“Former Soft Boys bandleader Hitchcock delivers a transporting follow-up to his first memoir, 1967, that takes readers through his formative musical experiences in 1960s and ’70s Britain . . . When punk arrives in the narrative, Hitchcock bemoans the tonal shift it signaled from idealism to disaffection, lending the rest of his narrative a poignant, reflective air. The result is a gently self-mythologizing account that balances nostalgia with clear-eyed perspective. Music fans will savor this lovely tribute to a transformative cultural moment.”
—Publishers Weekly

“Incredibly enough, when decades ago I first swooned for the Soft Boys and their shambolic leader, I said to myself and anyone who’d listen, ‘This is the sole psychedelic musician I can imagine writing not one, but actually two witty, self-effacing, phantasmagorical autofictional memoirs in quick succession as he rounds into late middle age.’ Even more incredibly, I have been completely vindicated in this left-field speculation, and we are all the better for it, as Stranded in the Future has capitalized on the opportunities opened by 1967’s close focus on that single year of boyish self-invention and vaulted us into the next act, in which mannish boy becomes boyish man. Now our correspondent only has to repeat this astonishing trick ten more times to complete his imperishable twelve-volume epic A Dance to the Music of Hitchcock.
—Jonathan Lethem, author of Brooklyn Crime Novel

“Hitchcock’s peculiar vision was an awkward fit for his punk-era debut . . . [and the] contradictions of the time are detailed in Hitchcock’s latest volume of memoirs, the typically evasive Stranded in the Future. It’s a writerly work where the personal and the painful are sublimated and stories are chosen for their poetic, rather than their literal, truth. . . . It reads as a fascinating piece of unreliable-narrator fiction, whether you are interested in Hitchcock’s music or not.”
—Guardian (UK)

“The eccentric British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock seems intent on telling his life story not in a grand rock opera but in a series of verbal 45s. The latest installment is Stranded in the Future, the follow-up to his sublime 2024 micro-memoir about the one year that most shaped his artistic vision and future, 1967: How I Got There and Why I Never Left. . . . With Stranded in the Future, Robyn Hitchcock has once again hit the mark, creating something that rivals the best of his musical work. I look forward to what will come when he brings the story of his life and his imaginary detours into the 1980s and beyond.”
—PopMatters

“Hitchcock’s Stranded in the Future . . . a chronological sequel to his previous book, the aptly-titled 1967 . . . is direct and engaging. . . . It’s necessary reading for any fan of the artist, but also for anyone interested in what the remaining UK music scene was like when punk was exploding. . . . I’m hoping this book is but a chapter in the complete semi-fictionalized autobiography, and am already looking forward to the next one.”
—Ink 19

“Former Soft Boys man Robyn Hitchcock remains a force. . . . The man can pen a tune and, as it turns out, he’s quite the author too. This is his second memoir . . . ‘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).’”
—Music Connection

“After chronicling a pivotal year in his young life in his excellent and entertaining 2024 memoir 1967 . . . the idiosyncratic singer-songwriter returns to pick up where he left off with Stranded in the Future.”
—Tinnist

“Stranded in the Future, like 1967, is propelled by Hitchcock’s own particular way with words. His writing is perfectly flowery and wonderfully anecdotal in turns, and as such, the book, peppered with his black and white drawings, often reads like a dream. . . . It’s necessary reading for any fan of Hitchcock’s music, paced like one of his best albums. Let’s hope he writes another one (or three).”
—Under The Radar

“It’s a surreal trek through remembrances that are disjointed on the surface yet that always follow a certain mind-bending path . . . The whole read is a swirling tapestry of scattered thoughts that come to create a whole.”
—It’s Pyschedelic Baby Magazine

“Robyn Hitchcock’s new memoir, Stranded in the Future, is a lot like the pop surrealist’s music—lyrical, jangly, more than a bit weird, and full of wonder.”
—Chapter 16

“Like Robyn Hitchcock’s best songs, Stranded in the Future refuses to follow the rules. It loops, detours, invents, and contradicts itself with a straight face. Facts get bent, timelines get scrambled, names get changed or encrypted. It’s part autobiography, part novel, part acid trip—and while that might sound exhausting, Hitchcock’s charm and wit keep it enjoyable. In other words . . . if you want something that behaves like a Robyn Hitchcock song—strange, funny, occasionally surreal, and always engrossing—you’re in the right place.”
—Constant Listener

“I first saw Robyn Hitchcock and the Soft Boys in 1978 at London’s Hope & Anchor. They were the most psychedelic band I’d seen since Pink Floyd in 1968—and they covered Elvis Presley’s ‘Mystery Train,’ a perfect metaphor for this wild, intimate memory ride as one of Britain’s greatest songwriters finds his voice and Technicolor mission in the perpetual winter of the 1970s. Gather your late-night reading hours and give ’em to the Soft Boys.”
—David Fricke, MOJO, Sirius XM Radio

“Stranded in the Future is filled with keen, brilliant, totally original observations about what it feels like to be at the start of your quest for first love, your first band, and your elusive idol who keeps mysteriously crossing your path. Robyn Hitchcock’s mind, his writing, this book—it’s a trolleybus ride straight to the essence of being alive.”
—Jennifer Belle, author of Swanna in Love