Party of One

Party of One: A Memoir in 21 Songs by Dave Holmes, 274 pages

In Party of One, native St. Louisan Dave Holmes offers up his coming-of-age memoir, spanning from his days as a Catholic school kid through his awkward college years and straight into his stint as an MTV VJ. Throughout the awkwardness, Holmes figures out how to accept his homosexuality, and "find his people" (those people being music nerds like himself). Holmes presents his story through immensely relatable episodes (yes, we've all made absolute fools of ourselves in front of our friends and those we might like to impress), as well as some less relatable (I don't know that any of his readers will have their own stories about hosting ill-fated MTV contests and the soothing power of Nick Lachey), but all are spurred on by the pop music that was influencing him at the time. All of the anecdotes are well-told, candid, and laced with a wry humor. Definitely a memoir worth reading!