Friends of long standing will know how desperate eager we have been, since Live Fast, Die Young: Misadventures in Rock & Roll America was published in the UK last year, that it should become available in the US. It’s a book about rock and roll America, after all. Many kind souls have responded to our repeated begging appeals for help in making that happen.

So we’re thrilled to be able to tell you that your hard work has paid off. Our little tribute to GP in book form – a tale of two men on a coast-to-coast search for the soul of American music – will be available in bookstores and interweb sites everywhere on that fine continent from 1 April 2012! It’s a little way off, but we hope you’ll agree it’s worth the wait. (If you can’t wait until next year, or you live in the UK, you can always buy it here.) And you can be quite sure we’ll be reminding you again nearer the time. Quite sure.

As always, thanks for your support and encouragement. If Live Fast, Die Young is new to you, go here for some blurb about it, or watch this video of Chris and Joe reading the prologue:

For now though, we’ll leave you with some words from nice people who have already read it:

“A thoroughly enjoyable ride through the American musical wilderness. Live Fast, Die Young brings out the inner geek in every rock and roll dreamer.” Zane Lowe, BBC Radio 1 

“Heart-warming and hilarious … Bill Bryson meets Nick Hornby.” Country Update Magazine

“Not only a joy sui generis, but also – and better yet – a joy to be shared by reading aloud. Mere satire is cheap; the blood in these pages is more authentic than any Nashville approximation of Americana.”  Stanley Booth, The True Adventures of the Rolling Stones

“A book that shows how your obsessions can shape and change your life. Excellent.”  James Dean Bradfield, Manic Street Preachers

“I howled myself silly. But like me, readers of Live Fast, Die Young will find their aching sides soothed by the heart-warming rhythms of mutual and musical harmony pulsing from two human hearts at their best.” Diann Blakely, Harvard Review, BookPage, Nashville Scene

“The thinking man’s Dumb & Dumber.”  Mike McCormack, Universal Music Publishing

Several of our esteemed American friends have asked about US availability of Live Fast, Die Young, so we thought it worth putting together a simple guide. As yet we have no publishing deal in the US, so there are two options for getting hold of your copy:

1. While stocks last, buy your copy from the Missing Parsons shop. We have a limited number of *signed* copies available for purchase from within the US. Cheaper than ordering from the UK and personally signed to you! We also have Missing Parsons t-shirts and physical copies of the soundtrack album for those that like to touch, hold and caress their music.

2. Order the book from Amazon.co.uk. This will be shipped from the UK, so the postage will be slightly higher than your usual Amazon orders, but at the time of writing there’s a 33% discount which goes some way to covering the difference.

We want to make it as easy as possible for our friends in the US to get hold of Live Fast, Die Young. Our Research & Insight department (Facebook) tells us that roughly 75% of the Missing Parsons community is American, and we would love the book to be made available in your fine book stores and upstanding interweb sites. Until then, please consider one of the other options above.

As ever, thanks for your support, Parsonage and friendship.

Chris & Joe

Missing Parsons