Robyn Hitchcock, "Stranded in the Future" (Akashic Books, 2026)

Robyn Hitchcock's second memoir, Stranded in the Future

(Akashic Books, 2026), explores the formation of his seminal 1970s band

the Soft Boys, and the obsessions that fueled his early creative

output. Stranded in the Future is a kind of dystopian

self-portrait. It's about obsession, and obsessive behavior. Spanning

from 1968 to 1978, it takes in the mythology surrounding Pink Floyd's

Syd Barrett (though it doesn't name him) and hinges on Robyn Hitchcock's

teenage girlfriend (she isn't named either). The book explores the way

that Hitchcock, in his own head, linked these two figures to each other,

although they never actually met. On the way, the story mines the

incremental hangover of the 1970s as Hitchcock begins to play live,

teaches himself to write songs, and eventually forms the Soft Boys.