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"A wild roar of a novel. Writing about music is tricky. Ninety-nine percent of the time hearing the actual song or going to the actual concert is far more revealing than any paragraph describing it. But Jackson pulls off this near-impossible feat, pulling the reader past the velvet ropes into the black-box theaters and sweaty, sticky-floored stadiums. — Marisha Pessl, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 

“Destroy All Monsters is not only one of my favorite books of the year, it is my favorite rock novel ever.”  — Largehearted Boy selection for BEST NOVEL OF 2018

“This surreal novel summons feelings both hopeful and terrifying, which seems about right for 2018.” — Pitchfork selection for BEST MUSIC BOOK OF 2018

“Jackson echoes the fiction of Don DeLillo and the humanistic cultural observation of Joan Didion equally. Apocalypse was the sound of “Side B” of Bowie’s Low too, ambient and bleak, but wasn’t there just as much apocalypse in “Side A,” relatively conventional, albeit brittle and angular, rock? So what am I saying? Destroy All Monsters is the Low of books.”  — Brazos Bookstore BEST NOVEL of 2018

*  BUY DESTROY ALL MONSTERS from AMAZON, BARNES & NOBLE, POWELL'S, INDIE BOUND.

"At some point, I began to think of it as an ancient folk tale. It’s fine work, with a kind of scattered narrative set within a tight frame. Fast-moving throughout – fragile characters who suggest a bleak inner world made in their own collective image."   DON DELILLO

“This virtuosic novel is a commanding departure from Mira Corpora and yet retains everything I love about Jeff’s work, namely the wild sweep of his imagination, the boldness of his vision. If you are new to Jeff Jackson’s fiction then welcome. Be excited. Be ready to fall in love. Be just a little bit afraid.” — LAURA VAN DEN BERG

SYNOPSIS

An epidemic of violence is sweeping the country: musicians are being murdered onstage in the middle of their sets by members of their audience. Are these random copycat killings, or is something more sinister at work? Has music itself become corrupted in a culture where everything is available, everybody is a "creative," and attention spans have dwindled to nothing.

With its cast of ambitious bands, yearning fans, and enigmatic killers, Destroy All Monsters tells a haunted and romantic story of overdue endings and unlikely beginnings that will resonate with anybody who’s ever loved rock and roll. 

Like a classic vinyl single, Destroy All Monsters has two sides. At the heart of Side A, “My Dark Ages,” is Xenie, a young woman who is repulsed by the violence of the epidemic but who still finds herself drawn deeper into the mystery. Side B, "Kill City," follows an alternate history, featuring familiar characters in surprising roles, and burrows deeper into the methods and motivations of the murderers.

REVIEWS 

“A disturbing yet deeply involving novel.”  – John Domini, THE WASHINGTON POST

“Destroy All Monsters forces readers to ask all the right questions, while telling them a beautiful truth. This novel is the bustle in your hedgerow. Go decipher it.” – Gabino Iglesias, NPR

“The book is a startlingly delightful pop object. A novel that is formally complex, experimental, poetic, puzzling, at times dizzying, always alive, beautifully written and just plain daring.”  – Scott Cheshire, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES

“Predatory and seductive. A wild roar of a novel. Writing about music is tricky. Ninety-nine percent of the time hearing the actual song or going to the actual concert is far more revealing than any paragraph describing it. But Jackson pulls off this near-impossible feat, pulling the reader past the velvet ropes into the black-box theaters and sweaty, sticky-floored stadiums. By the end, you feel you’ve emerged from an invitation-only Doors concert, one that starts out with a relatively benign ‘Love Me Two Times’ and ends hours later with Jim Morrison passed out somewhere behind an amp, the band playing a screeching Skrillex remix of ‘The End’ as the audience storms the stage.” — Marisha Pessl, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW 

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"Jackson builds an anxious, deeply felt narrative probing a nationwide epidemic of murders of musicians. In opposing versions of the story, Jackson follows several residents of the nondescript city of Arcadia who turn out to be both victims and perpetrators of crimes. Infected with this eerie conceit, and expressed through gritty, sharp prose, the novel provides both deep character exploration and a nuanced commentary on music, creativity, and violence." — Starred Review, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

"Destroy All Monsters is like Rashomon meets the underground punk scene. It’s like a brilliant record. This book is larger than itself and the most ambitious work Jackson has attempted, and goddamn if he doesn’t pull it off.”   – Joseph Edwin Haeger, THE BIG SMOKE

“Punk rock in literary form.”  – Christine Tran, BOOKLIST

 “Destroy All Monsters has been hailed pretty much across the board for the brilliantly dangerous book it is.” — THE MILLIONS

“Its sharded optimism is a balm for these increasingly fractious times.” – Michael T. Fournier, CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS

“Destroy All Monsters synthesizes all the best parts of his past works: a dreamy violence, innovative structure, thought and care to how the story is presented on the page, and a narrative that both feeds into and splinters itself.” – Juliet Escoria, ELECTRIC LITERATURE

