All Strings Attached

by Joseph Colicchio

New Jersey's Bon Secours Continuous Care Facility is located on the Hudson River, just two miles south of the George Washington Bridge and across from gleaming Manhattan. This unlikely setting for Weehawken High School student Thomas Moore's summer travails couldn't be more different from the open road adventures of his 22-year-old sibling, Alex. From the air-conditioned halls of Bon Secours to the remote wilderness of Starvation Lake, Utah, these contrasts are all part of the mix in Joseph Colicchio's fourth novel, ALL STRINGS ATTACHED.

It was July 2008 and Tommy, an impressionable teenager, was beginning his Life Skills internship at the local Roman Catholic elder care facility with Cathy Degnan, his conscientious but complicated supervisor. At the same time, his big brother Alex had just jumped into a friend's car, heading west to discover the future. While on the road, Alex's exploits contribute exciting and often page-turning elements to the narrative: part thriller, part road-trip saga.

For Tommy, it is the nursing home's residents and staff which open his eyes to the world in all its aching beauty. The novel celebrates the inevitable interweaving of life and loss. Colicchio's writing stirs. As one of the senior residents explains it, life is "a regular roil of emotions...anger, surprise, shame, pride, embarrassment. All the biggies." From Sandy, a resident who shut out the world since his son Joe was murdered decades prior, to Sara, the elder home's "new girl" who still embraces happiness, the novel reminds us that people can choose to seek growth and joy despite life's struggles.

The brothers' two stories overlap in surprising, life-affirming ways. Alternating with Tommy's summer of awakening at Bon Secours, Colicchio deftly presents Alex's own dramatically different season of growth and discovery, as his summer road trip takes engaging and ultimately harrowing turns across America.

Often profound, Colicchio's work is consistently engrossing as he skillfully balances the relationship between destiny and choice, between will and circumstance, and between choices made or stubbornly avoided. Frequently a page-turner, the author also mixes in healthy doses of rich characterization and storytelling which demand a more savoring speed, as he explores the inner complexities of human experience. Humorous, tender, and wise, ALL STRINGS ATTACHED is a brutally honest examination of the circle of life, and as one of the book's elders declares: "What beauty, what beauty life is."

ebook

Published June 7, 2022

Reviews

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Right from the get go I was intrigued by the authors casual voice and interested in how/if the author was going to manage to keep "the strings attached" between one brother on the road traveling across the US (LOVE the scenes at the music festival) and the other working at an assisted living home. It seemed like a bit of a stretch, but the host of hilarious minor character, connecting themes, and drama(s) that builds throughout the second half of the book made it hard to put down. In the end it brought out all of the emotions I look for in a book. Definitely one that will make you cry one page and laugh on the next.

Highly recommend.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Strings Attached is the fourth novel I’ve read by Joseph Colicchio, and with this one, he is at the top of his game. On one level it’s a novel about two brothers in NJ, one in high school and the other on a cross country trip of self discovery after college, and how they each “come of age” in different ways. But then it’s also that rare book that masterfully describes older characters, over 70 who live together in a continuing care facility, not glossed over as someone’s demanding parent or pathetic grandparent, not described only through flashbacks of their younger years, but very much alive and worth knowing, described with depth and humor and specificity. And even better, as the title suggests, the meandering lines of each of the characters’ journeys--young and old, continuing care residents, hitchhikers, ex-nuns, high school slackers, naturally overlap and criss-cross, because, well, all strings are attached..

But don’t roll your eyes: there is nothing false or saccharine here. On the contrary, these characters are unpredictable and rough-edged, flawed but compelling, rooted in their time and place. The dialogue is fresh and surprising, with the rhythms of real speech, and at times will have you laugh out loud. If there is in fact such a thing as a Great American Novel (and of course there isn't only one), this is a candidate for membership in that club. Read it. You will see yourself in it, and your own humanity will be restored; even at this dire moment we find ourselves in, you will experience reconnecting with a world that is worth being part of.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

Soulful, tender, witty, dark, and suspenseful, Joe’s coming of age story of two young New Jersey brothers on vastly different summer journeys will leave an indelible mark on any reader fortunate enough to experience it. If, as Chekhov argues, the aim of fiction is “absolute and honest truth,” All Strings Attached nails it. Joe deftly transitions between 17-year old Tommy’s brief, life-changing internship at the Bon Secours Continuing Age Facility and 22-year old Alex’s abbreviated cross country journey into the belly of America and beyond. Each page oozes eternal truths and delivers a motley slate of edgy, eclectic, loveable, and abhorrent characters—all genuine and finely crafted. I simply loved All Strings Attached.

Keith Perkins

[Katie Sweeting · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mesmerizing

I just finished Joe Colicchio’s All Strings Attached. Mesmerizing - definitely captured my complete attention. I read the last two thirds this afternoon. The characters are real—quirky, quixotic, quaint, and the plot is original and unexpected. From the “old folks” at Bon Secours to the brothers Tommy and Alex to the kids, the characters all have their own unique twists, foibles, joys, and sorrows. I not only enjoyed the plot and the characters, but the writing is exquisite. I admired the abundant alliteration. This book would make a great movie, but for now, read the book!

[Barney A. Schlinger]

I really enjoyed this read. The author's style of writing is easy to follow while, at the same time, his scenes are so richly described that you feel that you are there seeing it all with your own eyes. It is the same with the characters, but in their case, you not only feel as if you know them but you also quickly find that you care about them. In this way, the author captures the reader making the book a page turner because you really care what will happen next in their adventures or in thier struggles and grief. For all of their foibles, humans are, in large part, loveable. The author has a masterful way of reminding us that we are all part of a larger, interconnected human story.

[Bernice Binko · Rating 5 out of 5]

All Strings Attached is an engaging and heartfelt novel. Colicchio's description of the characters is phenomenal. They become live to you as you read along. The coming-of-age experiences are described with humor and empathy.I would highly recommend this book.You won't be sorry that you picked it up!

[Jeanne Litwin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It creatively weaves together the story of two brothers’ personal growth experiences over one summer. I was fascinated with Tommy’s “all strings attached theory” and loved being on the road with Alex.

[Pamela Sachs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book club book. Many discussions come from this story. I enjoyed the characters in this book and the journey you go on with them. The book makes you reflect on life and the different relationships and moments you have through life. An enjoyable read.

[Susan McGovern · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written book we can all relate to on some level. Most enjoyable read!