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Red Baker
With a brand new introduction from Daniel Woodrell!
When Red Baker, a Larmel steel worker in Baltimore, Maryland, gets laid off from his job he goes crazy: boozing, attempted philandering, running away from his future. Filled with unforgettable characters from Red’s angry but loyal wife, Wanda; his basketball-star son, Ace; his lifelong friend Dog, a casualty of the layoff; and Crystal, the go-go dancer at Lily’s bar who embodies Red’s fantasies of escape. Red Baker is a classic American novel about a man with no identity who tries to replace the one he’s lost.
When Red Baker, a Larmel steel worker in Baltimore, Maryland, gets laid off from his job he goes crazy: boozing, attempted philandering, running away from his future. Filled with unforgettable characters from Red’s angry but loyal wife, Wanda; his basketball-star son, Ace; his lifelong friend Dog, a casualty of the layoff; and Crystal, the go-go dancer at Lily’s bar who embodies Red’s fantasies of escape. Red Baker is a classic American novel about a man with no identity who tries to replace the one he’s lost.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1985
12 people are currently reading
296 people want to read
About the author
Robert Ward
32 books19 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Robert Ward was born in Baltimore, Maryland. When he was 15 years old he went to live with his paternal grandmother, Grace, a local social activist. He did his undergraduate work at Towson State University before earning his MFA in writing at the University of Arkansas.
While living in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco he began working on his first novel, Shedding Skin, before moving back to Baltimore for its completion. He taught English at Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio for two years, then moved to Geneva, New York, where he taught at Hobart and William Smith College.
In 1974, he started his career as a journalist, writing for magazines such as New Times and Sport. He moved to New York in 1976 and continued writing "New Journalism" for eight years. During this period, he wrote his novel Cattle Annie and Little Britches as well as the screenplay for the feature film based on the book. After the publication of his fourth novel, Red Baker, in 1985 he was approached by David Milch and offered a job to write for Hill Street Blues.
After Hill Street concluded, Ward become the co-Executive Producer of Miami Vice, and spent five years writing scripts and producing TV movies at Universal Studios. He continues to write and produce television shows and movies as well publish novels.
Robert Ward was born in Baltimore, Maryland. When he was 15 years old he went to live with his paternal grandmother, Grace, a local social activist. He did his undergraduate work at Towson State University before earning his MFA in writing at the University of Arkansas.
While living in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco he began working on his first novel, Shedding Skin, before moving back to Baltimore for its completion. He taught English at Miami University in Hamilton, Ohio for two years, then moved to Geneva, New York, where he taught at Hobart and William Smith College.
In 1974, he started his career as a journalist, writing for magazines such as New Times and Sport. He moved to New York in 1976 and continued writing "New Journalism" for eight years. During this period, he wrote his novel Cattle Annie and Little Britches as well as the screenplay for the feature film based on the book. After the publication of his fourth novel, Red Baker, in 1985 he was approached by David Milch and offered a job to write for Hill Street Blues.
After Hill Street concluded, Ward become the co-Executive Producer of Miami Vice, and spent five years writing scripts and producing TV movies at Universal Studios. He continues to write and produce television shows and movies as well publish novels.
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May 8, 2016
Essere buoni non conta nulla
“E questo era ancora una volta il problema. Avevo bisogno di tutto e subito. Chiusi gli occhi e mandai una piccola preghiera a un Dio che poteva o non poteva essere là fuori, sopra le case a schiera. “Fammi fare la cosa giusta,” gli dissi. “Non farmi perdere le persone che amo. E proteggi Baltimora”.
