{"product_id":"the-ballad-of-speedball-baby-a-memoir-9798212613811","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 Paperback\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 9798212613811\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 336","brand":"Ali Smith","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43449049252021,"sku":"9798212613811","price":14.44,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_6cf352ec-c3e3-4eeb-8d0c-d78d1de9a99d.jpg?v=1704217004","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/the-ballad-of-speedball-baby-a-memoir-9798212613811","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}