Party of One : A Memoir in 21 Songs

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 oHungry Hearto and En Vogue's oFree Your Mindo to LCD Soundsystem's oLosing My Edgeo and Bleachers' oI Wanna Get Bettero-and punctuated with interludes like oSo You've Had Your Heart Broken in the '90s- A Playlisto and oNotes on (Jesse) Camp,o 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.