New York Books

What a great collection of essays! An excellent book to have around and read when you're a Nuyorican looking for some grounding!

Collaboratively compiled and edited by the team of Gabriel Haslip-Viera (Director of the Program in Latin American and Latino Studies, City College, CUNY), Angelo Falcon (Senior Policy Executive for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund), and Felix Matos Rodriguez (Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Policy, Hunter College), Boricuas In Gotham: Puerto Ricans In The Making Of Modern New York City anthologizes essays reinterpreting and updating the history of New York's Puerto Rican community and its leadership from the beginnings of the great migration in the 1940s down to the present day. Organized in chronological order and including chapters by noted historians, sociologists, and political scientists, Boricuas In Gotham covers diverse issues of culture, demography, language, economic status, politics, and community organization. Also available in a hardcover edition (1558763554, $69.95), Boricuas In Gotham is a seminal work of impressive scholarship and a welcome contribution to Latino Studies supplemental reading lists as well as 20th Century American History reference collections.

CHOICE Magazin: January 2005

"Collaboratively compiled and edited by the team of Gabriel Haslip-Viera (Director of the Program in Latin American and Latino Studies, City College, CUNY), Angelo Falcon (Senior Policy Executive for the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund), and Felix Matos Rodriguez (Director of the Center for Puerto Rican Policy, Hunter College), Boricuas In Gotham: Puerto Ricans In The Making Of Modern New York City anthologizes essays reinterpreting and updating the history of New York's Puerto Rican community and its leadership from the beginnings of the great migration in the 1940s down to the present day. Organized in chronological order and including chapters by noted historians, sociologists, and political scientists, Boricuas In Gotham covers diverse issues of culture, demography, language, economic status, politics, and community organization. Also available in a hardcover edition (1558763554, $69.95), Boricuas In Gotham is a seminal work of impressive scholarship and a welcome contribution to Latino Studies supplemental reading lists as well as 20th Century American History reference collections."

This new and very important collection of essays reinterprets and updates the history of New York's Puerto Rican community and its leaders from the beginnings of the great migration in the 1940s to the present time. The collection also honors the memory of the late Dr. Antonia Pantoja, who was perhaps the community's most important and influential activist and institution builder during this period.
The book is organized in chronological order and includes chapters by noted historians, sociologists, and political scientists, such as Virginia Sánchez Korrol, Ana Celia Zentella, José Cruz, Francisco Rivera Batiz, and Gabriel Haslip-Viera. These chapters focus on issues of culture, demography, language, economic status, politics, and community organization.
Eminently useful in college-level courses that deal with Latinos and other ethnic groups in U.S. society, the book ends with essays by Angelo Falcón and Clara E. Rodríguez that assess the legacy, current status, and future prospects of the Puerto Rican community in New York.

Gabriel Haslip-Viera, City College, CUNY, is the editor of Taíno Revival: Critical Perspectives on Puerto Rican Identity and Cultural Politics. Angelo Falcón, Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, is the author of numerous articles on Puerto Rican/Latino politics. Félix V. Matos-Rodríguez, Hunter College, is the author of Women in San Juan: 1820-1868.

To me this book is truly amazing the way it takes the reader into a world -- the Asian underworld here in the U.S. -- that very few people know anything about. Not only that, the author presents his main character, a young Vietnamese-American gangster wannabe, in a way that is insightful and compassionate. This could have been just a true-crime mob book, but it's much more than that. This is a book about the American Dream. As the blurbs say -- MUST READING.

TJ English gives the reader a look into a world many may not even know exists. He does an excellent job of portraying the harsh post-war existence that led Tinh into BTK, yet also shows great compassion for his plight. Despite the brutal nature of the subject matter the book is quite hard to put down. The events that happened resonate with me since I was living in the NYC area when they took place. I also know the exact locations of the streets in Chinatown that were named in the book. If you are not afraid to take a close look at the brutal nature of street life, then I suggest reading Born to Kill.

BORN TO KILL is a fascinating and well-researched account of the rise and fall of a Vietnamese gang operating out of Chinatown in New York City. Much of the story chronicles the experiences of one gang member who eventually decides to cooperate with the NYPD and ATF to help bring down the gang. This book does an impressive job of explaining the political and cultural forces that affect these mostly very young gang members, but in a way that is never boring or uninteresting. Mr. English is objective yet he also writes with compassion. If you are interested in Gangs or Asian organized crime you cannot ignore this book.

