Don't Sleep With Your Drummer reviews:

You Wish You Were This Funny, August 11, 2002
Reviewer: A reader

This is laugh out loud funny writing - not just some dopey chick book. The characters all have texture. The language is whip smart. There's core drama that keeps you turning the pages. And great images -- "The building was eerily silent when I walked in. As terrifying as I find the death rock band across the hall, it's almost more upsetting when their not jamming and I'm alone. At least when they're making noise, you know where they all are. If it's silent, they could be lurking around every conrer. Or hanging by their feet from the ceiling of their practice space sleeping with their wings wrapped tightly around their bodies."

Much more where that came from. You'll be a 60 Foot Queenie fan.

A wonderful read, April 26, 2004
Reviewer: Rich Prisinzano (Austin, Texas USA)

I have often dreamt of being a rock star. I have even been in a few bands, so clearly this book rings true for me. However, the characters are great. The style is loose and easy to get into. I read the book in one day. It made me laugh out loud and remember with slight sadness the heartaches I have felt. This is more than worth your time if you have ever had a dream and your parents thought you were crazy or you thought you were in control but really weren't

Beauty and the beat:

Wholesome guitar chick takes readers through the good, bad and ugly of corporate music biz

By Daniel A. Kusner
Lifestyles Editor
Dallas Voice
http://dallasvoice.com/articles/dispArticle.cfm?Article_ID=2378

Don’t Sleep with Your Drummer, by Jen Sincero. (MTV Books, 2002) 373 pp., $12.95.

Almost out of nowhere comes an electrifying debut novel that has all the smart snap of Bridget Jones’ Diary and all the aching musical passion of Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Author Jen Sincero — a Manhattan-critics’ darling and crafty multimedia starlet living in L.A. — delves into the world of smart-assed guitar rock with a fictitious diary so richly enlightened that it must be based on fact.

Don’t Sleep with Your Drummer is the wisecracking, soulful journey of Jenny Troanni, a vulnerable freckle-faced amazon who takes a giant leap of faith to chase her superstar dream — becoming power-chord rock goddess without sacrificing a single molecule of her dignity. Unmarried and approaching 30, Jenny draws up a formal agreement with her mother to quit her soul-raping corporate advertising job. If she doesn’t come home with a record deal, Jenny will work at a bank, date accountants and wear pearls at the country club. With mom’s blessing, Jenny buys a sublime Fender Twin-Reverb amplifier, says goodbye to her drippy boyfriend and reunites with platonic soulmate — the eclectic, on-fire Lucy Stover Hanover II, a guitar diva and culture chameleon, who would make Madonna seethe with envy.

What’s so refreshing about this How-To Rock manual is the path Jenny takes on her quest. Instead of selfish pill-popping antics, mean-spirited cat fights and casting-couch sex, readers witness a dedicated Joan Jett wannabe who bakes lasagnas, mows yards and tutors high school bassists as a means to achieving rock goddess status.

Along the way, Jenny meets her rock ‘n’ roll fairy godmother — Flowers, a glitter-and-nipple-rings guitar teacher who dispenses pearls of wisdom about balancing life while navigating L.A.’s alternative music scene. According to the author, Flowers’ is based on real-life 1985 Miss Gay Tarrant County — a Pat Benatar-loving drag queen famous for performing in his cowboy boots.

After finding a practice space and auditioning a parade of music geeks, Jenny forms 60-Foot Queenie, a five-piece band that rocks as hard as AC/DC with a scalpel-sharp sense of humor. As the band garners buzz-worthy praise, the diary becomes a true insider’s peek at the negotiations and payola reality of recording contracts, dollar-fixated producers, corporate handshakes and the glamorous thrills of camera-mugging photoshoots at supermarkets.
The title of Don’t Sleep with Your Drummer, completely gives the ending away. But what’s most predictable about this book is its destiny to become a film. While this is Sincero’s literary debut, she’s constructed Oscar-worthy characters (like the underage bass player’s overprotective mom) and camera-ready dialogue.

Don’t Sleep also skillfully employs a handy-dandy new literary device — the author’s Post-it, a tool that should provide for flawlessly smooth cinematic transitions. Voiceovers waiting to happen include: Rock ‘n’ Roll Truths: “In the music world, women are never too old to kick ass, while a lot of men just start to look weird;” Brilliant Observations: “Sometimes being a complete idiot is a shrewd business tactic;” and Inspirational Notes to Self: “Just because you’re totally unqualified doesn’t mean you can’t pull it off.”

Courtney Love would throw herself in front of a train to play the lead in the film
version of this story. But what a horrible casting mistake that would be. One thing we know about Jenny Troanni — she’s made of flesh and blood, and she will always land on her feet. This is a hilarious book about a woman on a mission, whose talent for holding it all together takes her on a fast ride through a wild universe and who — for all the ups and downs — wouldn’t have done a thing differently.

Although her passion for the journey is inspiring, readers know that in the end, Jenny will have her place in rock music. As Jenny notes herself, “Flowers grow in sand. I can do anything.” We haven’t seen the last of Jenny Troanni, and we certainly haven’t seen the last of Sincero.

