkable recovery. He is back out on the mountains, with an artificial limb; he speaks to select groups on his ordeal and rescue; and amazingly, he is upbeat, positive, and an inspiration to all who meet him. This is the account of those five days, of the years that led up to them, and where he goes from here. It is narrative non-fiction at its most compelling.

A victim not just of its geography but also of the political and strategic choices of its neighbours, Afghanistan's security predicament is analysed in a book that is particularly relevant to recent developments in Central Asia

This book is not intended to compete but to complement those who have persevered in preserving and providing the valuable memories and moments that positively molded us.

Andrew Mueller is Australian by birth, a Londoner by choice, a wanderer by nature, and a journalist by profession. Unable to decide between being a rock critic, travel writer, or foreign correspondent, he hit upon the novel, if time-consuming, solution of trying to be all three at once. In Rock and Hard Places, published originally in the U.K. in 1999, now re-envisioned and updated and available for the first time in the United States, he travels to Lebanon with the Prodigy, comes to America with Radiohead, and goes all over the place with U2. He ventures to Bosnia Herzegovina with an aid convoy in the middle of the war, sees Def Leppard play in a cave in Morocco, and attempts to ask the Taliban not only what they think they’re up to, but who they fancy for the World Cup. He flings himself head first down the Cresta Run, sits in Stalin’s armchair, chases ambulances through Moscow, chases some kind of lost tribe in India, wakes up at least once in a park in Reykjavik, and strongly advises avoiding the seafood salad in Sapporo Airport. He’s funny. Occasionally he makes a point.

When you fall in love with a rock star, anything can happen. . . . Libby In an instant, Libby's life went from picture-perfect to a nightmare. After surviving a terrible car accident, Libby is abandoned by her father and left with her controlling aunt. A new town, a new school, no friends—Libby is utterly alone. But then she meets Peter. Peter The lead singer in a rock band with his brothers, Peter hates that his parents overly manage his life. Constantly surrounded by family, Peter just wants to get away. And when he meets Libby, he's finally found the one person who only wants to be with him, not the rock star. But while Peter battles his family's growing interference in both his music and his personal life, Libby struggles with her aunt, who turns nastier each day. And even though Libby and Peter desperately want to be together, their drastically different lives threaten to keep them apart forever.