Hachette BooksThe Who‘s Pete Townshend has unveiled the cover of his upcoming novel, The Age of Anxiety, which will be published on November 5.
In an Instagram post, Townshend explains that the cover features a painting by Spanish artist Luis Toledo, noting that Toledo “gave me three choices, all of which were stunning.” The artwork is a colorful collage of images, including cherubs, angels, flowers, ornate geometric shapes and a mountainous landscape.
Pete also shares some new details about the book, explaining that it “was written to provide the base for a solid libretto for an opera-art-installation I regard as perhaps my last major solo work.”
He says he started the multifaceted project, which originally was called Floss, in 2008, and reveals that it “grew out of other abandoned projects like The Boy Who Heard Music.“
Townshend explains that he decided to change the title, a reference to the main female character, “because the gravity of the subject seemed ill-served by a title…that for Americans in particular evoked dental floss.”
The 74-year-old rocker also reveals about the multimedia project, “The libretto is complete. The music is composed. The video artists and installation artists are in position. I’m hoping 2021 and 2022 will see me get to realize this project at last.”
Regarding the book, Townshend maintains that although his publisher describes The Age of Anxiety as a “rock novel,” and some characters are in bands, it’s also “a mystery story, and a story about drug abuse, being a parent, creativity, anxiety, being blocked as an artist, and the psychic miracles worked by certain women in the story.”
He adds that the novel isn’t autobiographical, although “the story is set very much in my world.”
You can pre-order The Age of Anxiety book now.
Copyright © 2019, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.