Ten Thousand Saints cover

To Positive Youth, To Positive Growth.

Ten Thousand Saints, the debut novel by Eleanor Henderson, is essentially a story of three teens thrust into adult responsibilities. The novel takes place in 1980s Vermont and New York; a setting which is defined and made believable by the almost insane amount of subtle details in Henderson’s writing. Far from dry exposition, Henderson brings locations to life with seemingly inconsequential descriptors that add up to create a very real world, rather than a sterile or nostalgia-tinted one.

Equally well-developed are the characters in the story. You empathize and languish with not only the teens (Jude, Johnny, and Eliza) in the novel, but the adults as well. It’s a fairly somber (but not entirely humorless) tale of teenagers faced with death, pregnancy, broken homes, drug addiction, and well-meaning, but oftentimes incompetent and selfish parents. Without stable home lives, the teens find strength and belonging in the companionship of each other, religion (Hare Krishna), and a music scene (the burgeoning straight edge hardcore movement of the time).

Music is the one constant in Jude and Johnny’s lives. It gives them something to be inspired by, something to be a part of, but perhaps most importantly, something to do. The straight edge scene keeps the boys clean and distanced from their drug-addicted pasts. However, as with any extreme belief system, there is a darker side to the “positive” straight edge movement the teens become a part of.

On the surface, members of the youth crew appear to be paragons of virtue, but beneath there is judgment, dishonesty, prejudice, and violence. How the characters attempt to reconcile and rationalize what is both literally and figuratively tattooed on themselves is maybe the greatest struggle in the novel.

Poignant and purposeful, Ten Thousand Saints challenges the reader to join the characters as they question their convictions, whatever they may be. In this sense, it’s a truly punk rock novel, yet written to be relatable and accessible to any reader. You don’t need to have grown up on Minor Threat and skateboards to enjoy the book, but it definitely helps.

P.S. As I was reading, I was constantly getting songs stuck in my head. Some of the songs were overtly mentioned in the book, others simply because of the subject matter. Think of the following playlist as a fan-created mixtape companion to the book (which should be copied to cassette for maximum effect).

Side A

Slayer – Show No Mercy

Misfits – Violent World

Black Flag – Six Pack

Fifteen – Front

The Hold Steady – How a Resurrection Really Feels

Side B

Minor Threat – Straight Edge

Youth of Today – Youth Crew

Warzone – Don’t Forget The Struggle, Don’t Forget The Streets

Project X – Straight Edge Revenge

The Hold Steady – Barely Breathing

Against Me! – I Was A Teenage Anarchist (Acoustic)

Sock Monkey Sound

Keelan Mcmorrow and Jason Judd

Sock Monkey Sound goes punk and garage as we welcome two former members of Egan’s Rats, Keelan McMorrow and Jason Judd, who also chose this weeks playlist. We discuss their experiences as musicians, artists, and their experience opening up for The Misfits.

Featuring music by:
Proles
Egan’s Rats
Modern Primitives
Screw City All-Stars
The Phenoms

Egan’s Rats and The Misfits photos by Aaron Spain

Sock Monkey Sound