Lush Life: A Novel by Richard Price
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Book Reviews of Lush Life: A Novel
Book Review: A brilliant novel of New York City
Summary: 5 Stars
Often, in my own personal grading system, a novel about crime and punishment that isn't by Dostoevsky, nearly always loses a point for that reason. Whether I bought the book in an airport may or may not, but usually does lose another star. "Lush Life" is not Dostoevsky, but it is a great and humane novel about a crime that is committed at the beginning of the book, is the story of the police investigation into the murder, and is told largely from the point of view of at least one of the characters most intimately involved in the case. "Crime and Punishment" is told mostly through the killer's point of view and "Lush Life" is told mainly through one police detective's POV. Forays into the interior monologues of other characters are upstaged by our anguished detective's - this may not be entirely intentional by the author - and his moral crisis (all novels about cops must be about moral crisis of one kind or another). Other similarities invite the comparison. And even though it is not a great Russian novel, "Lush Life" is a novel about place - New York City - that approaches greatness in its pitch-perfect portrayal of the interior life of people in and of that city.
But since it is literature, and even great literature can seem tedious at times, a potential reader might be wary that he/she would have to bring too much energy to reading the novel. Don't worry about that. This book is immediately engaging on many levels. Full of suspense and uncertainty - a novel told from the head of a NYPD detective could hardly avoid that - "Lush Life" is, among other things, a nail-biter story that passionately and primarily describes a police investigation into a murder that occurred in the lower east side of Manhattan, without sentimentality, but with the tenderest possible empathy for nearly all the characters, good guys and bad guys alike. The prose is diamond-sharp and satisfying without being self-conscious as so many works of "literary fiction" are. And it's realistic to the tiniest detail. In fact, I've never read or seen any books, films, television shows, etc., that even come close to describing the way things are actually done.
Although it would be misleading to call this "genre" fiction, If you are interested in the genre fiction about crimes, that also happens to be (great?) literature, this is the book for you. Although the story follows a familiar - but not quite formulaic - trajectory, it is not a cookie-cutter airport book, even if you buy it in an airport. The accomplished craft with which the novel is made makes "Lush Life" satisfying in a way most books of this genre cannot approach.
Book Review: Underrated
Summary: 5 Stars
LUSH LIFE is much better than what you might conclude from many of the other Amazon reviews. I don't know what some readers expect from Price, but it must be much more than the average reader expects from, say, Elmore Leonard, because LUSH LIFE is much better than Leonard's recent output although not nearly so well received. Maybe it's because all people expect from Leonard is entertainment, whereas Price for some reason is thought to be aspiring to serious literature.
I frankly don't know whether or not Price really does aspire to be a "great novelist". I do know that what he writes are literate entertainments of near the first order. True, some of his plots might be somewhat flawed, although LUSH LIFE cannot be as readily critized on this score as "Freedomland" and "Samaritan". But the depictions of gritty urban life and the renderings of street dialogue are pretty damn realistic and, within my reading experience, as good as contemporary American fiction has to offer. With regard to his dialogue and comparisons to Leonard, Leonard's dialgoue is more hip and perhaps even wittier (although I think it often reflects the wit of the author rather than any actual person), but Price's dialogue is more realistic.
In LUSH LIFE, the setting is the multi-cultural Lower East Side of Manhattan. The plot revolves around the police investigation of a street-shooting/murder of a young actor-wannabe, Ike Marcus. At first the police zero in on Marcus's companion Eric Cash, but they soon realize that he is innocent (although only after alienating him as their one true eye-witness). Thence begins a tedious search for the proverbial needle-in-a-haystack and only through luck do the police nab the true culprit. The two principal police detectives, Matty Clark and Yolanda Bello, are the two heros and most memorable characters of the book (especially Yolanda). Somewhat unusual these days, the police are not corrupt; to the contrary, they are dedicated, hard-working, compassionate, and at times even brilliant, although Clark's and Bello's superiors are unduly and adversely influenced by bureaucratic politics.
But the plot really is secondary, as are the characters. The point is that both plot and characters are strong enough to provide the stage for a highly entertaining and literate portrayal of the Streets of Manhattan, circa 2005. I am torn between awarding 4 or 5 stars. Because it looks like the book is being underrated, I opt for giving it 5.
Book Review: Price's Best Yet
Summary: 5 Stars
In all fairness, I am an ex born and bred Bronx girl. I lived in lower Manhattan in the 70s when it was Funksville...and safe because the mafia still contolled the streets. I never ventured into the lower east side on the other side of Bowery as it was too scary.
