City University of New York (CUNY) CUNY Academic Works Dissertations and Theses City College of New York 2012 The Fantastic Life of Rock Stars MacAdam Smith CUNY City College How does access to this work benefit ou?y Let us know! More information about this work at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu/cc_etds_theses/456 Discover additional works at: https://academicworks.cuny.edu This work is made publicly available by the City University of New York (CUNY). Contact:
[email protected] The Fantastic Life of Rock Stars by MacAdam Smith advisor: Linsey Abrams April 20, 2011 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts of the City College of the City University of New York The Fantastic Life of Rock Stars Chapter 1 Dust particles glow as they dance in the light above my head; I can imagine myself at the Beacon, haloed by the stage lights, in front of 3,000 packed seats that fan out from the stage. Heads crane from the balcony, knees twitch, a chain of excited coughs. I pull a string into tune. The crowd waits, would wait for hours, just to listen. We are about to begin an event, a shared experience of collective spirituality tapped through primal desire for music. I am the crier, they the devotees, ready to sing along to my naked intimacy, to the feelings and melodies that make them think of me as an intimate. Adjust myself on the stool, take a deep breath. Tap my foot in rhythm: 1 and 2 and— A glass breaks behind the bar and a drunken giggle follows from someone near the far wall.