Publisher's Synopsis
Did James Nauman murder someone thirty years ago but doesn't remember it?The debut novel by Eric Riley Moore, author of the 100FaveAlbums.net Blog, The Only Meaningful Memory combines elements of a whodunnit with a rock memoir. The worlds of 80s/90s punk rock and 2010s upper middle class comfort collide in an exploration of what we really know about ourselves, and whether the changes we make in our lives have any real impact on the people around us.Students at North High wouldn't believe that their chubby, balding, dork of a chemistry teacher, Mr. Nauman, was a skinny, long-haired bass player called Jim Nasty in an underground punk band way back in the 80s. And when an out-of-town detective, Joanne Grimes, calls him, James can't believe he's a suspect in the cold-case murder of a punk rock fangirl named Sherri Statler. He's shocked, but he can't be sure it's not true; even his wife, Dr. Jane Blanton, isn't sure - and she knew him back in 1989. That's when MakeFist Punch was an indy punk band with a silly name on the cusp of success, and Jim Nasty just wanted the booze and drugs to keep flowing. Band leader Mike Damned was going to change the silly name and make himself a star, but drummer Darin Devil pulled the plug. Then Jim met troubled med-student Jane, and the couple escaped the band turmoil, married and changed their lives. By 2018 his past is long-forgotten. In fact, until Detective Grimes called he never realized how much he had, indeed, forgotten. And until he went looking for clues to prove his innocence, he never knew how much his band-mates and wife kept hidden from him. Now, as the law closes in, and MakeFist Punch warily rehearses for a reunion show, James Nauman isn't sure he wants to remember any of it. Eric Riley Moore has written about rock music for the past several years at www.100FaveAlbums.net. He's also an accomplished storyteller, having performed at The Moth, in Boston, regularly, appearing twice in two years and placing second in the GrandSLAM. Eric is a former standup comic, and has had two plays produced in San Francisco: "Tofu Water" and "Nobody Knows I'm Jesus." Long before that, he was a member of an indie rock band chasing success.