Richard Price is an amazing writer. He has the ability to get into a character's head. His writing is compassionate to all sides of the story. His grit is about real life tragedy in novel form. This book is his best yet. I have been reading it non-stop throughout the weekend. Just as he did in his writing for The Wire, he approaches all sides of reality. Unlike when I lived on Elizabeth St., this part of NYC is now ultra-pseudo-hip. With gentrification comes those who watch, disenfranchised in their own neighborhood. The neighborhood becomes their "bank." Price weaves a tale with characters from all the various characters of this lower east side neighborhood. Not surprisingly, it contains echoes of Nicole duFresne's murder in that neighborhood. Outsiders who move in who just don't know how to react to those with harmful intent as they probably never lived in such a melting pot of race and monetary disparity. She said "what are you gonna do? Shoot us?" and got shot dead when all the muggers wanted was their wallets. Ike says, "Not tonight, my man" and he too ends up dead. As Price puts it, suicide by mouth. This books really shows the the disparity between people occupying the same neighborhood. Most of the action is confined to this neighborhood, which includes cops, corner boys, white youngsters trying to be hip, older hipsters who were once young, pioneers who lived in this pre-cool-funky neighborhood, Israelis, Arabs, Latinos and Asians. I love Price's writing as he painstakingly details a short period of time as it unfolds in this murder investigation. He hits the marrow of the bone with his characterization and I hinge on every word as a Price book release is an infrequent cause for celebration. What can I say. I love everything he writes. If you loved The Wire, you will love this. He captures a moment in the ever changing face of downtown Manhattan. BRAVO RICHARD PRICE.
Book Review: The Flaneurs of the Lower East Side
Summary: 5 Stars
The theme of this amazing novel might best be described as "piling up": the piling up of visual and aural detail to describe the piling up of people, ethnicities, urban history, classes, and language that make up the Lower East Side of Manhattan. In Price's world, the passage of time is not conceived of as a linear progression but as an archeological layering, where each successive event leaves its mark and where the scars of the past are still visible. The density coalesces into a complex social ecosystem that buzzes along with uneasy tension until the smallest shifts throw everything out of balance.
Price effectively skewers all segments of this society, but he saves his harshest criticism for the newly minted MFAs who flood to the area and treat it as their own private Disneyland. Self consciously modeling themselves as modern-day flaneurs, these kids make the rounds from underground absinthe bars to midnight porno puppet shows at places with names like Zeno's Conscience. Giddy with the prospects of their future artistic successes, they look down on everyone else in the neighborhood, but especially those like Eric, who washed up at 35 are now too old to legitimately claim the title of actor/writer/bartender.
But the joy in this book doesn't come from the social critique; it comes from Price's language, and especially in his descriptions of the streets. Take for example this passage from the very beginning of the book, in which Eric is "seized with the notion of the Lower East Side as haunted, where "traces of the nineteenth century Yiddish boomtown" were "everywhere: in the claustrophobic gauge of the canyonlike streets with their hanging garden of ancient fire escapes, in the eroded stone satyr heads leering down between pitted window frames above the Erotic Boutique, in the faded Hebrew lettering about the old socialist cafeteria turned Asian massage parlor turned kiddie-club hot spot." The lushness of this language is evident on every page, and it is for this that I intend to turn back to this book again and again.
Book Review: The Price is Right
Summary: 5 Stars
Richard Price is as good of a dialogue writer as exists today in my mind. "Lush Life" is his latest novel that brilliantly showcases his skills and keen knowledge and insights of city life, particularly NYC life.
Other reviewers have already covered the plot so I won't spend my commentary focusing on that. The novels pace is criticized by some reviewers but I view the pace of the novel from a different perspective. The first third of the book moves at lightning speed -- from Ike Marcus's murder through Eric Cash's interrogation. The action and especially dialogue is sharp and crisp with Price in full control. Where other reviewers felt the book slowed at this point, I think Price did a great job capturing the ebb and flow of the investigation that slows to a crawl and this is reflected in the pace of the book.
Ultimately, Price delivers not only great dialogue but great lead characters. One gets immersed in the psyche of Eric Cash, the aspiring actor and restaurant manager who begins to realize his life is not leading where he'd like; Billy Marcus, the grieving father of Ike, shutting out family and friends and trying to cope with extreme loss; Matty Clark, the NYPD detective whose family life is a wreck but committed to his job and work. While we all have seen these character types before, Price makes them feel fresh and new, weaves them and their stories together seamlessly and adds the additional layer of his brilliant dialogue between the characters. Lastly, Price creates a real sense of place -- the Lower East Side of NYC and the rest of the NY metro area come to life. Being from the area, the city comes alive on the pages of "Lush Life".
All in all, this is one of the better books I've read this year and highly recommend investing the time to read "Lush Life".