Robert Ward è stato scrittore e sceneggiatore di crime story, con Red Baker ha vinto nel 1985 il premio Pen West come miglior romanzo americano dell’anno, scoperto da Joyce Johnson, editor ed ex compagna di Kerouac; Ward faceva l'insegnante di scrittura, ma poi Tom Wolfe l'ha invitato a New York a vivere e creare nel new journalism. E' stato amico di Carver. Ha scritto una storia difficile, vista dal basso, un operaio licenziato, sposato con la ragazza del liceo e un figlio, per loro farebbe qualsiasi cosa, ha un’amante di cui è innamorato, con la quale fuggirebbe in Florida, mentre è anche una persona che non ce la fa più, che si arrende alle cose. L'acciaieria di Baltimora ha chiuso e gli resta solo Wild Turkey, whiskey rye e anfetamina, le pillole del dottor Raines, per tenere sotto controllo i demoni interiori, la vergogna e l'orgoglio. Un amico si suicida, altri si distruggono con alcol e droga, la periferia della città si spegne nel degrado umano, nella desolazione e nella miseria. Il suo migliore amico, Dog, chiamato così perché ama i cani, sta impazzendo, sta perdendo la ragione. E' preda di violenza e paranoia, passa le giornate a bere e crede che la moglie lo tradisca. Red Baker cade e non sente l'impulso di rialzarsi, ma solo il desiderio di sprofondare o di scomparire, di essere un altro o di non essere più nessuno, in una tensione furiosa che avvelena la sua sensibilità. Ama la moglie Wanda e il figlio Ace, ma non riesce a essere felice con loro. E' felice con l'amante, la giovane spogliarellista e cantante Crystal, è innamorato ma non disposto a affidarsi a un nuovo futuro. E' un bugiardo e un fallito, sceglie sempre l'errore e la falsità, non ha dignità. Gli uffici di collocamento sono grigie discariche sociali e la tentazione di una evasione con la proposta di un lavoro sporco ma facile non tarda a concretizzarsi. E così precipita nella negatività, nella pulsione oscura, nella circolarità del disfarsi, nella dolcezza dell'abbandono e nella levità della rabbia. Quando cominci a pensare che qualcosa ti sia dovuto è l'inizio della fine. Tutto finisce nella disperazione, nell'imprevisto e nel lutto. Era la filosofia di Red Baker: sei sempre con la testa nel fango, ma fin quando puoi respirare continui a essere in vantaggio”. Questo romanzo è un dramma umile e autentico, una tragedia non priva di grazia e speranza, un'avventura in cui una crisi profonda si risolve, attraverso un triste e angoscioso sacrificio, in una dolorosa redenzione, in una amara e straziante rinascita.
“E quando mi fermo, col cuore che mi esplode dentro il petto, e la polvere che soffia dietro di me, è come se avessi capito qualcosa. Qualcosa sugli amici e su ciò che distingue un uomo da un altro. Non conta il cervello o il denaro, ma quanto rischi per amore”.
“E questo era ancora una volta il problema. Avevo bisogno di tutto e subito. Chiusi gli occhi e mandai una piccola preghiera a un Dio che poteva o non poteva essere là fuori, sopra le case a schiera. “Fammi fare la cosa giusta,” gli dissi. “Non farmi perdere le persone che amo. E proteggi Baltimora”.
Robert Ward è stato scrittore e sceneggiatore di crime story, con Red Baker ha vinto nel 1985 il premio Pen West come miglior romanzo americano dell’anno, scoperto da Joyce Johnson, editor ed ex compagna di Kerouac; Ward faceva l'insegnante di scrittura, ma poi Tom Wolfe l'ha invitato a New York a vivere e creare nel new journalism. E' stato amico di Carver. Ha scritto una storia difficile, vista dal basso, un operaio licenziato, sposato con la ragazza del liceo e un figlio, per loro farebbe qualsiasi cosa, ha un’amante di cui è innamorato, con la quale fuggirebbe in Florida, mentre è anche una persona che non ce la fa più, che si arrende alle cose. L'acciaieria di Baltimora ha chiuso e gli resta solo Wild Turkey, whiskey rye e anfetamina, le pillole del dottor Raines, per tenere sotto controllo i demoni interiori, la vergogna e l'orgoglio. Un amico si suicida, altri si distruggono con alcol e droga, la periferia della città si spegne nel degrado umano, nella desolazione e nella miseria. Il suo migliore amico, Dog, chiamato così perché ama i cani, sta impazzendo, sta perdendo la ragione. E' preda di violenza e paranoia, passa le giornate a bere e crede che la moglie lo tradisca. Red Baker cade e non sente l'impulso di rialzarsi, ma solo il desiderio di sprofondare o di scomparire, di essere un altro o di non essere più nessuno, in una tensione furiosa che avvelena la sua sensibilità. Ama la moglie Wanda e il figlio Ace, ma non riesce a essere felice con loro. E' felice con l'amante, la giovane spogliarellista e cantante Crystal, è innamorato ma non disposto a affidarsi a un nuovo futuro. E' un bugiardo e un fallito, sceglie sempre l'errore e la falsità, non ha dignità. Gli uffici di collocamento sono grigie discariche sociali e la tentazione di una evasione con la proposta di un lavoro sporco ma facile non tarda a concretizzarsi. E così precipita nella negatività, nella pulsione oscura, nella circolarità del disfarsi, nella dolcezza dell'abbandono e nella levità della rabbia. Quando cominci a pensare che qualcosa ti sia dovuto è l'inizio della fine. Tutto finisce nella disperazione, nell'imprevisto e nel lutto. Era la filosofia di Red Baker: sei sempre con la testa nel fango, ma fin quando puoi respirare continui a essere in vantaggio”. Questo romanzo è un dramma umile e autentico, una tragedia non priva di grazia e speranza, un'avventura in cui una crisi profonda si risolve, attraverso un triste e angoscioso sacrificio, in una dolorosa redenzione, in una amara e straziante rinascita.
