Tripping in the Void is the first installment of a three-volume series. The interconnected stories are a dark, voyeuristic journey through the suburbs of Long Island New York in the nineties. They focus on the lives of teenage misfits, prostitutes, bikers and bullies, all known for poverty, drugs, and violence. MATURE READERS ONLY.
After letting this book settle into my brain, I upped my review from 3 to 4 stars. I first dismissed this as another raunchy NYC cum druggie inspired novel. As the day wore on, parts of the book slipped into my subconscious and I started pondering different things: the author’s superb use of cadence, his stilted sentences, punctuation and even his use of upper case letters to make a point.
This era (the 90’s) is when I grew up in NYC (Queens). Much of the music, the drug scene, the seedy bars were all familiar to me. Fortunately, I turned out much better than Chris, Jonathan and the rest. But, Mr. Locantore’s ability to paint a bleak picture of this time all through his characters eyes -proves his writing is genius. It evoked the deepest, most traumatic feelings in me. Remembering those good times, but the oh so bad times and the pain of friends forever gone.
Locantore’s writing stands up next to some of the finest NYC writers such as Jim Carroll and Patti Smith. I’m hoping to see more of his novels in the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
The writer has a way of telling the story with exceptional details so much that I was able to see the characters alive in my head and connected with them. Some parts were raw and gritty which only made me not want to put it down. Hope there will be more books by this author!
This was a very enjoyable read . Was written so well and flowed to the point I couldn’t put it down . The writer had a great way of making you feel like you really knew the characters and places by superb description and detail. I would highly recommend this book to the generation that grew up at that time and to the younger generation now who could gain a lot also. Put it on your Xmas list ladies n gents !