Gary Benchley, Rock Star (2005)

Originally presented as a ''true-life'' online journal, Gary Benchley, Rock Star follows a 22-year-old Brooklyn transplant with indie-rock dreams — and the supremely limited technical skills to match. Some were doubtless disappointed to learn that Benchley was in fact the creation of Harper's editor Ford, but it's unlikely that a real wannabe so young and inexperienced could have imparted such sharp humor and pathos to an otherwise standard story of making it (or not) in the Big City. Initially silly and self-absorbed, Benchley's tale turns out to be warm, human, and surprisingly sweet.