I am Vietnamese know first hand what the people in that gang experence. In my home town of Sacramento CA their are alot of asian gangs just like BTK. Their is even a gang called Born to Kill around sactown too. I use to kick it with alot of gang member that do some of the same stuff that BTK do like robberies, GTA and busting 211 on houses too. If people wants to know what really happens in an asian gang then you guys should read this book.

Great book that brought back a lot of memories of faded Brooklyn Glory. Osborne captures the details of a summer in the minors leagues from the fresh cut grass of a new season to the hope of Major League stardom.

Warning: This book has a tendency to make the reader into a die hard Cyclones fan.

Great book. Loved the historical aspects, and the personal stories of the player and local kid. A great gift for father's day, espcially for anyone with Brooklyn roots or a love of baseball.

With Ben Osborne's newest book, The Brooklyn Cyclones, Hardball Dreams and the New Coney Island, baseball is displayed, honored, and celebrated in such a way that my "jones" for a bleacher seat, a dog and a draft has spiraled out of control. This tale of baseball's return to Brooklyn is much more than just an account of the 2001 season of the Mets' Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones. It is a socially in-depth look into baseballs' influence on not only a community (in this place, the Coney Island neighborhood of Brooklyn), and the city of New York at large, but also on two specific individuals. The two featured in this beautifully crafted piece of work are contrasts in background and involvement with the club. The first featured character is catching prospect, Brett Kay. A native Californian, who had never stepped foot in the Big Apple prior, Kay brings a natural energy to the club, as well as a strong bat and solid defensive play behind the plate. As a single-A prospect, Kay like many others in his position, the Cyclones are the first step in his pursuit of his dream of one day playing in the bigs.
The second individual featured is 13-year old Coney Island resident, Anthony Otero Jr. A big fan of the game of baseball, Otero is the leader of a group of Coney teenagers, who in stark contrast to the borough's basketball history, enjoy using the blacktops for hardball instead of roundball. Living just 15 blocks from the site of KeySpan Park (the cyclone's beautiful boardwalk-side stadium), Osborne chronicles Otero's interest in the team, alongside his own aspirations of one day playing pro ball. Possibly the most intriguing portions of the book, are the historical sections which detail Brooklyn's rich baseball tradition with the Dodgers, the economic rise and fall of Coney Island, and finally ex-mayor, Rudy Guilani's attempt to use the genesis of the team as a cornerstone of his "legacy" as mayor.

In the end, this slice of Americana is truly an enjoyable read. A tale which intertwines many different faces of the American sports fan, from the prospect, to the fierce political leader, to the local kid from the projects. How these individuals affect and are ultimately affected by the team is the true story line. A couple years later, Kay puts it perfectly in the book's final thought, "that season in Brooklyn was something that I'll never experience again."

Ben Osborne's second book is a solid journalistic foray that delves into the political, regional, and economic contexts surrounding the return of professional baseball to the borough of Brooklyn 44 years after the Dodgers took off for California. The first season of the minor league Cyclones, an afiliate of the New York Mets, who play in the New York-Penn League, is recounted in detail through the eyes of Anthony Otero, a kid from the projects and Coney Island native who dreams of playing for the Yankees but had never been to a professional game before the Cyclones came to town and Brett Kay, a Californian catching prospect drafted by the Mets and farmed out to the Class A Cyclones to begin his big league career.

From the potitical manuevering of Rudy Giuliani to the construction of the incredible Keyspan Park at Coney Island to the season long sellout crowds Ben Osborne crafts a riviting story and fascinating read that encompasses both historical and cultural perspectives while exploring the media circus that followed the Cyclones in their inaugual season. The book is about more then just baseball. It's about the inner city struggle, big city politics, and hardball dreams. An accurate portrayal and intriguing analysis of the realities facing Brooklyn and Coney Island today.

An excellent, albeit silliy, addition to the library or coffee table of Brooklynites of any age. Granted, it isn't "all-inclusive," but what pop-up book (or any book on Brooklyn, for that matter) is?

