Failure to Fracture Book Preorders Now Open

This is the first printed copy of my new book, Failure to Fracture Learning King Crimson's Impossible Song, and I don't think it's a stretch to say it's one of the most ridiculous guitar books ever published. I'm not saying this to brag, but rather because I can't believe it even has a reason to exist whatsoever. It details my 22-year struggle to perform one of Robert Fripp's most difficult electric guitar pieces. It's 320 pages long, weighs three pounds, and is one of the most beautiful books I've ever seen.

And it’s all about learning one song!

After several months of intense work, I am excited to announce that it is officially available for preorder. All you need to do is go to FailureToFracture.com and take a look at the exclusive preorder bundles and savings. But before you head over there, let me tell you about it because it’s really incredible.

For those of you who don’t know, Failure to Fracture is a video series I started in 2016 about all the stumbling blocks I encountered in playing the notorious King Crimson song called Fracture, released in 1974 on their album Starless and Bible Black. I’ve been working on this song since 1998 and it wasn't until 2020 that I was able to play it in its entirety. This new book captures that entire story, including spending a week in rural Mexico with Robert Fripp himself and re-learning how to sit, stand, breathe, walk, and play the guitar. It’s a huge journey and you can check out the Failure to Fracture playlist to learn more.

When I wrote this book in February 2020, I had no idea it would turn a hardcover work of art. I handed over the raw text to my good friend Dave Woodruff and he said, “I have an idea.” Then he sent me the first 50 pages in a PDF that just blew my mind. Fast forward to February 2021 and the final draft features over 150 unique two-page spreads of Dave’s stunning designs and artwork. Every time you turn the page, it’s a new experience. This is not an ordinary book and it's especially not an ordinary guitar book. It is a reading experience.
I handed it to my sister today and she said, "I don't even care what is in the book. It's so pretty, I just want to look through all the beautiful pages."

To honor the amount of work that went into this project, we are releasing it exclusively as a hardcover with a gorgeous matte finish. It’s printed in high quality full color on premium 8.5”x11” 70 pound paper. It will not be available as an ebook or paperback. We know the audience is fairly limited, so we wanted to make it available as a special collector’s item.

The book also features a foreword by Mike Keneally, an intermission by Patrick Leonard, an afterword by Steve Ball, interviews with Pat Mastelotto, Trey Gunn, Markus Reuter, and Sid Smith, and testimonials from musicians and crafties all over the world. It features sidebars from transcriptionist Gabriel Riccio, fascial stretch therapist Renee King, martial arts instructor Michael Hacker, and violinist Ricardo Odriozola.

We have some great preorder options available for you. You can buy the book on its own for $55 off list price, get signed copies,  and more. But the most exciting feature is that you can purchase the book with an official, brand new triangular Guitar Craft pick handmade in Japan for Robert Fripp and his Guitar Craft and Guitar Circle aficionados. These picks have never been available to the public and I am thrilled that the Guitar Circle team are allowing me to sell some as part of the preorder bonus.

Failure to Fracture is published by Stairway Press, an independent publisher based here in Arizona and a major supporter of Make Weird Music. They also published my first book, Clueless at The Work: Advice from a Corporate Tyrant.

I want to reiterate that if you preorder this book, you will get it at a substantially lower price than after it is publicly available on Amazon in mid-May. Buying direct from my publisher at StairwayPress.com will also save you money after the preorder period is over, but until then this is a limited-time price period. This book is not cheap or easy to produce and costs over $50 just to print! This preorder period is really crucial so we can get the first copies at the lowest price to the biggest fans.

So, a huge thank you to all of you who’ve supported (or suffered through) my Fracture efforts over so many years. Several of you have been with me on this journey since 2006 on my old old website. Extra special thanks to Ken Coffman, who runs Stairway Press, and Dave Woodruff, who really turned this into the type of book that would come out of a million-dollar publishing house.

I want to close by saying thank you to every viewer, subscriber, and pre-order customer. You've made an unbelievable dream come true. The video series has had hundreds of thousands of views, which led to this project really being a community effort. There are contributions from players and experts all over the world and none of this would be possible without your amazing support over all these years.

You may now head over to FailureToFracture.com and preorder.