{"product_id":"the-ballad-of-speedball-baby-a-memoir-9798212613811","title":"The Ballad of Speedball Baby: A Memoir","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe Ballad of Speedball Baby is the thrilling, darkly hilarious, and heart-wrenchingly vulnerable story of Ali Smith's coming-of-age in '90s New York as she commits to the messy, exhilarating life of a musician and must survive the slings and arrows society reserves for women who refuse to comply.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAs an only child reeling from the demolition of her parents' toxic marriage, the New York City underground music scene offers a young Ali a different family of misfits and talented outsiders to belong to.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eShe becomes the bass player for edgy band Speedball Baby, a decision that will take her around the world--from onstage at the legendary CBGBs to the red-light district of Amsterdam. She's often the only girl in a broken-down tour van, being strip-searched at the Croatian border, chased by lunatics, and navigating the seedy underbelly of a male-dominated music scene full of addiction, violence, and misogyny--all while keeping her sharp wit and dark humor intact.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRimmed with heavy black eyeliner and smelling faintly of cheap booze, The Ballad of Speedball Baby is a pulse-quickening, unpredictable ride through the '90s music scene--alternately terrifying, hilarious, and painfully evocative--as well as a love letter to the power of female solidarity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Blackstone Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":50620957196562,"sku":"9798212613811","price":12.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_80c8cef3-fcec-46e5-82d4-049a1e8bf48f.jpg?v=1732576775","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-ballad-of-speedball-baby-a-memoir-9798212613811","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}