Each foldout page in this book was designed by a different person. Sometimes they're disappointing as pop-ups, but there are some bright moments. The cover by Maurice Sendak allows you to see behind it into how the movements are made. The brownstones page is silly, with stupid bug cartoons everywhere. The library is really disappointing, with no real focus and no real view of what the building looks like. The art museum is just lovely, and is probably the best -- but then, it's by Sabuda (my favorite pop-up artist)! The botanic garden could have been the most colorful and beautiful page -- instead, it's childish and dull. The carousel is fun, with horses popping out at you. The Brooklyn Bridge is nice, but the flavors of Brooklyn are worthless. Coney Island is fun, with a rotating Ferris wheel. The book comes in a handy-dandy re-sealable plastic cover. So if you're fond of Brooklyn this will be a really nice memento. But I do NOT recommend it for reading out loud to children.

A delightfully colorful whimsy. Beautifully designed by an array of talented artists, including Maurice Sendak, specialists in pop-up engineering and all the pieces lovingly put together in Ecuador. My favorite? Two pages topped with old postcard letters-- "CONEY ISLAND." The beach front is covered with mini-bathers frolicking in and out of the water while the rollercoaster rolls by and the ferris wheel spins. There's a great boardwalk and everything that you could want at Coney Island. The only thing missing from the scene is Nathan's. There's an amazing Brooklyn Bridge, and lots of information for all ages about the history of that special borough....

It is really nice to see a resurgence of such childhood favorites as the "pop-up" book. Truly the first multimedia toys, these books add a new dimension (pun most certainly intended) to the written word.

What a wonderful way to introduce children and adults alike to the cultural Mecca that is Brooklyn. I loved this book so much, not only did I buy it for my library's children's collection, but I also bought a copy for myself.

Highly, highly recommended!

Just a correction. Bruce Davidson made these photographs using a 4x5 camera. Not 8x10. Met the photographer tonight and that is what he said.

I opened the pages with trepidation, my heart beating and colliding with memories long forgotten, whose every scene brought to me the miasma of cooking in the halls, the scent of tar on the melting rooftops in August, and the perpetual noise down in the streets strangely mixed with hilarity and shouting; the sounds for one born here was as uplifting as the sounds of crickets to a farmer in his fields at night. But I do have issues with the book. The pictures therein were obviously taken when 100th street was in its last stage of demise. The book should have included the early '60's that would have shown an electrifying explosion of people milling in the streets, firescapes, stoops, cars, doorways; singing doo-wops beneath the lampost; or stickball played in the street. But it sadly lacked that. The candy stores were gone, the bodegas boarded up, my own building (323) boarded with tin. East 100th Street was the most nefarious neighborhood in all of East Harlem, and too, the most frightening place for policemen to enter. But for all its disadvantages, it was by far, the most creative street known. Is it no wonder why it attracted the likes of Elenor Roosevelt, Robert F. Kennedy, Marlon Brando, Miles Davis, Burt Lancaster, Billy Holiday, Mark Lane, and a host of others? Is it any wonder why it haunted me so to write a true novel based on it? (Just now complete). But all in all the photos are real and sadly true.

East 100th Street is a truly stunning, black-and-white photographic portrait of East 100th Street of Harlem. These stark, memorable images captured by Bruce Davidson show poverty, survival, individuals, children, and families -- some having fun, some withdrawn into themselves. "What you call a ghetto, I call my home", is an impressive quote spoken to the photographer, and East 100th Street showcases both sides of this remark in an exceptional and unforgettable manner.

In 1968, Bruce Davidson took his large-format 8x10 camera uptown to East 100th Street in East Harlem and set about recording the lives and the people of this poverty stricken block.

Davidson had spent much of the 1960s documenting the civil rights movement and the people on the fringes as well massive projects such as the building on the Verranzo bridge but in many ways East 100th Street was forever to define him as a photographer, and establish him as a great photographer.

By working with a large format camera, Davidson was saying to everyone that he was not interested in taking street photographs: fleeting images where the subjects might not even really know you are there. Instead an 8x10 camera (8x10 refers to the size of the negative -- 8" by 10") requires a tripod and considerable effort and time (minutes) just to focus the camera and take light measurements as well as considerable effort and conspicousness to just lug around. The result is rather formal pictures made with the subjects true consent.

And so the pictures are truly intimate portraits made with the collaboration of the people of East 100th street. They are truly a remarkable document.

Davidson takes you inside people's living rooms and bedrooms, into the back alleys and onto the rooftops. He shows you the dinner at the dinner table, and couples swaying to the music in a bar. You see the pictures of Jesus and JFK on their walls. And the family with the same clock on their wall that hung in my kitchen as I grew up.