“E quando mi fermo, col cuore che mi esplode dentro il petto, e la polvere che soffia dietro di me, è come se avessi capito qualcosa. Qualcosa sugli amici e su ciò che distingue un uomo da un altro. Non conta il cervello o il denaro, ma quanto rischi per amore”.
November 23, 2008
review: Here's my review system--I score on four categories and average them together for the number of stars. The four categories are: character development (are the characters deep and complex, plot (is it interesting), voice (is the narration smooth and engaging) and cliche level (is it predictable.)
Character development: 5 stars-- Ward is very sharp here--and you really get to know his characters
Plot: 4 stars-- Great stuff finding out about where Red is heading
Voice: 5 stars-- Remarkably insightful!
Cliche Level: 5 stars-- Clearly, something different!
Read
September 15, 2020Det finns en typ av böcker som tillhör mitt DNA, en del av dem faller under deckare, noir, grit, andra bara romaner, vad de har gemensamt är att de skildrar modern arbetar/underklass. Varje läsår tillför en handfull. Red Baker av Robert Ward föll jag över av en slump, när jag sökte efter en bok av Daniel Woodrell jag ännu inte läst (The Outlaw Album) på Storytel.
Tidigt åttiotal, lågkonjunktur, Red Baker blir av med jobbet inom Baltimores stålindustri. Datorer, som inte organiserar sig fackligt och kostar mindre, ska ta över. Han är fyrtio, har en familj att försörja, men de få jobb som finns är alla okvalificerade låglönekneg.
Baker är allt annat än enkel att sympatisera med, han super bort de få pengar han drar in, är otrogen mot sin hårt slitande fru, tycker synd om sig själv, rör sig på en etiskt flytande skala där en rasistisk kommentar eller två anses vara okej beroende på sammanhang och nykterhetsgrad.
Detta till trots, eller ja, mycket på grund av, är det en övertygande arbetarskildring av en nedåtgående spiral, vilken alla som någonsin befunnit sig i en kan känna igen. Och om du inte varit där, fasa inför. Skammen och självtvivlet, när en blick som varit fast börjar flacka, och vad det gör, inte bara med en själv utan också med omgivningen.
Många har låtit sig inspireras av Red Baker, inte minst andra säsongen av The Wire och filmen The Drop andas samma känsla, rör sig utmed samma blekgrå nervtrådar, och den tillhör utan tvekan en av de bättre böcker jag läst i genren. Som Daniel Woodrell skriver i förordet: This is an entrancing novel, convincing, heart-breaking, sentimental, and tough - a classic of its kind.
Tidigt åttiotal, lågkonjunktur, Red Baker blir av med jobbet inom Baltimores stålindustri. Datorer, som inte organiserar sig fackligt och kostar mindre, ska ta över. Han är fyrtio, har en familj att försörja, men de få jobb som finns är alla okvalificerade låglönekneg.
Baker är allt annat än enkel att sympatisera med, han super bort de få pengar han drar in, är otrogen mot sin hårt slitande fru, tycker synd om sig själv, rör sig på en etiskt flytande skala där en rasistisk kommentar eller två anses vara okej beroende på sammanhang och nykterhetsgrad.
