Keith Rosson’s The Devil by Name, is a riveting sequel to his novel Fever House.
Library Journal wrote of the book:
“The stunning conclusion to the duology that began with Fever House. . . . a delight for both horror readers and fans of apocalyptic fiction. Recommend to those who liked The Stand by Stephen King, Zone One by Colson Whitehead, or The Rising by Brian Keene.”
In his own words, here is Keith Rosson’s Book Notes music playlist for his novel The Devil by Name:
My new novel, The Devil by Name, is the sequel to last year’s Fever House. Devil is set five years after the events of the first book, and the world, well, it’s gone to hell. If not literally then pretty damn close. I like to think there’s some nuance involved, but all in all, it’s a reasonably bleak book, and I listened to a lot of melancholy, dark stuff while writing it. None of what I would consider specifically apocalyptic, but there’s a marked solemnity running through almost all of these songs and albums.
St. Cecelia – Alan Kopardy & Patrick Jennings
My God, what a nimble, morose collection of acoustic guitar songs here. Far from my usual cup of tea, but the dozen songs here are haunting and gorgeous.
“Run One Mile” – Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari
Another sinuous, swaggering instrumental that reminds me of Taj Mahal. That bassline, it works its way into your mind like the Message, I’m telling you. I wish I could write like this song sounds.
“Black Boys on Mopeds” – Sinead O’Connor
Sorrow and fear – fear for your country, fear for the future, fear for the safety of your children – is threaded through every note of these four minutes. That fear of what sort world your child will inherit plays a not-insignificant part in Devil, and I played the hell out of this song writing it. Beautiful and incendiary and furious, and one of the punkest songs ever put to tape.
“Famine” – Paint It Black
“This is American as fences and walls, as American as ‘Do the crime, let someone else take the fall.’” Less than two minutes long, and a perfect encapsulation of fury at the mad disparity present in the American experiment. Devil’s an angry book, exploring the notions of that imbalance, and this song makes me want to gleefully run my head through a wall.
“Bad Names” – New Junk City
“Me and Allie spent that summer on the hill, with those bad kids, trying too fast to grow up. We whispered poison words to Michael ‘til he cried, called him bad names ‘til the bad names stuck. We were the ones who felt like crying on the day we found out Michael finally gave up.” One of the most honest and searing examples about fucking up set to music that I’ve ever heard, and while I don’t want to just write out the lyrics to the entire song, this thing just about makes me cry every time I hear it. Brilliant.
“The Battle of Cable Street” – Wegrowbeards
Bunch of English dudes doing rousing acoustic tunes set around moments in labor history. Pretty niche, maybe, but a) it rips, and b) shows how cyclical state violence often is, another thing present in Devil.
“Graceland” – Justin Townes Earle
So much of what I need when it comes to music, as an aid to writing, is a feeling. A way to burrow into an emotional state, to live inside a moment. And the somber, yearning sorrow in this Paul Simon cover has that shit in spades.
“The Thing I Done” – C.W. Stoneking
Regret distilled into the form of a rollicking, jaunty blues tune.
“Pave Paradise” – Have Heart
And a nice, mean-as-broken-glass hardcore song to close things out.
also at Largehearted Boy:
Keith Rosson’s playlist for his novel Fever House
Keith Rosson’s playlist for his story collection Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons
Keith Rosson’s playlist for his novel Smoke City
Keith Rosson is the author of the novels Fever House, Smoke City, Road Seven, and The Mercy of the Tide, as well as the Shirley Jackson Award–winning story collection Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons. He lives in Portland, Oregon, with his partner and their two children.