Monday, November 16, 2015

Sway: A Novel

By Zachary Lazar
Three out of Five Stars

I’m conflicted as to what I should say about Zachary Lazar’s Sway. The book was a quick, enjoyable read, which is why I gave it three stars out of five stars. Lazar is a more than competent writer, capable of stringing together sentences that paint a vivid picture in the readers mind. Sway is well written, but poorly plotted – or should I say, simply plotted if you’re a fan of the Rolling Stones.

Sway focuses on three real-life figures of the 1960’s. There’s Manson family member and killer, Bobby Beausoleil, who starred in two of Anger’s short films, Lucifer Rising and Invocation of My Demon Brother. Bobby, who wanted to be a musician, was a lost soul, who lost his way even further under Charles Manson’s cult-like spell.

There’s indie filmmaker Kenneth Anger, who had a hard time finding his way as a filmmaker, as well as with coming to grips with his homosexuality at a time when being gay was actually a crime in Great Britain. Anger, who knew Bobby, also came in contact with members of the Rolling Stones.

Finally, there’s the Stones, namely founding member Brian Jones, who while having trouble dealing with fame and his inability to write songs, let his insecurities drive him to drug use, and his eventual release from the band he founded. As a result of this, Jones was the first member of the ’27 Club’ having died at that age, quickly followed by Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, and in more recent times, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse.

Sway is supposed to focus on these three factual storylines, but is really a book about Brian Jones and the Rolling Stones. The other two stories – historical figures – are given short shrift and could be removed without harming the book. As for its fictionalized tale of the Rolling Stones, while Lazar has done his homework, I couldn’t help wondering why I didn’t just read one of the many biographies written about the band or its individual members.

In writing historical fiction, author John Jakes, who wrote the Kent Family Chronicles, which follows generations of the Kent family from the Revolutionary War to the 20th Century, touches upon American history and historical characters, but sees them through the eyes of his fictional family, allowing us a perspective on these people and events. In E.L. Doctorow’s Billy Bathgate, the author uses the fictional character of Billy Bathgate to explore a period in New York gangster Dutch Schultz’s life, the character arc of the story coming from Billy changing from a youngster who idolizes gangsters to one who sees their true nature and grows as a person. Sway needed a character like this; a character that could interpret the historical events of the Rolling Stones early years during the 1960’s. Without this character, what we’re simply reading is a straightforward history of the Rolling Stones, and if you really want to do that, as I’ve said above, there are some excellent biographies out there.


Having read extensively about the band, I kept questioning why I kept reading Sway, as it offered me nothing new, but instead a rehash; but for those not as well read on the band, it might be an excellent introduction.

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