{"title":"Books by James Kennedy","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9781785632143","title":"Noise Damage","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e‘Harrowing, funny and 100% true’ Ginger Wildheart\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe tale that follows is not another clichéd collection of rock’n’roll debaucheries (sorry) nor is it another tired fable of triumph over adversity (you’re welcome).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIt’s the story of a half-deaf kid from a tiny, remote village in South Wales who was hailed as a genius by the UK’s biggest radio station and headhunted by major record labels, only for the music industry to collapse. It crashed hard, taking with it an entire generation of talented artists who would never now get their shot. CNN called it ‘music’s lost decade’.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlong the way, there are goodies, baddies, gun-toting label execs, life-saving surgeons, therapy, true love, loyalty, hope, breakdowns, suicidal managers, betrayal, drummers and way too many hangovers. James Kennedy shows that the best lessons are to be learned from good losers. It really is all about the journey.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePart memoir, part exposé of the music world’s murky underbelly, Noise Damage is emotional, painfully honest, funny, informative and ridiculous. It’s also a celebration of the life-changing magic of music.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43205072945330,"sku":"9781785632143","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781785632143_05d0cc6b-5db4-450c-865e-680f01efc53d.jpg?v=1786026104"},{"product_id":"9781683693277","title":"Bride of the Tornado","description":"\u003cb\u003e“A powerfully weird, original tale that combines American folk horror with a surreal coming-of-age nightmare.”—\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Stephen King’s \u003ci\u003eThe Mist\u003c\/i\u003e meets David Lynch’s \u003ci\u003eTwin Peaks\u003c\/i\u003e in this surreal, mind-bending horror-thriller.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a small town tucked away in the midwestern corn fields, the adults whisper about Tornado Day. Our narrator, a high school sophomore, has never heard this phrase but she soon discovers its terrible meaning: a plague of sentient tornadoes is coming to destroy them. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe only thing that stands between the town and total annihilation is a teen boy known as the tornado killer. Drawn to this enigmatic boy, our narrator senses an unnatural connection between them. But the adults are hiding a secret about the origins of the tornadoes and the true nature of the tornado killer—and our narrator must escape before the primeval power that binds them all comes to claim her. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAudaciously conceived and steeped in existential dread, this genre-defying fever dream of a novel reveals the mythbound madness at the heart of American life.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43408888332466,"sku":"9781683693277","price":14.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781683693277.jpg?v=1786024753"},{"product_id":"9781837600076","title":"Loud Medicine","description":"The music industry as you've never seen it before – from the bottom.   Music. We all love it. We can't live without it! But what exactly is it? Why is it so awesome? And who are the mysterious figures who create it, perform it and keep us all stocked up with the good stuff? What's it really like to be in a band and just how bad is the music industry?In his new book, rock'n'roll underdog James Kennedy takes us on a tour through the hidden lives of the every-day musician – this isn’t hotel room trashing but how 99% of musicians live in the real world. Blowing away the usual mythologies and pulling no punches, Loud Medicine is a rough and ready rollercoaster ride – OK, transit van ride – into the secret world of the modern day musician.   It’s also an exposé of music’s many enemies, a manifesto for change and a love letter to everyone’s favourite medicine. There will be rants, dramas, a cast of dysfunctionals, big ideas, industry scam shockers, truth-bombs, f-bombs, the likely crucifixion of a beloved music icon or two –  and yes, of course, there will be road stories. So come and squeeze in amongst the drum cases and warm beers, and let’s hit the road!","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307384451445,"sku":"9781837600076","price":18.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781837600076_fead416c-1a1c-4682-b65e-3c7ffaa11f45.jpg?v=1786027878"},{"product_id":"9781839162404","title":"Everything Is Natural","description":"Since the early 1990s, advances in toxicology have allowed scientists to detect traces of adulterant substances in everyday products – even down to parts per billion concentrations. We can now detect the presence of harmful ingredients at levels so low that they actually cause no harm.   Nonetheless, we get scared. We are now able to overreact to harmless, negligible sources of contamination and flock to ‘natural’, ‘organic’ and ‘chemical-free’ alternative products at elevated prices instead. This urge is driven in part by a set of interesting psychological quirks called the naturalness preference or biophilia. While exposure to many aspects of nature improves our physical and mental wellbeing, marketers are taking advantage of our naturalness preference by selling us ‘organic’ and ‘natural’ products with no functional advantage, sometimes to the detriment of the environment, and that have the unfortunate added effect of peddling a fear of conventional products that do not make such natural connotations. This fear of chemicals, exaggerated by marketers, has led some of us to seek nature in the form of expensive consumer product, which offer almost none of the benefits of spending time outdoors in real nature (which is free of charge).   We thus chase nature in the wrong form. We feel guilt, anxiety and mental stress from being coaxed into paying a hefty premium price for \"natural\" products that are neither safer nor more effective than conventional ones, and forget to appreciate real nature in the process.   This book explores the history of chemical fears and the recent events that amplified it. It describes how consumers, teachers, doctors, lawmakers and journalists can help make better connections with the public by telling stories that are more engaging about chemistry and materials science. Written in a sympathetic way, this book explains both sides of the argument for anyone with an interest in science.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56307539771765,"sku":"9781839162404","price":19.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781839162404_5a621eb1-440d-4a9b-8c0a-dcb442ac5a43.jpg?v=1786028545"},{"product_id":"dare-to-know","title":"Dare to Know","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e“\u003c\/b\u003eA voraciously readable page-turner of a novel.\u003cb\u003e”\u003c\/b\u003e—Cory Doctorow\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A razor-smart sci-fi corporate noir nightmare. \u003ci\u003eDare to Know\u003c\/i\u003e is what happens when Willy Loman sees through the Matrix.”—Daniel Kraus, co-author of \u003ci\u003eThe Shape of Water\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003eThis mind-bending and emotional speculative thriller is set in a world where the exact moment of your death can be predicted—for a price.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eOur narrator is the most talented salesperson at Dare to Know, an enigmatic company that has developed the technology to predict anyone’s death down to the second. Divorced, estranged from his sons, and broke, he's driven to violate the cardinal rule of the business by forecasting his own death day. The problem: his prediction says he died twenty-three  minutes ago. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe only person who can confirm its accuracy is Julia, the woman he loved and lost during his rise up the ranks of Dare to Know. As he travels across the country to see her, he’s forced to confront his past, the choices he's made, and the terrifying truth about the company he works for. \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eWildly ambitious and highly immersive, this thought-provoking thriller explores the destructive power of knowledge and collapses the boundaries between reality, myth, and conspiracy as it races toward its shocking conclusion.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e“A voraciously readable page-turner of a novel, part creepypasta, part thought-experiment.”—Cory Doctorow, author of \u003ci\u003eLittle Brother\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eRadicalized\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":57487867773301,"sku":"9781683692607","price":21.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9781683692607.jpg?v=1786355090"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-james-kennedy.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}