“A masterful work by someone I’d dare to call one of the greatest living authors.” – Kelby Losack, VOL.1 BROOKLYN

“Like a great vinyl rock ‘n’ roll album, the novel plays on several levels at once. It’s a commentary on the epidemic of U.S. gun violence, a wistful yearning for the days when popular music had a palpable impact on our culture, and a catastrophic rock ‘n’ roll myth that even David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust couldn’t have imagined.” – Mark Kemp, CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

“There is humor and there is horror, and ultimately the feeling that this is a folklore for a new era.” – Matt Cosper, CLTCURE

"Jackson artfully eliminates distance between action and the reader, hijacking with a propulsive style into real-time dilemmas of belonging, assimilation, and acceptance.”  – Michael J. Solender, PANK MAGAZINE

“The characters' gnawing need to feel connection--with each other and their lives--gives the book pathos without losing its macabre edges.” — SHELF AWARENESS

“Edgy and electric. The result is read as bracing and brain stretching as a listen to Iggy and the Stooges "Search and Destroy." — Best Fiction of 2018, CREATIVE LOAFING

“Destroy All Monsters is unlike any other book published this year. It’s wry and dark, timeless but also entirely of our time. The language is so charged, so propulsive, it’s somehow both deeply complex but also incredibly enjoyable. It is not just rewarding for working through the prose, it is a pleasure to wade in. The book is a marvel to read. The form itself is wholly unique—divided like an old vinyl, the book has a Side A and a Side B, and can be read either way—simply flip the book over, as you would a record. This narrative experiment not only works, but truly enriches the reading experience, as Side B does not continue the same narrative from Side A, but rather presents a new one, building on the same mythology and world-building started on Side A. It’s an incredible feat to pull off.” – Nicholas Rys, BROOKLYN RAIL

“Five Books to Look Out For” – Leah Schnelbach, LITERARY HUB

Concert Posters for bands in DESTROY ALL MONSTERS

Concert Posters for bands in DESTROY ALL MONSTERS

“Enigmatic and profound, this is a novel that begs to be deciphered and interpreted.” – CRIMEREADS

“Dreamlike, creepy, and ultimately thrilling. Destroy All Monsters’ sense of being open to interpretation that makes it a relevant and chilling depiction of senseless violence today.” – Gallagher Lawson, PLOUGHSHARES

“In an era when mass shootings have become a sad national norm, Destroy All Monsters is as urgent and visceral a story as readers might find. One part modern noir, one part post-teen rock novel, one part allegory about the cast-off nature of music in the age of streaming, the propulsive and uber-stylized Destroy All Monsters deeply probes the question of music’s place in an ever-faster world.” – Michael Venutolo-Mantovani, INDYWEEK  

“The writing in this book gleams like a knife.” – Judson Hamilton, QUEEN MOB’S TEA HOUSE

“Destroy All Monsters calls for a release of tension in an era of fear by appealing to the pain, love, and music that connect us all as humans.” – Aaron Heil, CLEVELAND REVIEW OF BOOKS

“Jackson’s prose registers as punchy and acerbic, leading the reader through multiple act breaks and perspective changes with ease. Rock ’n roll might not mean as much as it once did, but he has written a fitting tribute to its lingering spirit.” – Zack Ravas, ZYZZYVA

“Best Book of 2018” — Dennis Cooper

INTERVIEWS

“The Ethical Challenges of Writing Violence” – Jeff Jackson and Laura van den Berg, FSG WORK IN PROGRESS

Kill City dedication

Kill City dedication

“Until the Moment of Incandescence” – Meghan Lamb, LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS

“Beyond the Borders of American Realism” – Conversation with Martin Riker, BOMB

“A Love Letter to Rock ‘n Roll” – Coleen Muir, ENTROPY

“Jeff Jackson Destroys All Interviews” – Joshua Chaplinsky, LITREACTOR

“Something After the End” – Ben Reiter, BRAZOS BOOKSTORE

“I Wanted Occasional Hits of Intimacy”: Jeff Jackson on Writing Destroy All Monsters – Robert Lopez, VOL. 1 BROOKLYN  

“Buried Secrets” – Cari Luna, TIN HOUSE

“A Very Dark Valentine: A Conversation between Jeff Jackson, Jayson Greene, Paula Mejía, and Jenn Pelly” — FSG ORIGINALS

“Author/musician/artist: Jeff Jackson of Charlotte earns those slashes with new novel” – Mark Kemp, CHARLOTTE OBSERVER

 “A punk rock lullaby for the wasted youth” – Matt Cosper, CLTURE

“Writing a Novel Structured like a Rock ‘n’ Roll Record” – Juliet Escoria, ELECTRIC LITERATURE

“A Conversation between Randal Owain and Jeff Jackson” – Randall O’Wain, THE FANZINE

“A World Without Adults” – D. Foy, THE MILLIONS

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