The Fairley Brothers in Japan

From the author of Poor Ghost comes a poignant road trip novel following two middle-aged brothers, Chris and Andy Fairley, as they attempt an unlikely musical comeback in Japan.

Chris and Andy Fairley couldn’t be more opposite—Chris, an uptight, ever-pessimist and Andy, a go-with-the-flow hopeful. Their glory days seemed long behind them since their moderate success as a folk-rock duo and their relationship with each other fizzled out in the mid-1980s. But when their hit song is unexpectedly chosen for a Japanese car commercial, the men are given one last shot to revive their fame and friendship.

They embark on a tour across Japan, but soon find their venues are far from glamorous venues: a wedding reception where they're asked to play their hit on repeat, a flower farm gift shop, a windy sculpture park, and a restaurant where customers catch their own fish. As tensions between the brothers rise and a strange reporter begins following them all around the country, the men aren’t sure if the band or their relationship will survive. With echoes of Andrew Sean Greer’s Less, The Fairley Brothers in Japan is a gently comic exploration of aging, family, and belonging. It’s a tale of two brothers, not just hitting the road, but rediscovering themselves along the way.

"Starkey deftly balances nostalgia, humor, and heartbreak throughout, providing authentic-seeming details about touring Japan while presenting a realistic story of two brothers coming to a better mutual understanding with age. A wise and smartly told story of reunion." —Kirkus

"David Starkey has written a lyrical novel of brotherly love—the deep places of the heart brothers Chris and Andy struggle with; the memories, power, and grief of family; what music meant before and what it means now; how they try to discover a place to stand. A place to belong. The conflicts, silences, secrets, pain, and reconciliation at the center of this complex story are engrossing because Starkey’s writing is graced with a compassionate clarity in bringing each brother to life through their changing and hard-fought harmony. Read this novel. Stand in its wondrous circle of storytelling and music and life. Experience the harmonious music of Starkey’s wonderful writing." —Fred Arroyo, author of Sown in Earth: Essays of Memory and Belonging

"If you love the spirit of live music, the comeback, and family finding their way, you will love this book. David Starkey is a gifted, natural storyteller with a poet’s attention to detail and hope. This book is captivating and thoroughly delightful." —Lee Herrick, California Poet Laureate, author of In Praise of Late Wonder

"I love a good road trip novel and The Fairley Brothers in Japan is just that: an endearing story of two brothers’ journey to reignite their youth, with an evocative musical backdrop. It’s a gentle, compelling ride which drew me into their relationship and the Japanese culture. The sort of novel which stays with you for days after you finish it." —Ivan Wainewright, author of The Other Times of Caroline Tangent

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