Utopia Avenue

Q: Do I have to buy the ebook to participate in a book club?

No, you don’t have to buy the ebook to participate, but we do recommend it to get the most out of your club. There are several premium social reading features that are only available when you buy the ebook, like annotations, reactions, comment threads, resources, discussion prompts, and more, all embedded right in the text. It’s a unique and immersive way to read.

Q: Why can’t I buy the ebook on the app?

It’s annoying, we know. App store rules prevent us from selling directly in the app, so for now you can only purchase ebooks on our website. Don’t worry: when you purchase an ebook on the web, it’s automatically added to your bookshelf in the app.

Q: How is Fable’s reader different from Kindle?

Kindle is a straightforward e-reader; Fable is an interactive e-reader that includes social features inside the ebooks. When you read an ebook on Fable, you can see and react to the text with others in real time. Start a discussion, share highlights and quotes, add emoji reactions—all of it lives right inside the book. It’s hard to explain and easy to see, so we recommend reading the free sample in one of our most active clubs to get a feel for it.

Q: Do you sell physical books too?

We do not sell physical books at this time. Wish we did? Let us know why here!

Q: Are book clubs free to join on Fable?

Most of our clubs are completely free to join. The only exceptions are clubs marked as “Premium” or “Career Development,” which do require a fee. You can find out more on each club’s detail page.

Q: How do I start a book club with this book on Fable?

The first step is to download the Fable app. From there, you’ll be able to create your own private or public book club and invite others to read with you. Once your club is created, click on the plus sign under “Currently reading” and search for this book to add it to your club.

By David Mitchell

Publisher Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The long-awaited new novel from the bestselling, prize-winning author of Cloud Atlas and The Bone Clocks.

New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice • “Mitchell’s rich imaginative stews bubble with history and drama, and this time the flavor is a blend of Carnaby Street and Chateau Marmont.”—The Washington Post

“A sheer pleasure to read . . . Mitchell’s prose is suppler and richer than ever . . . Making your way through this novel feels like riding a high-end convertible down Hollywood Boulevard.”—Slate

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • USA Today • The Guardian • The Independent • Kirkus Reviews • Men’s Health • PopMatters

Utopia Avenue is the strangest British band you’ve never heard of. Emerging from London’s psychedelic scene in 1967, and fronted by folk singer Elf Holloway, blues bassist Dean Moss and guitar virtuoso Jasper de Zoet, Utopia Avenue embarked on a meteoric journey from the seedy clubs of Soho, a TV debut on Top of the Pops, the cusp of chart success, glory in Amsterdam, prison in Rome, and a fateful American sojourn in the Chelsea Hotel, Laurel Canyon, and San Francisco during the autumn of ’68.

David Mitchell’s kaleidoscopic novel tells the unexpurgated story of Utopia Avenue’s turbulent life and times; of fame’s Faustian pact and stardom’s wobbly ladder; of the families we choose and the ones we don’t; of voices in the head, and the truths and lies they whisper; of music, madness, and idealism. Can we really change the world, or does the world change us?

Download the free Fable app

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

Stay organized

Keep track of what you’re reading, what you’ve finished, and what’s next.

Build a better TBR

Swipe, skip, and save with our smart list-building tool

Rate and review

Share your take with other readers with half stars, emojis, and tags

Curate your feed

Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communities

Utopia Avenue Reviews

3.5

Jean Miller

Created 2 days ago

Joni Lemons

Created 24 days ago

Brenna

Created 27 days ago

miaow

Created about 1 month ago

“this was so fun! i felt like i time-travelled to london in the late 60s. i honestly wasn't expecting to enjoy a book about a fictional band as much, but ended up only being bothered by the actual celebrity cameos 😜 loved the characters and the little sci-fi elements as well great book, loses half a point for predictability though”

