The Washington Square Ensemble

by Madison Smartt Bell

New York City's Washington Square is the cruising ground of small-town drug dealer Johnny B. Goode, his main man, Holy Mother, his Black Muslim enforcer, a Puerto Rican voodooist, and the storytelling Porco Miserio

Genres: Fiction, Novels, American, Drugs

352 pages, Paperback

First published February 24, 1983

About the author

Madison Smartt Bell is a critically acclaimed writer of more than a dozen novels and story collections, as well as numerous essays and reviews for publications such as Harper’s and the New York Times Book Review. His books have been finalists for both the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, among other honors. Bell has also taught at distinguished creative writing programs including the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Johns Hopkins, and Goucher College. His work is notable for its sweeping historical and philosophical scope matched with a remarkable sensitivity to the individual voices of characters on the margins of society.

Reviews

[Chuck · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was Bell's first book, back when he was the hot new thing on the NY writing scene. It's about several characters who are involved in the drug trade in Washington Square Park in NYC. The various characters are each unique. There's Johnny B. Goode, an Italian American with past associations with the Mafia. Holy Mother is a young man, a junkie who was a Mafia hit man until he became hooked on heroin. Porco Miserio is a white jazz musician, former mental patient, and alcoholic who lives on the streets. Santa Barbara is a former native of the Caribbean who is into santeria. Yusuf Ali is an African-American convert to Muslim. There are also a couple of white NY cops. It's a varied mix of characters, and I got the impression that the book was developed from exercises in characterization that Bell did as part of a creative writing program. That's not a knock on the book. I enjoyed it.

[Zachary Lacan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was glad to read a book of the 80s. Bell was briefly revived in this book, and truly prepared having after reading this some years after numerous albums, Big Time.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Madison Smartt Bell's first published novel is to literature what the 2004 N.B.A. (National Basketball Association) champion Detroit Pistons is to the game of basketball. It is that rare example when a collaboration of exceptional but not necessarily elite talent achieves the pinnacle of success at the highest level of its realm.

The '04 Detroit Pistons won the coveted title with very good players (Chauncy Billups Rasheed Wallace Ben Wallace Tayshaun Prince) but none among them are likely to be enshrined in basketball's hall of fame. Furthermore, (for those don't follow professional basketball) the N.B.A. as a league is driven by superstars and they are the players who usually win the titles. Similarly, the ensemble gives readers a character driven literary gem with a special group of personalities none of whom is a household name.

The ensemble lacks a historic fame beyond its pages type of character such as A Christmas Carol's Ebeneezer Scrooge. The ensemble's Yusuf Ali is one of my favorite literary characters but he is not etched into the public's imagination. As individuals they are interesting,diverse, multi-dimensional well written people who bring their story to life.

It's as if the plot of the story about this group of "pharmaceutical" distributors who ply their trade in Manhattan's Washington Square Park is conceived to keep readers preoccupied with the characters' whereabouts. The players, the lowlife Porco, the pagan Santa Barbara, the enforcer Holy Mother, the profound yet physically imposing wing man Yusuf Ali and the street savvy crew leader, Johnny B Good each perform the dual role of character and narrator.

They reveal a tale that says a much about them as it does the 1980's era, street level New York concrete jungle world in which they live. These characters who did their business at Washington Square deliver their message much like they ran their enterprise. Staying true to the ensemble manner, each played his individual role and contributed to the group's success: much like the 2004 Detroit Pistons.

[Ronald Wilcox · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing of the characters is actually pretty well done and each is very distinctive from the others with their own clear voice. Each could narrate his own novel but ... with all of them having a voice and also some of the ancillary personnel also narrating, the story begins to get garbled and less engaging. I do have to give the author props though for a good first novel and will likely read additional works by him.

[Peter Donald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gila monster of a book. Brilliant.

[K Rae · Rating 3 out of 5]

The character develo[ment was good. I wish I had read it in a book club, because I would like to discuss these characters.

[Jonathan Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A masterpiece. For more details:
https://discontinuednotes.com/2023/01...

[Alan Gerstle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting short novel -- the author's first.

[Jonathan Mukai · Rating 4 out of 5]

Magical realism + 80s NYC