Detta till trots, eller ja, mycket på grund av, är det en övertygande arbetarskildring av en nedåtgående spiral, vilken alla som någonsin befunnit sig i en kan känna igen. Och om du inte varit där, fasa inför. Skammen och självtvivlet, när en blick som varit fast börjar flacka, och vad det gör, inte bara med en själv utan också med omgivningen.
Många har låtit sig inspireras av Red Baker, inte minst andra säsongen av The Wire och filmen The Drop andas samma känsla, rör sig utmed samma blekgrå nervtrådar, och den tillhör utan tvekan en av de bättre böcker jag läst i genren. Som Daniel Woodrell skriver i förordet: This is an entrancing novel, convincing, heart-breaking, sentimental, and tough - a classic of its kind.
June 17, 2009
While you may find this in the mystery section or in a list of crime novels, it is far more a literary novel than a genre work. And a good one.
The empathy and compassion for the characters and the stark portrayal of the pain, confusion and humiliation of unemployment while not always fun is consistently compelling.
A fully realized and unbelievably flawed (read: human) main character within a simple and complete story. I found myself caring about Red Baker, not despite his flaws, but almost because of them.
The empathy and compassion for the characters and the stark portrayal of the pain, confusion and humiliation of unemployment while not always fun is consistently compelling.
A fully realized and unbelievably flawed (read: human) main character within a simple and complete story. I found myself caring about Red Baker, not despite his flaws, but almost because of them.
August 17, 2014
Originally published in the mid-80s, Ward's fourth and most popular novel follows a desperate period in the life of the titular character - husband, father and Baltimore steelworker pushed to the edge of the abyss when his company lays him off. With nothing much left to lose, he gambles it all on a scheme that involves pilfering bookie money from some neighborhood goons. Given his assistance from a policeman pal, Red is banking on the assumption that the likelihood of fallout with the authorities is slim.
On the face of it, this has the elements of a caper, but most telling is how few pages the actual theft occupies. Though Baker has a passage or two of high-wire tension, the chronicle as a whole doesn't rely on suspense and it isn't really about the specifics and aftermath of a crime; the opening sentences, which freely hint at the story's resolution, tell us that much.
Instead, Ward uses his protagonist's story to climb inside the mind and heart of the prototypical Reagan Era tradesman, for a startlingly intimate cross-section of the industrial strata of life on the eastern perimeter of the Rust Belt. He sees the American working class with the purity and the clarity of Walker Evans, only here, the perspective is an internal one - an everyman casting his gaze outward onto the surrounding world. As a result, the tale resonates psychological and emotional comprehension with beguiling richness. In its treatment of characters frequently overlooked in American fiction, it feels neither patronizing nor judgmental, but empathetic in the same vein as Steinbeck.
Much to his credit, Ward's view isn't a narrow paradigm. In less than 300 pages, via Red's outlook and experiences, we somehow get the whole sweeping picture of the blue collar experience, with all of its yens, fears, paper-thin rationalizations, crippling self-delusions and struggles for liberation. We begin to understand how elements both extreme (alcoholism, pills, mistresses) and incidental/low key (irony, sarcasm) function as psychological barbiturates - anesthesia against the cruelty of the universe. Ward also shows us the lure of crime as a potential out for the underdog, yet reminds us just how easily the dice could fall either way, resulting in personal triumph or cataclysm. Even when a victorious note sounds, brooding undercurrents of fatality, of despair, of apocalypse, linger sub-rosa, never far from the surface. Two of the central themes involve the neglect and desecration of the surrounding world, and the capriciousness of fate for individual lives - ideas that add to the story's foreboding quality. But lest this sound difficult to endure, the author's compassion for the main character and his plight permeates the material and keeps it buoyant - concluding with a stunning, poetic note of personal reinvention and self-deliverance for Red.
Ward's style of writing - typically so electric and vibrant - peaked with this tome. In addition to numerous passages that are wickedly funny (a throwaway bit about modeling an Italian restaurant after the movie Spartacus tops the list), the descriptions and dialogue have a kind of surrealistic lucidity - where else do you get metaphors like, "His eyelids hung down over his face like two broken blinds in a Baltimore street flophouse" and "I would dream of being driven blindfolded in chariots... knowing that somewhere, just around one of the bends, there wasn't going to be any more concrete, and I would fall off the edge of the world"?