eden

Created about 1 month ago

“VERY LONG REVIEW OVERALL in utopia avenue’s myriad of pages, i went through a range of emotions of sadness, confusion, anxiety, relief, amusement and i could go on. as much as i loved the similar book of daisy jones and the six, i’m unsure whether my inability to rank this novel on the same level comes from my lack of youth and self growth i had when reading daisy jones that i’ve evolved from now. the premise of this book is so interesting and each character is so unique, and by presenting each paragraph’s narrative from the perspective of each band member, albeit not the drummer, was incredibly entertaining and so much fun to read. the novel overall takes you on a world of its own and you do get sucked in and learn to care for the characters but ultimately i didn’t connect to the extent i really wanted to. CHARACTERS the grief and the tragic story of griff came and went almost as if it had never been there in the first place, and his one chapter (actually a few pages) seemed to me as a filler of unnecessary plot just to get an inch of interest in the purposefully written enigma of a main character. i really enjoyed elf’s chapters and her much broader world compared to the rest of the characters like her sexuality, family and personal growth as a songwriter and woman. yet as much as i loved it, david mitchell, i sense, writes for the sake of writing and introduces plots for the sake of the reader and never really expands upon them like elf’s sisters baby, and her other sisters career or her life as a woman in the band etc. with jasper, comes a whole new topic, seemingly more suited to the realm that the author has previously written in, which is fantasy. funnily enough, i actually enjoyed a lot of jasper’s psyche and dilemnas internally than i thought i would. the nature of combining fantasy and reality in a story like this is ultimately you gain interest and conflict to work out, but lose the reality and intruige of the actual band you are writing about. the more i learnt about jasper’s psyche filled with 900 year old ancestor, poison, monks and time-space continuum shifts in the universe, i had no idea what book i was reading and the weight and realism of the comforting band completely collapsed and i felt it was less believable and so i withdrew more and more emotionally towards the characters. the climax at the end of him collapsing on stage and somewhat getting rid of the demon thats haunted him really was a point where i wanted to keep reading, wondering what everyone else was going to think. and then we get information that the bands’ memory has been wiped, they wont remember and life goes on as normal??????? dean moss, with whom the novel starts and ends, goes through a range of personalities but a lot of his character is a lot more understandable than the others. he went through hell and abuse from his father, friends and himself and a lot of his chapters is him coming to terms with the beginning of fame, his lack of self worth, navigating being in a democratic band, parties, even more self worth and the pinnacle of fame. he is somewhat of an arrogant character who never seems to learn from his mistakes despite saying he wants to change eg. his shallow relationships. similar to elf, are the disregarded or confusing plot points like his relationship with a famous actress, his life threatening drug drealer that comes in at about page 400 and vanishes and his plot as a father. ultimately, the lack of explanation and continuation unfortunately comes as reasonable due to his death at the end of the book. it was sad dont get me wrong because you live inside these characters’ heads and the moment he gets shot is a sad one and all the more sad due to his shift in character as he realises he will make changes towards the people in his life right before his death. OTHER THOUGHTS in terms of good things lol, the actual band dynamic was very endearing but incredibly limited, i found more about other famous people randomly being name dropped (don’t even get me started, it was interesting the first time a famous person showed up but every 20 pages another one showed up and became more like a caricature and absolutely unnecessary) than i did the actual band, their humour and dynamic was great and their comforting and sweet moments together were slim but really nice and i just wish, crazy to say about a book about a band, that we got more of their dynamic because honestly they’re are all so interesting and i really love the characters and the world. i can’t be bothered to summarise but ultimately i wish i felt more and i know i could’ve because i loved the characters, the world, the feel, the OCCASIONAL fantasy elements and the OCCASIONAL sprinkle of famous people. i really really love the world and the writing is good dont get me wrong and i will think about it a lot but i dont know why so many things just didn’t resonate with me sadly. 🥲”

About David Mitchell

David Mitchell is the author of the novels Ghostwritten, number9dream, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet, The Bone Clocks, and Slade House. Twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, in 2018 he won the Sunday Times Award for Literary Excellence.