Timed to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the release of The Band's debut album, Music from Big Pink is John Niven's first novel a heady blend of drugs, music, sixties counter-culture and intoxicating youth.

Greg Keltner is a 23-year-old drug-dealer and wannabe musician. Through his eyes, we witness the gestation of a record that will go on to cast its spell across five decades – bewitching and inspiring artists as disparate as The Beatles, Eric Clapton, Wilco and Mercury Rev.

Music From Big Pink is faction: real people like Richard Manuel, Rick Danko, Bob Dylan and Albert Grossman rub shoulders with fictional characters and imagined scenarios. Featuring a new foreword from Barney Hoskyns and a new introduction from the author, Music from Big Pink gives us a unique and vivid insight into the birth and legacy of The Band's debut album.

'I love John Niven's writing – OBVIOUSLY – but came late to his first book, and was blown away by what vivid, delicate time-travel it is. Every The Band fan in the world MUST read it - it's like living in the music. Just smoky, ravishing magic' Caitlin Moran