{"product_id":"the-ballad-of-speedball-baby-a-memoir-9798212337250","title":"The Ballad of Speedball Baby: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Ballad of Speedball Baby is the thrilling, darkly hilarious, and heart-wrenchingly vulnerable story of Ali Smith's coming-of-age in '90s New York as she commits to the messy, exhilarating life of a musician and must survive the slings and arrows society reserves for women who refuse to comply.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs an only child reeling from the demolition of her parents' toxic marriage, the New York City underground music scene offers a young Ali a different family of misfits and talented outsiders to belong to.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe becomes the bass player for edgy band Speedball Baby, a decision that will take her around the world--from onstage at the legendary CBGBs to the red-light district of Amsterdam. She's often the only girl in a broken-down tour van, being strip-searched at the Croatian border, chased by lunatics, and navigating the seedy underbelly of a male-dominated music scene full of addiction, violence, and misogyny--all while keeping her sharp wit and dark humor intact.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRimmed with heavy black eyeliner and smelling faintly of cheap booze, The Ballad of Speedball Baby is a pulse-quickening, unpredictable ride through the '90s music scene--alternately terrifying, hilarious, and painfully evocative--as well as a love letter to the power of female solidarity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Blackstone Publishing\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 01\/16\/2024\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9798212337250\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 11\/20\/2023\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Ali Smith","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43291257733301,"sku":"9798212337250","price":22.09,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_d42c6714-1cab-41bd-ae1c-0f3dc49c3e82.jpg?v=1700543527","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-ballad-of-speedball-baby-a-memoir-9798212337250","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}