Carla Bucchio is stuck in that weird limbo of life-after-high-school ennui. Not in college and working at a photo printing shop, she dreams of life beyond the suburbs. Her world shifts when she runs into her former classmate, Pete Albrecht, the mysterious but sort of hot stoner kid. Looking for a way out, they start a band that quickly becomes their entire world.

 

What begins with loud amps and album swaps in his basement turns into a cross-country road trip. But as the miles rack up and they try to escape the lives expected of them, Carla and Pete are forced to face the reality of the world changing before their eyes, fraying relationships back home, and the unspoken friction of a connection that goes deeper than music.

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Sharp, nostalgic, and deeply emotional, Lost on Long Island is Lisa Czarina Michaud at her best: transporting readers to a world of analog roots and early-aughts culture, with complex protagonists, telling a passionate and driving story about the transformative power of music, this time on the open road.

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