This is the Beatest thing I have read since Brian Allen Carr's "Vampire Conditions".
I have seen this title reviewed as an "Anti-novel", but I disagree. The writer holds things together too well for "Eli, Ely" to be considered deconstructionist, although the characters here do crumble, rumble, shake and flake. Ezekiel Tyrus comes to us like a minor prophet from the San Francisco Bay, by way of panhandle Florida. He presents the reader with an at times excruciating post-mortem of a relationship with one of the most honestly written, if non-endearing, female characters ever presented in a beat novel.
There is plenty of local flavor along the way, from homeless denizens of Tenderloin streets,to skin-head bouncers, to hangers on in North Beach bars, to punk bands that cover Jimmy Buffett tunes. Tyrus' characters, as diverse and colorful as they are, never seem forced, and never distract from the narrative. They appear and recede organically and create a memorable frame, complimenting the art that is "Eli, Ely".
This is a fun novel, not because it is trivial or "lite", in fact the writer has a way of cutting pretty damned deep with his observations and comparisons. It is a fun novel because it's a great ride, even if we know, as readers, where we are bound to end up. There are plenty of surprises along the way, but the end is no surprise. That's the beatest thing about this first novel; Ezekiel Tyrus keeps us convinced and interested throughout it all, with plenty of grit and swill to spare.
Buy the book. Share it.
Join me in my impatient wait for Tyrus' next project.
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