A Fine Place: A Novel [Hardcover]

Nicholas Montemarano (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

When Tony Santangelo's friends pressure him into participating in what had been intended as a beating, one young man dies and another's life is changed forever. Tony, who had few prospects before he was sent to prison for the crime, later returns to his stagnant and repressive neighborhood: the Italian American enclave of Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, a "fine place" for a racially motivated crime. He also returns to a father who can't hold a job and elderly relatives who have been bickering for decades. His great aunt and grandmother smother him with kindness and guilt, while his bitter, sarcastic grandfather is always "in a mood." Chapters alternate between past and present, most narrated by Tony's grandmother, though his grandfather, aunt, father, and Tony himself also speak. With his clannish, close-minded neighborhood still wallowing in fear, anger, and racism ten years after the crime, Tony must confront his demons by himself. This powerful, unflinching first novel, based on real events, is recommended for all public and academic libraries. Jim Dwyer, California State Univ., Chico
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"A Fine Place is a story that has so very much to tell us about ourselves and our country." -- Robert Coles

"Deft and true in every detail, A Fine Place reminds us that the territory of the heart is infinite." -- Jayne Anne Phillips

"Nicholas Montemarano's A Fine Place is the most remarkable and compelling first novels I have read in years." -- Jay Neugeboren

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Context Books (February 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1893956210
• ISBN-13: 978-1893956216
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,788,053 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nicholas Montemarano was born in Brooklyn in 1970 and grew up in Queens. He is the author of the short story collection "If the Sky Falls" and the novel "A Fine Place." A new novel, "The Book of Why," is forthcoming from Little, Brown. His short stories have been published widely in magazines such as Esquire, Zoetrope: All-Story, Tin House, The Gettysburg Review, and AGNI. His writing has won many awards including a Pushcart Prize and a National Endowment for the Arts fellowship. He teaches at Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful, heartbreaking, elegant., February 26, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: A Fine Place: A Novel (Hardcover)

A Fine Place is one of the most beautiful books I have read in a very long time. Montemarano has an amazing talent for getting to the very heart of a place, a time, his characters. He explores (with gorgeous, elegant, precise writing) the hopes and sufferings of people that most of us would pass on the street without a second glance. How Montemarano gets into their minds so effectively I will never know, but he has done so brilliantly. A Fine Place does what only the most effective novels can--shows us a world otherwise beyond our grasp, and shows it to us with such feeling and clarity that we are left quietly reeling.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Selbyesque--an impressive debut, March 13, 2002

By 

Donny Ariel (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Fine Place: A Novel (Hardcover)

Nicholas Montemarano's A Fine Place is a remarkable debut, reminiscent of the debut of another great New York writer, Hubert Selby Jr. Last Exit to Brooklyn and A fine Place both illuminate the violence at the heart of a Brooklyn neighborhood, and yet the books' approaches are strikingly different. Selby's book is louder, the violence barely hidden beneath the surface. Montemarano's book is more muted. He depicts the interior lives of mostly decent folk who are caught up in the frustrations and tedium of their neighborhood life. And yet, the explosion of violence which is the central event of the novel, does not come out of nowhere. All the more impressive is the fact that Montemarano weaves a tale, which is captivating, in spite of the quiet nature of the book. His greatest accomplishment is the character Vera, who is a fully realized elderly lady. Montemarano captures old age materfully, and judging by his picure he's not in his seventies, yet. Can't wait for his next one.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book by a Great guy, October 15, 2004

By 

Nicholas S. Hooper "nixhex4311" (Kansas City, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: A Fine Place (Paperback)

I had the privelage of being a student of Nick's in 2000 at Central Missouri State University. I think once in your educational career do you get that professor that changes your life. Nick is that kind of teacher. In my semester of class with him, he changed the way I looked at things. I was a formidable freshman at the time, and he set the tone for how great life can be. He really taught me to stop, look around, and describe what your senses are taking in. I am grateful that I had the opportunity to cross paths with him. This book displays his ability to get inside a characters head, and describe what they are feeling through all senses. It is a book about real people going through real problems. The in-depth analysis of these characters really allows us as the reader to see what they are seeing and feel what they are feeling. There is no gloss here, just real emotion and real feelings. I really believe that Nick ranks right up there with Palahniuk, Easton Ellis, and Hornby as my favorite authors in the last ten years.