Strange Jazz

by Steve Hermanos

From plucking antique furniture from abandoned rural Kansas homes, to exploring the wild underbelly of New York, narrator Jack Pierce describes the decline of his hometown and the kaleidoscopic New York he's privy to as a music critic. Jack is troubled by the rising tension between his two younger Benji -- a quintessential Wall Street Yuppie bent on becoming thenext Donald Trump -- and Archie -- an idealistic intern at the New YorkTimes. Archie and Benji clash after the Tompkins Square Riots, when Archieturns Benji's largest building into a shelter for homeless people. When Benji finds out, he takes matters into his own hands. Jack tries to mediate, only to be kidnapped by a female Coca-Cola-addicted drug lord who develops a crush on Jack. Jazz, poetry, the wheat fields of Kansas, the colorful cast of characters from their dying home town, the edgiest and most beautiful New Yorkers, all are notes and chords in this wonderful symphony of a novel.

300 pages, Paperback

First published January 21, 2001

About the author

"Going, Going, Gone!" was awarded the Kirkus Reviews star.

Reviews

[M George · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and sharp exploration of the "Rent" era Lower East side from the POV of non-junkies with better music cues and the rueful humanism the era deserves.