BOOMBOX

by Gabriel Cohen

One block. Four neighbors. One very loud problem. Black and white, young and old, men and women, they live in Brooklyn's Boerum Hill, sharing a courtyard in relative harmony. It's what a former mayor liked to call "the urban mosaic." There's Carol Fasone, a secretary enjoying her new marriage to a Bosnian immigrant. There's Mitchell Brett, a Wall Streeter transplanted from Manhattan's Upper East Side, trying to get his wife pregnant. There's Grace Howard, hoping for a promotion in her corporate job, surprised to find herself beginning a romance with a member of the Board. And then there's teenage Jamel Wilson, who buys a big sound system to impress his friends from the projects around the corner, blasts gangster rap into the backyard gardens, and--over the course of one hot summer--pushes the block's friendships and alliances past the breaking point. In Boombox, the author of the Edgar Award-nominated mystery novel Red Hook turns to a different kind of a finely-observed urban drama, and a heartfelt, unflinching answer to Rodney King's plaintive "Can we all get along?"

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2007

About the author

Gabriel Cohen’s debut novel Red Hook was nominated for the Edgar award for Best First Novel, and he is also the author of The Ninth Step, The Graving Dock, Boombox, Neptune Avenue, and the nonfiction book Storms Can’t Hurt the Sky: A Buddhist Path Through Divorce. He has written for The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Gourmet.com, Shambhala Sun, the New York Post magazine, and Time Out New York. He teaches in the Writing Program at the Pratt Institute; has taught writing at New York University; and lectures extensively.

Reviews

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was mostly well written. The black characters weren't underwritten when compared to the white ones. * Though some of the slang in Jamels chapters was odd, like "moefuckee"? He used it twice. WTF? I feel like the climax could have been unpacked more, rather than "this horrible thing happens, here's a couple of paragraphs about the next morning, the end."

Moefuckee?

* taking off a star, because technically, they were all underwritten.

[Kristina · Rating 3 out of 5]

I randomly checked out this book from the New Fiction shelf at the local library. It piqued my interest as it was about an racial/class tension in an urban area, particularly Brooklyn. The story takes place in a really unique area--where upper class people live in luxurious houses and the projects are right around the corner. I found the book to be interesting and different from others that I have read lately. The author develops the lives of 4 characters--a middle class white woman, a yuppie young white guy, a black boy with a boombox, and a professional black woman. There lives intertwine throughout the book. The thing that I liked most about the book was the "stereotyping" that occurs and the views that each of the characters had about race and class. I would recommend it for a quick read--it will allow you to escape your comfort zone and see a snapshot of some of the racial and class tension that is rampant in cities today.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't usually go to the library and randomly choose books because my "to-read" list is so long, but I did exactly that last Friday and picked out BoomBox for two reasons. The first being the title, I mean, come on, BoomBox! Yes! Secondly, the cover of the book features a courtyard with separate little garden plots and the idea of that has always appealed to me in a weird way, considering how the thought of working in my own yard doesn't interest me in the least. Cohen tells the story of four distinctly different people all living in the same building in Brooklyn. I think the author did a good job of developing each character with enough depth to keep the readers attention. Each story-line was equally troubling for entirely unique reasons and the ending of the novel was disturbing and unpredictable.

[Lauren · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like many books, this one suffers from the problem of how it should end. Confronting race in Brooklyn, the book offers a multi-perspective look at one block's everyday experiences, yet the loaded ending seems a bit heavy-handed and does little to respond to the book's questions.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’ll written for the most part. Lame ending.

[Malika · Rating 5 out of 5]

The story is not the star of the book. "Boombox" IS too short , and I thought the storyline easily warranted a deeper dive. Each story goes from 0 to 60 in a matter of pages. The single woman, the plain wife, and the young husband all have these changes of heart/circumstance that seem to come out of nowhere because they haven't been fully developed. The teen and his mother are also not developed. When this book ended, I was left wondering WHY all of these things happened in the first place.



The star was Cohen's storytelling itself, and I'll be sure to read more from him!

[Danielle · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a novel about a Brooklyn neighborhood where a kid starts playing rap music very loudly, causing strife among the neighbors. I have mixed feelings about this one. The author tackles the sensitive topics of culture clash and gentrification. He makes a valiant effort to portray multiple perspectives, but the characters are basically just an assortment of Brooklyn stereotypes so they don't generate much empathy. It reminded me of Richard Price or Tom Wolfe but without the humor and the snappy dialogue. Mildly thought provoking and a quick read.

[Carliegoddard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very good fast paced book with an ending I was somewhat surprised with. Set in New York, 4 sets of people live in a small housing complex that provides a garden which is what most of people liked about the place even though houses are very close to each other. Noise starts to become a real issue and we get a glimpse of how these people choose to deal with it. Along the way you meet these people and their own issues of everyday life. I liked it, it wasnt writing at its best, but it was real and I liked that.

[Christie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A block in Cobble Hill is changed when one teenaged boy gets a huge stereo. Neighbors join together to get one young black man to turn his music down, but the results are awful; a Wall Streeter accidentally shoots a baby girl in his attempt to scare the young man into behaving responsibly.

I really liked this book; not only because it justified my own opinions about guns, it did an excellent job of addressing the problem of gentrification without getting preachy.

[Dr Penner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gabriel Cohen does an exceptional job balancing a variety of characters in this one Brooklyn courtyard. At times is seems to me that there’s not enough attention devoted to each of these characters but I guess that’s the downfall of Cohen’s ambition with this book. I will say it was very interesting to see each of their perspectives and how they played off of each other. Overall, I would recommend this book simply to see all of these unique characters in action.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It is a fast read, but the characters and their individual story lines are well developed.

Each of the characters share a courtyard in Brooklyn and it is a portrayal of the stereotypes and racism that prevent them from becoming a community. The ending is shocking and disturbing, but I highly recommend it.

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was actually a little surprised by how much I enjoyed this book. The characters were unique, each with their own growth and issues, and I thought Cohen did a nice job accurately portraying gentrification and racial disparity in Brooklyn, as well as the problems that can surface when tensions rise between four very different neighbors. It's a quick read, but a worthwhile one.

[Kaite Stover · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read it on the bus home. I thought this book was terrible. It was plodding, had limited and stereotyped characters, and the action didn't pick up until the last three pages. I won't be suggesting this book to anyone.

[Sandi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Neighbors in a small area of Brooklyn seem to get along just fine even though they are a diverse bunch but when one young black man buys a new stereo system and proceeds to play rap at a high level the frustration grows to a boiling point during the summer.

[Blake Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

urban brooklyn story. back before Brooklyn was just one big Oberlin Alumni Association.

[Academy Chicago · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spike Lee should stick to Knicks games, because he just got schooled by this novel. (Just kidding, love ya Spike!)

[Jaime · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really cute book about brooklyn. For sure read it if you live in bk or especially boerum hill.

[Christian · Rating 2 out of 5]

A first novel set right in my neighborhood. I thought it was an accurate depiction of my part of Brooklyn, but didn’t really say much in the end.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story of gentrifying brooklyn had the smell of the gentrifier about it.

[Trick]

I just read this. It was really good until the end.