Kate Axelrod’s How to Get Along Without Me is a moving an astute exploration of modern love.
Booklist wrote of the book:
“Sharp yet grounded, this moving collection is a woman’s lesson on modern heartache.
In her own words, here is Kate Axelrod’s Book Notes music playlist for her story collection How to Get Along Without Me:
HtGAWM is a collection of linked stories that explores various types of intimacy in both romantic and familial relationships. There are lots of musical references in the book and sometimes a lyric is used as a sort of shorthand to communicate something that the characters are reluctant to articulate themselves or don’t quite know how to. I don’t listen to music while I write but it informs (and inspires) my fiction.
The tracks I chose for this playlist are either referenced in the book or I included them because I have a strong association with a certain feeling they evoke. So much of the book is about longing for intimacy and, while I hope I did a sufficient job articulating that sense of yearning, music can be so powerful and offer another dimension that writing can’t always do on its own.
1. “This Heart’s on Fire,” Wolf Parade
2. “Radio Kaliningrad,” Handsome Furs
These two songs feature heavily in a story called “Making Things Up.” “This Heart’s On Fire” is a love letter of sorts, and the protagonist feels a combination of hope and envy while listening to it. The whole album is so thrilling and electric; I almost feel breathless listening to it.
Handsome Furs is a side project made up of Dan Boeckner from Wolf Parade and his then-wife, Alexei Perry. It’s more electronic than Wolf Parade; they use keyboards and a drum machine, but there’s a similar kind of frenetic energy and there’s something compelling about their synergy and the way they play together. The narrator of my story is trying to communicate some suggestion of intimacy by recommending this band to a doctor who she sort of has a crush on, despite the fact that he’s treating her for an STI.
3. “Dreams Come True Girl,” Cass McCombs ft. Karen Black
I have such a visceral reaction to hearing this song. It brings me back to a specific time in my life when I was pining after someone and I desperately wanted him to feel this way about me. I think many of the characters in the collection are yearning for that sort of connection. There’s something haunting and hypnotic about the song even though the lyrics are quite simple and sweet. It’s almost like you can tell that the love he feels is unrequited.
4. “Harvest,” Neil Young
I love this song and though it never directly made it into the book, I thought of the line “I see you give more than I can take” often while writing and think the sentiment is echoed by various characters.
5. “Let Me Roll It,” Paul McCartney and Wings
This song is referenced in the story “Sex on Wednesdays.” The character is having transactional sex and feels relief when she gets into a taxi at the end of a night out and this song is playing on the radio. “Let Me Roll It” is so comforting and melodic, which is how I feel about Paul McCartney and most Beatles songs in general.
6. “Always Be My Baby,” Mariah Carey
This song is referenced in the story “USB Port,” when it comes on the radio (in another car ride) and reminds the protagonist of dancing in the mirror as a tween. The song is so sweet and wholesome and when I hear it I immediately think of the video with Mariah Carey on a tire swing at a summer camp. It has a really different vibe from the other songs referenced in the book and I think it captures romance in a different but equally compelling way.
7. “Sleeping Is the Only Love,” Silver Jews
David Berman died while I was working on the collection and I spent a lot of concentrated time listening to his music after his death. He’s such a great writer and there are so many excellent songs, but this is one of my favorites. Berman is so good at juxtaposing sorrow and humor and his deadpan vibe makes his work all the more moving.
8. “Perfect World,” Liz Phair
9. “6′ 1″, ” Liz Phair
Liz Phair was one of my first musical loves. I have a really vivid memory of babysitting one afternoon and going straight to The Wiz to buy Whitechocolatespaceegg with the money I’d earned. And then I went backwards through her catalog and got really into Exile in Guyville. I wasn’t even thirteen but somehow felt like I identified with her insecurities (I want to be cool, tall, vulnerable and luscious / I would have it all if I’d only had this much) and all the frustrations she has with toxic guys, many of whom would probably now be called fuckboys. Or if I didn’t quite relate to it then, I felt certain that I would when I was older.
10. “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right,” Bob Dylan
This song is referenced in the first story. It’s definitely a melancholy break-up song but there’s something kind of sturdy and distanced about it too. The line that’s quoted is “I gave her my heart but she wanted my soul,” which, similar to the Neil Young line, speaks to such a specific type of conflict or incompatibility in a relationship.
Kate Axelrod’s writing can be found in Joyland, Narrative Magazine, Story Magazine and various other publications. She studied Creative Writing at Oberlin College. She lives in Brooklyn with her husband and two children.