She ditched college to start a band with the trash-talking French guy. He ditched his girlfriend to cross the country with that girl with the bangs.

In 2001 when boybands and thongs have assaulted pop culture, two college dropouts form a band. In the basement. When Carla runs into Pete, the aloof French kid in town, the two form a secret connection that goes deeper than the music. Before heading out on their greasy dive bar cross-country tour, tragedy turns the world upside down forcing them to face adulthood and decide if the band is just a teenage dream or a gateway to freedom....and to each other?

Slanted and Disenchanted is the debut novel by Lisa Czarina Michaud. Told with conversational wit with quirky '90s pop culture references and rock snob winks, it's High Fidelity meets On the Road with elements of Patti Smith's Just Kids that explores sexual tension in friendships, the confusion of adulting, the love and chaos of family...and the soundtracks that get us through it all.