niceness in the '90s an indie music memoir by Jim Miller

(Pleasant Peasant) I once read a book by a gifted writer about his days in a minor 90s indie band that he thought was really important and interesting, and it was torturous. Although Miller is not as good a writer, and his stories are probably less interesting on a whole, this book is actually a pleasant read, in part because Miller seems to be a humble, honest dude who realizes his career in the marginal bands Trash Can School and Black Angel's Death Song was not monumental, but meant something to him, and he relates that well. The book also highlights his brushes with West Coast 90s rock royalty, even if their are pretty tangential (he's friends with Jane, whose addiction proved inspirational, and his band briefly rode L7's short coattails to decent bookings). Even his tales of groupie hook ups are kind of grounded and humble. And most importantly, he's a Chicago South Sider by birth, so we give him extra props and a Polish sausage for that.