Even 30 years after its initial appearance, the novel continues to affirm its author's stature as one of our most gifted literary craftsmen and chroniclers of the Middle American experience.
February 20, 2021
Red Baker is a blue-collar guy who gets laid off from his job in a steel foundry in Baltimore, Md. He is the stereotypical hard-working family guy who spends leisure time in dive bars and strip joints with his buddies while reminiscing about his athletic glory days. Ugh!
After he loses his job, he and his best friend Dog go on a downward spiral of hardcore drinking and a bit of drug use that gets more and more out of control. His long-suffering wife comes home from her waitressing job smelling like fish and she's losing her lovely figure so Red dreams of running off with his stripper girlfriend. Red and his friend Dog are unsympathetic characters. We are supposed to feel bad for them because Red loves his son Ace so much and hangs all hope on Ace's athletic talents and his friend Dog sits on the couch watching cartoons with his daughters so you can tell how much he really loves them.
The story takes place during the mid-1980s when "unskilled labor" jobs are flying overseas while governments are investing in gentrifying cities leaving the workers without shiny career paths behind.
The atmosphere of the book is written very well. You can envision the grungy snow and seedy places that Red hangs around and the dark wood-paneled basement of his house where he downs his Wild Turkey heading for oblivion.
The book was originally released in the 1980s and then republished in 2012. I had extremely mixed feelings about this book. It seemed so cliched but I think it was an accurate picture of the language and attitudes of the time.
After he loses his job, he and his best friend Dog go on a downward spiral of hardcore drinking and a bit of drug use that gets more and more out of control. His long-suffering wife comes home from her waitressing job smelling like fish and she's losing her lovely figure so Red dreams of running off with his stripper girlfriend. Red and his friend Dog are unsympathetic characters. We are supposed to feel bad for them because Red loves his son Ace so much and hangs all hope on Ace's athletic talents and his friend Dog sits on the couch watching cartoons with his daughters so you can tell how much he really loves them.
The story takes place during the mid-1980s when "unskilled labor" jobs are flying overseas while governments are investing in gentrifying cities leaving the workers without shiny career paths behind.
The atmosphere of the book is written very well. You can envision the grungy snow and seedy places that Red hangs around and the dark wood-paneled basement of his house where he downs his Wild Turkey heading for oblivion.
The book was originally released in the 1980s and then republished in 2012. I had extremely mixed feelings about this book. It seemed so cliched but I think it was an accurate picture of the language and attitudes of the time.
June 5, 2014
Romanzo estremamente compatto, avvolgente e opprimente, quasi quanto la Baltimora inospitale, spazzata da gelo e neve e cosparsa di ghiaccio, nella quale muove i suoi passi sbilenchi e senza meta il protagonista Red Baker. Quarantenne, alcolista, fresco di licenziamento e senza molte altre prospettive; una giovane amante che balla in un locale gestito da mafiosi, un amico dedito ad alzare le mani molto velocemente, una moglie e un figlio che ama più di ogni altra cosa.
Robert Ward descrive molto bene la spirale di rassegnazione e delirio nella quale il protagonista precipita e da cui non sembra esserci via d’uscita, tra tentativi sempre più maldestri e ricadute che ogni volta lo avvicinano un po’ di più al fondo di tutto. Non ci saranno appigli, momenti di tregua, quei pochi diventeranno ben presto solo fugaci chimere, fino all’epilogo, forse un po’ scontato, ma non per questo meno accogliente, come il primo vero respiro da quando si è entrati nella vita di Red Baker.
http://www.subliminalpop.com/?p=8792
Robert Ward descrive molto bene la spirale di rassegnazione e delirio nella quale il protagonista precipita e da cui non sembra esserci via d’uscita, tra tentativi sempre più maldestri e ricadute che ogni volta lo avvicinano un po’ di più al fondo di tutto. Non ci saranno appigli, momenti di tregua, quei pochi diventeranno ben presto solo fugaci chimere, fino all’epilogo, forse un po’ scontato, ma non per questo meno accogliente, come il primo vero respiro da quando si è entrati nella vita di Red Baker.
http://www.subliminalpop.com/?p=8792
October 18, 2012
Wonderful read. As a lifelong (more or less) Baltimoron it's fascinating to watch the beginning of the identity changes Baltimore has been going through for the last thirty years. Add in the downbeat local economy and this book is just as relevant now as it was in 85. Hell, even the O's are winning again. The backdrop of Baltimore does well to mirror the decline of Red himself, both disarmingly charming despite their myriad of problems.
