Brooklyn Boy [Paperback]

Alan Lelchuk (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 188090943X | ISBN-13: 978-1880909430 | Publication Date: January 1996

Brooklyn Boy follows the growth and fortunes of Aaron Schlossberg as he moves from boyhood to early adulthood, from domestic turmoil to gutsy independence, from Brooklyn to Manhattan and the open sea. The story records the shaping of a young sensibility under the influence of a powerful place and time. While laying out a boy's moral and romantic journey, Brooklyn Boy also pays homage to and is a personal mapping of a legendary site. Aaron's history is Brooklyn's.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lyrical evocations of life in post-Depression Brooklyn no longer spring with fresh surprise. Nonetheless, Lelchuk (Miriam at Thirty-Four) begins this coming-of-age novel with considerable promise. In telling the story of Aaron Schlossberg, Lelchuck skillfully portrays the tensions between the old world and the new--the youngster's enthrallment with baseball, radio theatre and all things American vs. his father's ponderous, wildly dangerous Stalinism and world-weary bitterness. In a handful of set pieces in the middle of the book--about Aaron's beloved Dodgers--Lelchuk wrings new poetry from an old theme (Jackie Robinson is "an intricate black orchid amidst a field of white"), but thereafter the book loses its passion, devolving into standard initiation rites--boy meets call girl, boy plays poker, boy gets drunk. In the end, the previously charming and precocious Aaron has lost interest in Brooklyn; the family dynamic--so delicately constructed--is forgotten. And, as if the author's interest, too, is flagging, the boy sets off to sea in a conclusion that is deeply dissatisfying. McGraw-Hill is publishing paperback editions of Lelchuk's Miriam at Thirty-Four and Miriam in Her Forties to coincide with the appearance of this novel.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Lelchuk has written the fictional memoirs of Aaron Schlossberg, a boy growing up in Brooklyn when the only true religion was the worship of the Dodgers in Ebbets Field. Aaron recalls his parents' endless battles, his discovery of sex in the closet of his sixth grade classroom, the menacing pool hall that one day turned violent. Each vignette contains an elegant portrait of a person or event that influenced Aaron, and each is so real that the reader may find it impossible to believe that Brooklyn Boy is actually fiction. Yet as Aaron's memories wander through his childhood, it becomes apparent that Brooklyn is the real protagonist of this well-crafted novel of a young man's coming of age.
- Andrea Caron Kempf, Johnson Cty. Community Coll. Lib., Overland Park, Kan.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 298 pages
• Publisher: Basset Books (January 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 188090943X
• ISBN-13: 978-1880909430
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,491,859 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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