James Acaster

Perfect Sound Whatever

*The Sunday Times Bestseller* The brand new memoir from James Acaster: cult comedian, bestselling author of Classic Scrapes, undercover cop, receiver of cabbages. PERFECT SOUND WHATEVER is a love letter to the healing power of music, and how one man's obsessive quest saw him defeat the bullshit of one year with the beauty of another. Because that one man is James Acaster, it also includes tales of befouling himself in a Los Angeles steakhouse, stealing a cookie from Clint Eastwood, and giving drunk, unsolicited pep talks to urinating strangers. January, 2017 James Acaster wakes up heartbroken and alone in New York, his relationship over, a day of disastrous meetings leading him to wonder if comedy is really what he wants to be doing any more. A constant comfort in James's life has been music, but he's not listened to anything new for a very long time. Idly browsing 'best of the year' lists, it dawns on him that 2016 may have been a grim year for a lot of reasons, but that it seemed to be an iconic year for music. And so begins a life-changing musical odyssey, as James finds himself desperately seeking solace in the music of 2016, setting himself the task of only listening to music released that year, ending up with 500 albums in his collection. Looking back on this year-long obsession, parallels begin to grow between the music and James's own life: his relationship history, the highs and lows of human connection, residual Christian guilt, and mental health issues that have been bubbling under the surface for years. Some albums are life-changing masterpieces, others are 'Howdilly Doodilly' by Okilly Dokilly, a metalcore album devoted to The Simpsons' character Ned Flanders, but all of them play a part the year that helped James Acaster get his life back on track.

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER

Not naming any names but this happened to my friend who for no reason read 200+ books (and the majority of "Bleach") in a year.

In "Perfect Sound Whatever", James recounts one of the most difficult years of his life and how obsessing over music released in 2016 became his fixation, his project. He has done the mature thing to have only compiled this book only after improving his own mental health. In that sense, the book does an amazing job at both introducing the reader (listener) to a variety of new artists and music and documenting one's breakdown in an honest manner. A part of me felt less alone after.

Not naming any names but this happened to my friend who for no reason read 200+ books (and the majority of "Bleach") in a year.

In "Perfect Sound Whatever", James recounts one of the most difficult years of his life and how obsessing over music released in 2016 became his fixation, his project. He has done the mature thing to have only compiled this book only after improving his own mental health. In that sense, the book does an amazing job at both introducing the reader (listener) to a variety of new artists and music and documenting one's breakdown in an honest manner. A part of me felt less alone after.

sophia n

“You’re darn tootin!” This line took me about 50 takes. Next time you’re feeling depressed, try delivering a convincing “You’re darn tootin!” It is honestly impossible.


this is such a niche read in a way, and i can't totally imagine how it would read for people who aren't passionate about music. but this is very much a love letter to music and what it does for us emotionally, and how we connect to it, and how it defines us and moments in our lives.

music has always meant a lot to me and has gotten me through a lot of rough times in my life, and i feel like i really connected to acaster's story here, both from the the emotional perspective, and from the interwoven things about the albums, and artists who released them, in 2016. i feel like i could listen to him talk about music all day every day for the rest of my life tbh lol.

tw for: suicidal ideation

JAMES. ACASTER

The hilarious and heartwarming new memoir from James Acaster: cult comedian, bestselling author, undercover cop, receiver of cabbages. January, 2017. James Acaster wakes hungover and alone in New York, his girlfriend having just left him. Thinking this is his rock bottom, little does James know that by the end of the year he will have befouled himself in a Los Angeles steakhouse and disrespected a pensioner on television. Luckily, there is one thing he can rely on for comfort - music. In true Acaster fashion, this ends up with a completely unnecessary mission: to buy as much music as he can released in 2016, the year before everything went wrong (for James, at least). Some albums are life-changing masterpieces, others are 'Howdilly Doodilly' by Okilly Dokilly, a metalcore album devoted to The Simpsons character Ned Flanders. But all of them play a part in the year that James gets his life back on track. In PERFECT SOUND WHATEVER, James takes us through the music of 2016, the bullshit of 2017, and how the beauty of one defeated the ugliness of the other. He will also reveal how he stole a cookie from Clint Eastwood and attempted to complete his musical odyssey by reforming one of Kettering's most overlooked bands.

Perfect Sound Whatever

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