Red Baker is a beautiful and gritty document of a lost man trying to find himself. It's a contemporary classic noir in the best way, because it's not about the guns but the darkness in the soul of a man, trying to hide it.
Red Baker is a beautiful and gritty document of a lost man trying to find himself. It's a contemporary classic noir in the best way, because it's not about the guns but the darkness in the soul of a man, trying to hide it.
April 16, 2015
Recently, I read an Ann Tyler book for the first time. While she uses Baltimore, it's more as a backdrop for a family drama. Whereas Red Baker is blue collar Baltimore down to its loving, gritty soul. The city comes alive in a way that is difficult to do for many writers in that it's not a display for tourists but a functional character, one that exalts and drags down the protagonist (or anti-hero, whatever). Those familiar with the decline of blue collar labor in Baltimore, especially w/r/t the steel mills can relate and Robert Ward captures it in all of its kitschy, loving, racist, damaged glory. A must read if you're a native.
January 27, 2024
I found this a convincing portrait of a white Baltimore steel worker who experiences the dislocating, alienating, degrading impact of long term unemployment. Red Baker loses a job that he realizes is probably never coming back. Everything is from his point of view. You follow Red as he travels from the unemployment office, bars, the local strip joint, a temporary job, his struggling pal Dog’s house, and his home. Life becomes an emotional rollercoaster for him.
I found myself mostly rooting for Red, although I didn’t especially like him. He is a bit of a jerk - Red vacillates between commitment to his weary wife Wanda and son Ace, and dreaming of escape with his stripper girlfriend to the promised land of Florida. He’s casually racist toward Blacks and Asians which is common among his peer group. He is reasonably intelligent, but has trouble adapting to change. Ward’s accomplishment is to make him sympathetic because of his desperate situation. Losing his job threatens his identity, undermines his pride, because if he can’t work hard and make a half decent living, providing for his family, who is he?
Which face of Red Baker will prevail? Will his marriage survive? What will happen to him and his family?
The characters are believable, although a bit generic. That’s my main criticism - usually there’s a little (or a lot) that makes each person a unique individual. But this book is about something fundamental. Millions lost their factory jobs and there were very few resources for them beyond unemployment compensation. Perhaps if our trade policies had been different, and there had been more support for a transition to other jobs, we would not be in the frightening mess we are in today.
I found myself mostly rooting for Red, although I didn’t especially like him. He is a bit of a jerk - Red vacillates between commitment to his weary wife Wanda and son Ace, and dreaming of escape with his stripper girlfriend to the promised land of Florida. He’s casually racist toward Blacks and Asians which is common among his peer group. He is reasonably intelligent, but has trouble adapting to change. Ward’s accomplishment is to make him sympathetic because of his desperate situation. Losing his job threatens his identity, undermines his pride, because if he can’t work hard and make a half decent living, providing for his family, who is he?
Which face of Red Baker will prevail? Will his marriage survive? What will happen to him and his family?
The characters are believable, although a bit generic. That’s my main criticism - usually there’s a little (or a lot) that makes each person a unique individual. But this book is about something fundamental. Millions lost their factory jobs and there were very few resources for them beyond unemployment compensation. Perhaps if our trade policies had been different, and there had been more support for a transition to other jobs, we would not be in the frightening mess we are in today.
July 18, 2012
I'm not sure how (or why) Red Baker by Robert Ward ended up as a free download, but I pulled it down. I had never heard of Red Baker or Robert Ward, even though Red Baker was listed as the best novel published in the United States in 1985. Really? The title character is a down and out (mostly of his own doing) laid-off steelworker in Baltimore in the mid-1980s. I've been laid-off five times in my life. I've never reacted like the type of asshole that this guy did.
