Broken Trip

by Peter Anastas

In this novel of Glocester, MA in the 1990's, Peter Anastas penetrates the facade of the venerable seaport depicted in tourist brochures to reveal the lives of men and women who've been by-passed by the economic boom. The narative unfolds against the background of a fisning industry crisis, a city in transition. The title, an indigenous expression for a failed or unprofitable fishing voyage, suggests the misfortune that besets many of the characters' lives--and the tragedy waiting for some of them.

250 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2004

About the author

Peter Anastas (1937-) is an American author of novels, memoirs, and non-fiction.

Reviews

[Peter Tuttle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of Peter's finest books. He's honest about the violence- especially after the onset of the drug culture in working class Gloucester- but also about the lyricism, the feeling of profound good luck to be living in a community with a beautiful, close knit soul, in an extraordinarily beautiful place. The rough tenements and the grand, Victorian summer houses of Edward Hopper's Gloucester watercolors come alive with the kinds of people, whom Anastas has portrayed, who lived in them. -And everyone, lucky and unlucky, rich and poor, bathed in that spectacular sea light of the Gloucester Harbor amphitheater, with its surrounding hills, and the Our Lady of Good Voyage church, high up on the hill, offering her blessing and protection to all.