131 Different Things Hardcover by Zachary Lipez; Stacy Wakefield

Product Details

• Publisher: Akashic Books, Ltd. (2018-11-20)
• Language: English
• Paperback: 248 pages
• ISBN-13: 9781617756672
• Item Weight: 567.0 grams
• Dimensions: 0.0 x 0.0 x 0.0 cm

An intimate novella of love and loss wrought from the cultural underground, perfectly expressed in an inventive object that rediscovers the magical possibilities of the book.

“You dig the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but maybe you didn’t know that guitarist Nick Zinner is also an accomplished photographer whose work has appeared in four previous books as well as in several major magazines. 131 Different Things is a novella—in collaboration with music writer Zachary Lipez and designer Stacy Wakefield—that’s already getting rave reviews.” —7×7

“For readers who enjoy edgy rambles through the rock and roll life, 131 Different Things will be a journey worth taking.” —The Current‘s Rock ‘n’ Roll Book Club (Minnesota Public Radio)

When Sam, a bartender in New York, hears that his ex, Vicki, his one true love, has quit AA and is out drinking again, he embarks on a quest to find her. Sam and his sidekick Francis trek from dive bars to gay bars to rocker bars — encountering skinheads, party promoters, underage drug dealers, and dominatrixes — but they are always one step behind Vicki. It begins to seem like 131 different things are keeping the lovers apart. Before the night is over, Sam will have to wrestle with what he is really looking for.

Nick Zinner—who pays guitar in the three-time Grammy-nominated band Yeah Yeah Yeahs — provides the visual framework for this inventive novella with his intimate photography. Known for his essays and music writing for Noisey, Vice, and Penthouse, Zachary Lipez brings his pithy, multilayered, and self-deprecating voice to this debut work of fiction. The prose and photography are tied together in a playful taxonomic scheme by editor and art director Stacy Wakefield, the author of the novel The Sunshine Crust Baking Factory. The three artists have collaborated on four previous books, most recently Please Take Me Off the Guest List.

About the Author

ZACHARY LIPEZ lives in New York City, where he has tended bar for the last twenty years. He is a regular contributor to Noisey, and his music and culture writing have also appeared in Vice, Hazlitt, Pitchfork, Bandcamp Daily, Talkhouse, Inc., and Penthouse. His collaborations with Akashic Books, Nick Zinner, and Stacy Wakefield are Please Take Me Off the Guest List and 131 Different Things.

STACY WAKEFIELD’s artist books, published for many years under the imprint Evil Twin, have been collected by institutions include the Museum of Modern Art in New York and London’s Tate Modern. She runs a studio dedicated solely to book design and production. Her first novel, The Sunshine Crust Baking Factory, was published by Akashic in 2015. She lives in the Catskills and Brooklyn. Her other collaborations with Akashic are Please Take Me Off the Guest List and 131 Different Things, both with Zachary Lipez and Nick Zinner.

NICK ZINNER plays guitar in the three-time Grammy-nominated band Yeah Yeah Yeahs and hardcore group Head Wound City. His photos have been published in four previous books, as well as in the New York Times, Vice, and Rolling Stone. He has exhibited in solo shows in Tokyo, Berlin, New York, London, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. His collaborations with Akashic Books, Zachary Lipez, and Stacy Wakefield are Please Take Me Off the Guest List and 131 Different Things.