Nevertheless, this is a good character study of someone missing out on all the signals in his life that people do care about you even when things look their worst. His descent is slow and painful. I would have died twice over with the abuse he puts his body through, and there are times, long before people tire of his antics that I don't understand why they care about the man so much.
While well written (the author's had 27 years to fix any issues with it), I found the ending not terribly redemptive. It was somewhat hopeful, but so many people where hurt along the way that it gives new meaning to forgiveness. Best book in 1985? I don't know, but despite my carping about some of it's deficiencies it is a solid read with a dark, gritty view of Baltimore, serving as both a setting and a character, before some of the renaissance that went into making it a better city. It's a solid 4 for me.
Nevertheless, this is a good character study of someone missing out on all the signals in his life that people do care about you even when things look their worst. His descent is slow and painful. I would have died twice over with the abuse he puts his body through, and there are times, long before people tire of his antics that I don't understand why they care about the man so much.
While well written (the author's had 27 years to fix any issues with it), I found the ending not terribly redemptive. It was somewhat hopeful, but so many people where hurt along the way that it gives new meaning to forgiveness. Best book in 1985? I don't know, but despite my carping about some of it's deficiencies it is a solid read with a dark, gritty view of Baltimore, serving as both a setting and a character, before some of the renaissance that went into making it a better city. It's a solid 4 for me.
June 6, 2022
Man, I loved almost all of this novel. Loved the straightforward, hard-boiled voice of its narrator, Red, who tries to maintain his dignity after being laid off from Larnel Steel. I loved its cast of characters: from Red's incredibly understanding wife Wanda, to his unhinged best friend Dog, to minor characters, like "Miss Motwown," and the mysterious man with no nose. I also loved the insights about Baltimore, the city I call home, and about the capitalist system that chews up workers and spits them out. In that way, the book is a throwback to those gritty turn-of-the-century novels like The Jungle.
The problem for me was the ending, which felt cheap and unearned, and kind of abrupt. I was bracing myself for inevitable tragedy, which seemed to be foreshadowed from the beginning. Instead, we got Red's reconciliation with his wife and son and the family's relocation to El Paso: essentially, "they all lived happily ever after."
This is still a great novel. Pity to have to take off a whole star for what amounts to three pages at the end.
The problem for me was the ending, which felt cheap and unearned, and kind of abrupt. I was bracing myself for inevitable tragedy, which seemed to be foreshadowed from the beginning. Instead, we got Red's reconciliation with his wife and son and the family's relocation to El Paso: essentially, "they all lived happily ever after."
This is still a great novel. Pity to have to take off a whole star for what amounts to three pages at the end.
September 9, 2011
So twenty-five years later nothing has changed.
Families and friendships are torn asunder under the stress of unemployment.
If you or someone you know is currently desperately seeking a way to “keep it together”, I think you will find this book to be depressingly truthful.
I would rather read to escape.
Families and friendships are torn asunder under the stress of unemployment.
If you or someone you know is currently desperately seeking a way to “keep it together”, I think you will find this book to be depressingly truthful.
I would rather read to escape.
January 21, 2013
This book was well written, a must for me to enjoy a book. It is the story of an out-of-work steel worker, and his enslavement by his own ego. He had so much to be grateful for, yet he couldn't get past his need for a "manly" job to see the wonders of the life he had. Although we are as dissimilar as two people can be, I can see my own struggle with ego in his.
June 21, 2020
Uno spaccato brutale e miserabile dell'America anni 80 nella quale non c'è spazio per nessun American Dream. Baltimora, Maryland, 1983. Red Baker ha 40 anni e un passato da campione di basket in fieri. Oramai è solo un operaio in una acciaieria del posto. Ha moglie e un figlio ma vorrebbe essere tutto tranne che lì; vorrebbe avere tutto tranne quello che ha.
Quando l'acciaieria chiude e licenzia tutti, Red si ritrova a spasso, senza prospettive, senza soldi, senza speranze. La sua è da sempre una vita di fallimenti; per lui l?American Dream non è stato mai nemmeno sognato. E' un miserabile; senza ambizioni. Un povero disgraziato che passa le giornate a bere fino ad ubriacarsi; a sognare di fuggire in Florida con la sua amante spogliarellista; a vedere i suoi amici spararsi un colpo in testa per la disperazione o impazzire.
