The Buddha Book: A Novel [Paperback]

Abraham Rodriguez (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2001

Dinky, Jose, and Barbara are teens living in the Bronx. Dinky wants to put his father's drug dealing reputation behind him; Jose has just been dumped by his girlfriend who's moved on to the neighborhood's new drug dealer, Angel; Barbara's the smart girl who desperately wants to be noticed. Secretly, Dinky and Jose draw, write, and distribute "Buddha Book," a comic of outrageous tales based on their life in the Bronx. Things change suddenly when, in a fit of rage, Jose murders his ex. Jose wants to turn himself in. But Dinky convinces him that he's committed the perfect crime and would be in great danger if Angel were to discover the real story. The Buddha Book follows Jose as he moves toward acknowledgement of what he has done and finds a way to confess it; details Dinky's escape from the clutches of his father to begin a new life; and traces Barbara's first steps toward becoming a woman. Lyric, inspired, and darkly funny, The Buddha Book is a powerful novel that brilliantly evokes teenagers at war with themselves and with the place in which they live.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Muddied by unconvincing characters and careless prose, this follow-up to Rodriguez's American Book Award-winning debut novel, Spidertown, struggles to find a new way to once again chronicle the life of Puerto Rican teenagers searching for identity in the South Bronx. Jose and his best friend, Dinky, the son of an imprisoned drug dealer, are high school classmates who surreptitiously publish The Buddha Book, an underground comic book that tells true tales "real story, real names, real scenes" about their life in the Bronx. After Jose murders his ex, who's left him for a drug kingpin named Angel, he is plagued with guilt and looks for a way to confess. The boys decide to tell all in a final issue of their comic book. But before they do, Rodriguez introduces a host of characters with flashy, pseudo-tragic personas including Jose's stepsister, Anita, a stripper and Angel-groupie with a penchant for killing her lovers who inhabit a dismal world of chaos and disorder. It's obviously a world Rodriguez knows well, as he was born, raised and continues to live in the South Bronx. But this time, his hurried and repetitive narrative fails to convey his characters' motives and despair in a meaningful way. The comic book device is similarly underworked. Rodriguez avoids revealing much about the comics' content or impact, reporting merely that the last issue "arrived with a splash." What we get instead are aimless depictions of teenage liaisons, where the girls are more sex-starved than the boys who indulge them, and too many shoddy metaphors such as "Dinky's eyes jumped around the half-dark, like he had gotten a good burst of energy from somewhere." (Aug.)Forecast: This disappointing sophomore effort will soon migrate to remainder tables, though the comic-book jacket should attract a few browsers.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

American Book Award winner Rodriguez revisits the bleak streets of the South Bronx in this novel of guilt and redemption. Jose, who has murdered his ex-girlfriend in a fit of rage, and Dinky, the son of a drug kingpin, are the creators of an underground comic called The Buddha Book. As the chaos around them escalates, this comic becomes the vehicle for a catharsis, which culminates in an apocalyptic reckoning on the streets of the Bronx. Rodriguez seems to struggle with the burden of his earlier success as he tries to rework the material that served him so well in his first novel (Spidertown) and collection of stories (Boy Without a Flag: Tales of the South Bronx). His gritty depiction of the South Bronx has an oddly retro feel. We may appreciate the seriousness of his intent, but the narrative is weighted with an existential angst familiar to readers of Spidertown, and under it this novel founders. Philip Santo, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Picador; 1st edition (August 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 031226299X
• ISBN-13: 978-0312262990
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,922,847 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't listen to Publishers Weekly, July 26, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: The Buddha Book: A Novel (Paperback)

i read the review above from publishers weekly and they must have read the wrong book. this book shows the way it is for kids in the projects. it's sad, funny, violent, the story of two boys who draw comics and are trying to figure a way out of their lives. (if you like comics, there's a lot of good stuff in here--it's a little like michael chabon's novel the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay, except it's about the south bronx instead of manhattan.) anyway, read it for yourself.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars It was off da hooooook!, February 7, 2003

By 

Edward Matos "Brooklyn Boricua comin at ya ...." (People's Rupublic of Brooklyn, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Buddha Book: A Novel (Paperback)

I couldm't believe it at first but this was a compelling piece of fiction. Abraham's cutting realism transports to el Sur del Bronx. His sardonic humor and witty prose grabs you, and doesn't let you go. He portrays the daily battle of NY Puerto Rican youth with grace and dignity. I've been a major fan ever since I read his short story "Roaches." As a veteran of 40's, Brooklyn hooky amd house parties, the occassional blunt and graffity I could say it brought me back....

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I couldn't put this book down...., March 6, 2002

By 

Mark Sheriff (Brooklyn Park, MN United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Buddha Book: A Novel (Paperback)

The Buddha Book was a required reading for an ethnic studies class at UW Madison, and I must say, it was an enjoyable read. Not only did the book address the the perceptions of latino and chicano by whites, it also shows the struggles between the groups. Rodriguez probes the relations of the Spanish, black, white culture while writing fascinating fiction. He tries to understand Puerto RicanCentrism, as he calls it. His prose is unique, poetic, and gives the reader superb narrative. A great story.