As the son of a folk singer whose suicide gained him cult status, Thatcher has a leg up on New Yorkandrsquo;s music scene. Instead, he decides to keep his parentage secret and take his guitar across the river to seedy Hoboken, New Jersey, to form a band.

There, amidst the tenements and dive bars and all-night diners, Thatcher and his friends struggle to make meaningful music in a culture turning away from it.

A wicked sense of humor turns out to be key for the motley crew: manager Marsh, the beloved, polio-stricken local rock-and-roll kingpin; lesbian singer/songwriter Lou, to whom Thatcher is deeply attracted; James, guitar virtuoso and daytime World Trade Center employee, not to mention owner of the floor Thatcher is sleeping on; and locals such as Orris, the overweight, half-blind prophet of Hobokenandrsquo;s west side and patient at the mental clinic where Thatcher is a clerk.

As in Roddy Doyleandrsquo;s The Commitments and Nick Hornbyandrsquo;s High Fidelity,the music is at the heart of it all. But in In Hobokenthe place and the people turn out to be just as inspiring.

Christian Baumanandrsquo;sacclaimed debut The Ice Beneath You, and his second novel,Voodoo Lounge,were both based on his experiences as an American soldier in the mid-1990s. He now lives outside Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.