Robert Ward con "Io sono Red Baker" pubblicato da Barney edizioni, è un racconto feroce e brutale di un'America molto più vera e reale di quanto si possa immaginare.
In questa America, non basta essere nati con il colore della pelle giusto per vedere realizzati i propri sogni; in questo angolo di mondo, bianchi e neri si fanno la lotta per la sopravvivenza in una guerra tra poveri.
Un racconto feroce, brutale, cattivo; bastardo come può essere bastardo il paese delle opportunità deluse, negate, irrealizzate.
Ho odiato Red Baker. Un fallito incapace di accettare la realtà delle cose; ancora ed assurdamente legato ad un sogno di gloria adolescenziale; un miserabile che sa solo sbronzarsi; impasticcarsi, deludere chi lo ama. Una storia forte come quelle cantate da Bruce Springsteen , perché Philadelphia e le sue strade è qui, a Baltimora.
Quando l'acciaieria chiude e licenzia tutti, Red si ritrova a spasso, senza prospettive, senza soldi, senza speranze. La sua è da sempre una vita di fallimenti; per lui l?American Dream non è stato mai nemmeno sognato. E' un miserabile; senza ambizioni. Un povero disgraziato che passa le giornate a bere fino ad ubriacarsi; a sognare di fuggire in Florida con la sua amante spogliarellista; a vedere i suoi amici spararsi un colpo in testa per la disperazione o impazzire.
Robert Ward con "Io sono Red Baker" pubblicato da Barney edizioni, è un racconto feroce e brutale di un'America molto più vera e reale di quanto si possa immaginare.
In questa America, non basta essere nati con il colore della pelle giusto per vedere realizzati i propri sogni; in questo angolo di mondo, bianchi e neri si fanno la lotta per la sopravvivenza in una guerra tra poveri.
Un racconto feroce, brutale, cattivo; bastardo come può essere bastardo il paese delle opportunità deluse, negate, irrealizzate.
Ho odiato Red Baker. Un fallito incapace di accettare la realtà delle cose; ancora ed assurdamente legato ad un sogno di gloria adolescenziale; un miserabile che sa solo sbronzarsi; impasticcarsi, deludere chi lo ama. Una storia forte come quelle cantate da Bruce Springsteen , perché Philadelphia e le sue strade è qui, a Baltimora.
September 4, 2019
Mi piacciono le storie che hanno come protagonisti i falliti, i reietti e quelli che fanno di tutto per redimersi e l’attimo dopo sono con le ginocchia affondate in tutto quello da cui cercavano di liberarsi.
Ho un debole, infatti, per le storie delle persone che cadono e che si rialzano, nonostante i lividi e le cicatrici ma anche per quelle erose dai sensi di colpa ma comunque bravissime a bluffare e "Io sono Red Baker" appartiene sicuramente a questa categoria. Gran bel libro, davvero!
Recensione completa: https://www.librofilia.it/io-sono-red...
Ho un debole, infatti, per le storie delle persone che cadono e che si rialzano, nonostante i lividi e le cicatrici ma anche per quelle erose dai sensi di colpa ma comunque bravissime a bluffare e "Io sono Red Baker" appartiene sicuramente a questa categoria. Gran bel libro, davvero!
Recensione completa: https://www.librofilia.it/io-sono-red...
June 27, 2024
Nothing positive about this slice of life story: Depressing, bleak and sad. I quit after 50%.
July 14, 2012
What happens when you get laid off from the job you have been doing for nearly 20 years and you discover no-one is interested in employing you again so you can support your family ? Red Baker finds out in this cracking novel. First published in 1985 it still feels relevant today and Ward has created a fine narrator in Red - you may not always agree with his thoughts or actions but you will understand what compels him to do what he does.
Had been looking forward to this after seeing that Harry Crews had recommended it and it didn't disappoint. Superb
Had been looking forward to this after seeing that Harry Crews had recommended it and it didn't disappoint. Superb
Want to read
December 30, 20072006
August 1, 2011
1986 PEN Center USA Award Winner for Fiction
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