Book Review: Rock Bottom at the Renaissance - An Emo Kid's Journey Through Falling In and Out of Love In and With New York City by Mike Henneberger

Photo courtesy of Mike Henneberger.

My discovery of Jimmy Eat World is something very, very, uncool, but it's partially to blame on the tiny town I grew up in with almost no exposure to indie music—or small bands, since Clarity was on Capitol Records and not technically "indie".

About a month ago or so, I had the chance to read Rock Bottom at the Renaissance: An Emo Kid's Journey Through Falling In and Out of Love In and With New York City written by Mike Henneberger, who happened to be the guest for episode 36 of The Keep It Posi Podcast. It was a great conversation and to sum up the book, this is one memoir that I felt connected to even though I haven’t experience any of what Mike has gone through. Why you may ask? The connection: music. Because for a lot of people music is the answer.

I felt like the book was written as a journal and the one thing that I loved is that there was always a song connected to the moment of whatever it was that Mike was going through and wrote about at the time. There’s a lyric for each moment. Songs from Jimmy Eat World to Bayside to Bright Eyes to Two Door Cinema Club. For anyone that enjoys memoirs, spent their summers going to Warped Tour, made mixtapes or (mixed CDs) growing up, still goes to the gigs (not during a pandemic), still cares about the music scene, and has struggled with mental health, I highly recommend you give this book a read. You can order your copy at abergerjoint.com.