You see the old man shivering in his bed, looking straight into the camera, an old tired dog under his bed also looking straight into the bed, the floor dirty, the walls bare except for tired old wallpaper. An unforgettable image. You will always remember the child bundled up in his coat, wool hat pulled down tight over his ears, standing by his mailboxes looking straight at you. There is Davidson's famous image of the young black couple smiling, happy, and dignified, cheek-to-check looking into the camera. There is the proud old black woman, sitting in her run-down apartment, drinking coffee, with a portrait of JFK staring at you.

They are Americans; they are Christians; they are black or hispanic or white; they are proud; they dress up nicely on Sundays to go to church; they love their children; they love each other; they drink; they go to the park and have bbq's on Sunday, and have the same pictures on their walls as do "us, other Americans". They are just like us, except they are poor and their skin maybe a different color.

And while this might not seem radical today, in 1968, this was extraordinary. Even though it is no longer a controversial sentiment, the photos are still powerful in terms of their intimacy, the scope of the lives they document, and, yes, the message they send.

It is a book that you will be proud to own, containing images you won't forget.

This is a real eye opener of a book if you are looking for an in depth retrospective of the artist's body of work! Burne-Jones is at last receiving his fair due of recognition as witnessed by the recent Met show in the Summer of 1998. This book showcases his many merits, including a unerring color and design technique applied to fantastical subjects. What makes the book so irresistible is the wealth of color plates accompanied by detailed explanations. It also helps that the authors were thoughtful enough to leave out any stuffy, academic narrative that overburdens this genre.

As I only had about 30 minutes to view this exhibit at the Met (I know - it's absurd), I am delighted to have this beautiful catalog to examine in close detail. The reproductions are indeed stunning, and the text, although very detailed, is quite readable. A treasure for art lovers, especially fans of the Pre-Raphaelite style.

This edition of the catalogue for the Metropolitain Museum of Art's recent(and sadly closed) exhibit belongs on every art library's list of " must buys." What a wealth of information and imagery, all presented in generous counterbalance in splendid color throughout. Buy this!!

To visit the Burne-Jones exhibition at New York's Metropolitain Museum of Art is a thrill beyond describing. It is like being surrounded by old friends of the sort usually found in dreams.The stunning, fully illustrated catalogue that accompanies the show is perhaps the best catalogue I have seen, most notably for its impeccable and stimulating essays, and for its phenominal wealth of color reproductions. This book is a stunner, despite two or three flipped pictures( which I guess could happen to anyone in the rush to get such an involved publication ready in time!) I would advise all bookshops, libraries and Burne-Jones lovers to order this book now for its September release. It is sure to be the most valuable book on its subject for many years to come.

I love American Hippie food. I don't at all mean that as an insult. It's homey, nutricious, delicious and often surprising and fun cuisine.

Some of my favorite recipes are here: Vegetable Lo Mein, the enchilada recipes, and lentil soup.

Definitely an addition to your cookbook shelf, health and happiness.

I have owned this cookbook for about 20 years and ate at Cabbagetown Cafe many times as a student at Cornell. It was a shame that the restaurant is now closed. The recipes are easy, healthy and delicious. This is my favorite vegetarian cookbook. I love the recipe for vegetarian lasagna because you do not have to cook the noodles; they cook "themselves" right in the sauce!

A great restaurant and a great cookbook. I used to live upstairs from this restaurant, and the incredible aromas would always tempt us downstairs for the soup of the day. I've heard that the restaurant is closed now, but the recipes are still great. They are simple, easy to follow and always delicious.

I found this book upon moving into a Providence apartment in 1990, started cooking, and people have been asking me for the recipes ever since.
This vegetarian, whole food cookbook is a must-have in every kitchen, including those of hardcore carnivores like myself.

Almost all of the recipes will work for the novice cook, and the result will please the most refined palates. There are too many great recipes to mention, but here are some that you must try:

1. Spinach lasagne with eggplant: The textures here wow the most varicious meat-lovers, who never seem to realize it is a non-meat recipe. Add to this Julie's efficient prep methods, and you have an all-time classic.
2. Quiche: This is an outstanding cook-ahead meal for any gathering, and Julie gives you the most tantalizing varieties: Brocolli/Bleu Cheese, Blushing Tomato (w/ capers and Rosemary), Potato Sour Cream. They are all outstanding.
3. Chickpeas: There are two recipes in here that do amazing things with the humble garbanzo. Serve these spicy dishes over rice, and accept the compliments of admiring diners.

