After Hours

by Edwin Torres

The Spunky Bear family travels by bus, train, and car. On board pages.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Crime, Latino

277 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 1982

About the author

Edwin Torres is a former New York State Supreme Court judge and author, who wrote the 1975 novel Carlito's Way. His book was the basis for the 1993 movie of the same name, starring Al Pacino, and for the 1979 book After Hours, the sequel to Carlito's Way.

In 1958, Torres was admitted to the New York State Bar. In 1959, as an assistant district attorney, Torres participated in the prosecution of Sal "the Capeman" Agron. Shortly thereafter he became a criminal defense attorney.

In 1977, Torres was appointed to the New York State Criminal Court. In 1980 he was selected to the State Supreme Court, where he served as a justice in the Twelfth Judicial District in New York City. The Supreme Court has jurisdiction over felony cases, and Torres presided over a number of high-profile murder cases.

He retired from the bench in 2008 and since then has served on the New York State Athletic Commission.

A film adaptation of Q & A was released in 1990, directed by Sidney Lumet, and it starred Nick Nolte and Armand Assante. "After Hours" was filmed in 1993, but used the title Carlito's Way to avoid being confused with Martin Scorsese's 1985 film After Hours.

Reviews

[Stephen A Bess]

This is the first book that I've read just because I wanted to read it. In other words, there was no teacher involved. I was in my first year of the Navy and stranded out sea. I wanted something to past the time so I picked up this book. After Hours was partly based on the movie, Carlito's Way. I think that the story was based in 1950's New York-- back when New York was still a "real" city. I really liked the colorful street language in this book. I found it to be poetic.

[Neil Reive]

Well, finally, decades down the line, I have finally got around to reading the novel that my favourite film of all time is based on. There was a reason I perpetually delayed reading this- I mean, how can anything hold up to the high standards that I regard the Carlito's Way film? Short answer, it can't.

The book and film obviously share many key moments and this is the book's downfall. While the book almost glosses over many action scenes, the film expands on them, gives them depth, and produces some exceptional suspenseful moments.

After Hours is still a great novel, but pales slightly when compared against the fantastic film adaption.

[Nyx]

Probably one of the few times that I preferred the movie to the book, but it was still a good read.

[Ashley Nichols]

The mafia but with better vocabulary.

[Bill]

The parts of this book that got turned into Carlito's Way were really good, but the Klinefeld story was boring as fuck.

[Mike]

This sequel to Carlito's Way is a pure joy to read!

[Sofian El-Alfy]

الجزء الثاني من مغامرات كارليتو

[Clifton Lott Jr.]

One more Carlito novel please, Mr. Torres!

That's all I'm asking! Great sequel, enjoyed the narrative structure and changes in perspective.
One more ride with Brigante please!

[Seth]

The prequel to this book (Carlito's Way) is published entirely through the first person narration of the title charachter: Carlito Brigante' It's enticing, the spelling is not always correct and boy does the charachter like to chase women. His honorable Judge Edwin Torres wouldn't want the reader to believe that he himself was nothing more than a degenerate barely literate street hood who can publish a poorly written trash novel just because he himself is a minority and some people like to read that kind of stuff...

So as a result Torres insures that only some chapters in this book are written through the narration of the Brigante charachter. Other chapters are written in third person narration. Many chapters are spent exploring court room dramas both in and out of the house. (Yes, I've read your biography I appreciate that you went to law school and became a judge and your not just a street hood with a publishing contract) The court chapters focus on the charachters of Dave Klienfeld (memorably portrayed by Sean Penn in the film version) and his father (charachter ommited on film)

The frequent changes from 1st to third person seem a bit strange but they are coherent to understand. This book has significantly more filler material than it's predecessor. The film writers were able to pick the right chapters to omit and even change as the differences at the end of this book are not really as appealing as what we got in the 1993 film.

But overall, if you can get a dual copy of "Carlito's Way/After Hours" read them both, you won't be sorry that you did. It's a good "beach read" or fast paced story and it adds to the legacy of the charachters whom we know best from the silver screen.

[Martin Stanley]

Brilliant. The first-person narrative voice of Carlito Brigante is superbly realised and meshes well with the sections that feature the Kleinfelds and other characters. Although it follows a similar arc to the film, there are enough changes to keep the novel from feeling stale when compared with the movie (and vice-versa).

[Greg Catena]

Very Good Book, Highly recommend it

[Susan]

A lot more going on in this than in the movie (Carlito's Way). It got very complicated.