Book Review - The Weekly Alibi
Hit Me with Your Rhythm Stick
By Rachel Heisler
Don't Sleep with Your Drummer

 "Rock and Roll Truth #4: You're either famous or annoying. There's no gray area."

Jen Sincero, one of the two geniuses behind the raw talent of the long-defunct Albuquerque group the Jenny Clinkscales Band, is still rockin' 'n' rollin' in California and recently released her debut novel, Don't Sleep with Your Drummer, through MTV Books.

The book's first-person account takes a close-up look at the hilarious, sometimes confusing and often painful moments of lead character Jenny Troanni's budding profession as a rock star in Los Angeles. From her initial decision to dedicate herself to learning to play the guitar well, to piecing a band together, Troanni starts with nothing and quickly creates a successful musical career.

Any time not spent working on her band, 60-Foot Queenie (sound familiar to anyone?), is spent tutoring high school students and working mindless day jobs in order to save up money to record the band's first CD, eventually titled You Can't Shine A Turd. The CD and countless live shows lead the band to an explosive working relationship with the selfishly evil recording industry.

"Rock and Roll Truth #8: Being in a band is the only situation where a job interview' takes place while you're wasted, wearing something ridiculous, and screaming lewd things into a microphone."

While the main focus of the story is the pursuit of fame and coming to grips with the bipolar nature of the music biz, Troanni also muddles through chaotic moments with her friends, and stressful relationships with her family members: an angry mother who wants her daughter to get a good-paying job and settle down; an almost nonexistent father; and the perfect sister with the perfect life. Troanni constantly struggles to keep her band members on the straight-and-narrow, but, as the book's title forewarns, she gets involved in a twisted, whirlwind romance with her talented, sexy drummer, Scott.

"Note to Self: Don't sleep with your drummer. Dumb ass."

Sincero's sassy, gutsy personality comes shining through, and Don't Sleep with Your Drummer is a perfect example of  "write what you know," make up the rest. Sincero may have some people around these parts feeling a little special since she does mention the band The Meek (another local group no longer with us) and Icky and the Yucks (that's how she spells it), as well as Albuquerque and the Launchpad.

Sections such as "Note To Self" and "Brilliant Observation" are not only clever, but provocative and full of metaphysical messages that we've all heard before and forgotten--but of which we should be reminded. Here's an example:

"Brilliant Observation #13: You're never more invincible than when you're doing the thing you love."

It is a little hard to swallow the idea that in a mere 13 months 60-Foot Queenie goes from nobody to national star, but that is the ultimate musical dream, and this is a book about exploring the possibilities. Whether it's sex, drugs or rock 'n' roll, Jen Sincero covers all the imperative bases on this journey of self-discovery and music.

WOW., August 11, 2002
Reviewer: "goshilikebooks" (Los Angeles)

I LOVED this book. I found it hilarious from beginning to middle to end. The characters were very well developed, and the journal-style entries made for a fun read. What an exciting glimpse into the music industry

The Weekly Alibi
By Steven Robert Allen
Don't Sleep With Your Drummer

It's true, you know. The first law of the music world really is never sleep with your drummer. Sincero learned this and much more rocking out in the Albuquerque-based Jenny Clinkscales Band. She has just published a new book in which she pours all the timeless wisdom she acquired during her reign as a local rock-and-roll goddess into this hilarious autobiographical novel about a 20-something musician clawing her way to the top. It's funny because it's mostly true.

Jen Sincero - wit goes up to 11!, March 23, 2004
Reviewer: Katy Ross from Witney, Oxon United Kingdom

If you've ever been in a band then this book will have you on your knees praising the God of Rock that finally someone wrote it like it is. And they wrote it so well you need to go into rehab to recover. I'm talking side-splittingly, pant-wettingly, guitar-smashingly hilarious. Fab characters and great cat names - the natural humour and easy to read flow of this hard-to-put-down book is testament to the author's own experience of being in a band. She writes like a monster and you can only imagine she plays like one too. This book rocks so much I was in mourning when it ended but it definitely gives anyone hope that they too could become a Rock God/Goddess no matter how much the world may already think you're past it in your late twenties, and no matter how many times you may of already tried and failed. Inspirational as well as being a good handbook to the pitfalls of the sordid music business, do not start a band without reading this! Jen Sincero you are a legend.

April 13, 2004 Reviewer: "coedgirl" (Atlanta, Ga)

This book is a must for those girls who's parents f*@#ed them up and who dream of rock stars. Even wannabe groupies will enjoy this book. It reminded me of my circle of friends and Jenny bore the strickingly same personality as my friend Mary Ann. The part about the Mary figure in her mother's front yard had me rolling on the floor laughing because not only was it funny but Mary Ann actually expierenced it. This book is hilarious and I found myself passing it around to my circle of friends. Despite being a book about becoming a Rock Star, this book is very relatable. Most of the time you'll find yourself comparing aspects of Jenny's life and memories to your own

Wah! I wanna go home