Really enjoyed this book.... had great characters, character development, was funny but very real-to-life at the same time. The heroine did stupid things that we could all do (!!), but at the same time, she worked through her issues and didn't stagnate. Have been reading romances since junior high, and really enjoyed this one. Will be on the lookout for other books by this author.

Ms. Neale's deft storytelling is in full force here; what starts as a kooky Bridget Jones-style farce grabs your heart at several points and doesn't let go. Neale has created a flawed but smart and witty heroine in Nan, and takes her through a maze of emotional roadblocks. Neale is especially effective in striking a wonderful balance of heart and mirth without losing the essence of the characters in the middle. This may be a "beach" read, but the characters and the story will stay in your head long after summer is gone.

Twenty-eight-year-old Nan Cloutier always thought that, by the time she was twenty-five, she would be living a posh, fabulous life in Manhattan, with a great job, an even greater wardrobe, and the guy of her dreams by her side. Three years later, and Nan still hasn't achieved all of the above, and then some. For Nan's so-called "posh" job is working for Seasonal Staffers, Inc. A corporation where she has held positions as a Cindy-Lou Who impersonator, Easter-Egg Carrying Girl In Bunny Suit, and Valentine's Day Purple Box of Chocolates, among other, much more humiliating titles. Which is why Nan is desperate enough to tell a little white lie. While posing as Cindy-Lou Who at the Merrier-Iverson Department Store Christmas display, Nan tells her boss - Mr. Iverson - that she can speak French, and pretends to converse with a French child, reciting her Christmas list to the English-speaking Grinch. After much praise, Nan is beaming from ear to ear, but her smile slowly fades when Mr. Iverson falls and breaks his leg - the fault of Nan, of course. Quickly getting canned from her Seasonal Staffers position, she is offered a new job - by Mr. Iverson - one that involves baby-sitting his grandson, Colm. However, upon meeting, Nan quickly realizes that Colm is actually her age, and that Mr. Iverson was actually playing "matchmaker" for his grandson, and thinks that the two will make the perfect couple - once they work out a few bumps in the road.

I have read many of Naomi Neale's YA books - published under the name Naomi Nash - which is why I was extremely eager to experience one of her adult chick lit books for myself. I was pleasantly surprised, for, from page one, I found Nan's character to be amusing, what with her somewhat...unusual career choice, and the wisecracks she litters throughout all of her observations on being a Seasonal Staffer, and life, in general. She is the ideal protagonist and keeps you laughing from beginning to end, while the many bizarre people in her life will take readers by surprise - a pleasant one, of course - and lead them on a trip down lover's lane. Neale has done an amazing job of weaving together a tale filled with smart characters, witty storylines, and an emotional roller coaster to top it all off. Nan is a character full of flaws - as well as heart - who will stay with you year-round.

Erika Sorocco
Book Review Columnist for The Community Bugle Newspaper

In New York City, Nan Cloutier believes she is the ideal calendar girl pin-up not because she is Playboy perfect, but because she obtains holiday jobs. Her current temporary work is posing as Cindy-Lou Who at the Merrier-Iverson Department Store Christmas interactive display. When she lies about being proficient in French to avoid window duty, Nan meets store owner Mr. Iverson, but her actions leads to the gentle elderly man breaking his leg.

Her former employer offers her a job to baby-sit his grandson Colm. Needing the money with Christmas over, she accepts. When she meets Colm, he is her age and believes she is a hooker. Mr. Iverson explains he was matchmaking because he believes these two delightful youngsters are good for one another. Colm courts Nan, but her personal life is overfilled as she feels she must save her former college boyfriend and fellow member of the Elizabethan Failures Society from an English invader. Still Colm keeps the pressure on and they fall in love even as their respective families try making them over rather than letting them make it.

This is an amusing Manhattan chick lit romance starring a delightful lead female protagonist and a fabulous secondary cast. The story line never takes itself seriously as Nan and cohorts struggles with life, but refuse to believe they are failures. Colm provides a wonderful newcomer into her circle though she wonders if he is a deadly virus or her forever soul mate. Chick lit and contemporary romance readers will laugh with Naomi Neale's naughty and nice tale of a Who who finds love.

Harriet Klausner

I loved the cover. How did Mandery draw all of those characters onto the book jacket? Very impressive!

This is not only an interesting, easy to read book, it shows a side of politcal campaigning from an interesting point of view. Mandery is an objective observer with an inside seat. He was part of the campaign, but not part of the culture. That, in my opinion, is to his credit.

