Camden Joy 
Lost Joy 

Lost Joy collects the writing that first brought Camden Joy wide attention in the mid-90s, when he wheatpasted his “manifestoes” around New York, excoriating the music industry and celebrating unsung geniuses of rock and roll. Joy’s voice—heartfelt, mocking, lyrical, razor-sharp—earned comparisons to the likes of Allen Ginsberg, Patti Smith, and Nick Hornby. Rooted in DIY zine culture, his rants prefigure the unfettered public expression of personal views that would explode with the rise of the Internet, and enact in words what Banksy would later achieve in art. Joy’s groundbreaking early fiction, in which his characters often invoke musicians and songs, is also included here. These haunting stories explore the many ways in which we use music to communicate our feelings and make sense of our memories.

About the author

Camden Joy is the author of two novels,
The Last Rock Star Book, or: Liz Phair, a Rant and
Boy Island; and three novellas,
Hubcap Diamondstar Halo, Palm Tree 13, and
Pan (republished in one volume as
3 Novellas); as well as numerous manifestoes, tracts, and other rants, many of which are included in the collection
Lost Joy.
Jonathan Lethem is the
New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, most recently
Dissident Gardens.