Deep Cuts

Percy Marks is the protagonist and narrator of the novel. The tension between her obsession with pop music and her lack of technical proficiency drives the conflict of the novel, and she often wonders if she is less lovable because she is a music admirer rather than a musician. In Chapter 3, Percy admits that after multiple attempts to learn the piano, she resigned herself to the idea that she would never write a song as good as the Beach Boys’ “Surf’s Up.” Instead, she consoles herself with her ability to identify and analyze good music, but with the exception of Joe, she makes no friends who love music the way she does. Even when she works at Amoeba Music, she is surprised to find that everyone there prefers to signal their ironic hatred of popular bands. This tendency drives Percy’s angst as she reckons with the irony that although she becomes her best self when she talks about music, it is the very habit of talking about music that drives away everyone she tries to befriend. Later in Chapter 19, she refers to herself as a “barren appreciator” of music. Driven by her desire to meet people who share her passions and write good music, she careens through a series of emotional and philosophical life chapters that illustrate the novel’s broader focus on