The book he has written is rife with funny anecdotes, touching scenes and aggravating politics as usual. Mandery keeps his perspective through the whole mess.

This book is the most insightful book about the nature of the modern campaign I have ever read. As a professional campaigner I know this from first hand experience. Here is a chance for the citizen to peel back the veil and view the inner workings of the campaigns that, in so many ways, choose our officials and shape our nation.

The great thing about the book is that much of it is universally true and important. The issues that Mandery writes about from fundraising, to polling, to the dangers of ethnic politics, to the motivations of the press are as true in the high-flying campaigns of Bill Clinton as they are the failed campaign of Ruth Messinger. The mayoral campaign is, in many ways, simply an entertaining backdrop to a thoughtful guide of the ins and outs of American politics.

That said, the book offers particular insights into the mind of the Mayor who would be Senator. New Yorkers in general and reporters in particular would do well to sit up and take notice before the coming election.

Mandery has a superb lucid writing style. The text brings to bear Mandery's unique perspective combines the laser like analysis of a Harvard lawyer with the ironic sense of humor of one of New York City's hottest amateur stand up comedians.

Mandery brings to life a host of characters that range from the entertaining to the downright bizarre that will keep you turning pages even though we all know how it ends.

In his literary debut Mandery delivers a unique and thoughtful rumination on the machinations of a modern political campaign. With the fresh perspective of a campaign neophyte and his considerable skills of lawyerly analysis, Mandery offers a refreshingly honest chronicling of the 1997 New York mayoral race. Mandery's razor-sharp wit adds zip and readability to a topic lesser authors have consistently made bland.

Mandery asserts that the book is about modern political campaigns in general, and only "incidentally about the 1997 mayoral campaign." Indeed, his position as research director for the Messinger campaign affords the reader a fascinating insider's view of the nuts and bolts of a political campaign at the end of the twentieth century. We are privy to all of the key players, the sometimes-stilted decision-making process, strategy sessions, various private letters between campaigns, focus group sessions, and the research operations. We are even told how much the famous political consultants are paid (it will make you consider a career change!).

At each step of the way Mandery offers his insightful analysis of campaign maneuvers and press coverage. He asks the commonsense questions that any thoughtful outsider might ask. His logic is consistently solid, systematically and lucidly cutting through the muck of political "spin" to reveal the truth of the matter at hand. Though he often wonders aloud whether he can possibly be objective given his position, Mandery scores points for his even-handed critique of both sides.

Perhaps more importantly, and most interestingly, Mandery brings into high relief the cast of characters involved -- the men and women who eat, drink and sleep politics, whose lives move from one campaign to the next. From his boorish campaign manager Jim to colorful rival Sharpton and hilarious longshot Menendez, Mandery describes real characters to rival any of fiction's most entertaining. As Mandery himself might agree, 'you can't make this stuff up.'

Though he comes across a lot meaner in this book when contrasted with the movie starring Al Pacino, Carlito remained a very strong, and even sympathetic character for me. I can only think of a few characters-- fictional or real-- who have won me over, despite their considerable flaws: Humbert Humbert in Lolita, Neil (Robert De Niro) in Heat, Tuco from The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, and Henry Hill from Goodfellas.

The first person prose was very readable and believable. It also displays wit and humor that doesn't take away from its grittiness. All in all, I would strongly recommend this book. I am hoping there will be a re-release of the follow up book, After Hours.

Like many, I was first introduced to this book when I saw the popular movie starring Al Pacino, Sean Penn, and Penelope Anne Miller. I received the book as a Christmas present, that particular paperback being a movie tie-in reprint with Al Pacino (Carlito) on the cover. I think I gave away the book to the library when I moved a couple of years ago. Film Ink's edition, showcasing a typical street in an ethnic neighborhood, impressed me. I've always been fascinated by some of the provocative photography on book covers these days.

The saga of Carlito Brigante's life (in essence the film Carlito's Way) is actually chronicled in two books, the first titled Carlito's Way, wherein Carlito in 1st person narrative describes his rough-and-tumble childhood and induction into New York's ruthless criminal world, culminating in Carlito's arrest, conviction, and sentence of thirty years in Riker's Island. Yet no one can accuse Brigante of being simply a heartless killer. We get to sympathize with his plight; he is undoubtedly the hero of Torres' tale.

The next installment, titled After Hours (written in 3rd person this time), is actually the setting of the movie, beginning when David Kleinfeld, Carlito's Alan Dershowitzesque attorney, gets Carlito out of prison on a technicality. The David Kleinfeld character is another reason to read this book after seeing the movie, as things in the book turn out quite differently for most of the characters affected by Kleinfeld's machinations. There's also some additional fleshing out of characters and episodes not included in the movie, including Brigante's trip to Spain, where the brash hombre shows off his bullfighting skills. I'm not giving anything away.

Like the Shawshank Redemption, the movie also highlights the profound changes in American everyday life and culture (and with it the criminal world) during the twentieth century. The two books trace Carlito Brigante's criminal career, from the swinging and colorful 1940s, when Carlito existed on small-time armed robberies and switchblades, all the way to the sleazy lava-lamp lit cocaine infested 1970s, an appropriate prelude of the Me Decade. Central to the story is the role New York's Italian Mafia plays in the life of Brigante. Brigante, a Puerto Rican, is eventually admitted to their exclusive innermost circles, but because he is not a Sicilian is never elevated to the status of a "Made Guy," which ultimately leads to his downfall. Via subplots and secondary characters Torres notes the rise and fall of the Cosa Nostra's influence in the Big Apple.

I thought that Miller brought a lot to the somewhat hapless role of Gail, Carlito's longtime love-interest and confidant. I found it much more believable that Carlito's girlfriend would be a stripper and aspiring dancer. In the book her character is an elementary school teacher, which makes the idea of Carlito persuading her to go to the Bahamas a bit implausible.

In an interview contemporaneous with the film's release, Torres said that his novels were inspired by his exposure to countless Carlito Brigantes who had walked through his courtroom throughout his career on the bench. Torres also includes a vocabulary of Hispanic street slang and underworld terms.

An extremely capable writer of prose, Torres pens a stimulating, readable, and believable portrait of life in the Barrio. Barrio is Spanish for jungle, in this context the urban jungle-ghetto that wickedly and unknowingly nurtures the self-destructive psyche of a career criminal who knows nothing but a life of violence and self-preservation.

Splendid!

If you like crime stories don't miss this one. This is one of my all-time favorites and it never really got the attention it deserves. The story of Carlito Brigante shows us the world of crime from a different angle than the classic Mafia tales. Carlito is Puerto Rican and comes up in the New York of the fifties and sixties. He's a hard-core criminal, hard-nose, and he makes no bones about it. He starts of with breaking-and-entering, moves up to racketeering, and after a long impatient wait breaking into the big-time--heroin trafficking.

Yet Carlito never comes across as a merely evil person. Living in America, where the streets are paved with gold except in the barrio where he spent his entire life, Carlito says that no way was he going to spend his whole life washing dishes when there was big bread out there for guys with the guts (he would use a different word) to go get it.

Torres, to his credit, never romanticizes Carlito to the point that he comes across as a good guy, either. Carlito follows his way because its the one HE chose, and if that means dancing with a fine lady at the Palladium one night and then going into Lewisburg Penitentary for a 3-year stretch the next, that's how it goes. Those are the risks and rewards of the life he leads. He meets characters like smooth guy Earl Bassey, crazy guy Nacho Reyes, wise guy Rocco Fabrieze, and bad guy Pete Amadeo. All in all, "Carlito's Way" is a wild ride, both the ups and downs.

I really recommend that you get the audio version of this book and listen to Torres read his book. The movie "Carlito's Way" actually focuses on the second book Torres wrote, titled "After Hours." It's good, but the first novel is told in the 1st person, in Carlito's voice, and Torres is fantastic as he speaks in Carlito's voice. Well worth a listen.

For fans of streetlife and "the real" in general, this is a fantastic read. Having seen the movie, I wasn't quite expecting the book to be what it was - a running mental monologue recounting the life and times of Carlito Brigante, the fictional yet prolific gangster the film was based upon.

Having grown up in Brooklyn, I was thoroughly impressed by the accuracy with which Torres illustrates the "I've got mine, so .... you" thug mentality that's so much a part of the underground New York experience. That, combined with the "Code Of The Streets" and a tiny dab of conscience, is what makes Carlito seem human and uncannily real-to-life.

Torres, being a NYC criminal court judge, has chosen to expound his abundant understanding of the criminal mind not through textbooks or bland case studies, but through this brilliant character depiction. I place it in the same category as "Down These Mean Streets" - a modern urban classic.