On the Yard

by Malcolm Braly, Jonathan Lethem (Introduction)

A major American novel, and arguably the finest work of literature ever to emerge from a US prison, On the Yard is a book of penetrating psychological realism in which Malcolm Braly paints an unforgettable picture of the complex and frightening world of the penitentiary. At its center are the violently intertwined stories of Chilly Willy, in trouble with the law from his earliest years and now the head of the prison's flourishing black market in drugs and sex, and of Paul, wracked with guilt for the murder of his wife and desperate for some kind of redemption. At once brutal and tender, clear-eyed and rueful, On the Yard presents the penitentiary not as an exotic location, an exception to everyday reality, but as an ordinary place, one every reader will recognize, American to the core.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Literature, Classics, American, 20th Century, Novels

376 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1967

About the author

Abandoned by his parents, Braly lived between foster homes and institutions for delinquent children, and by the time he was forty had spent nearly seventeen years in prison for burglary, serving time at Nevada State Prison, San Quentin, and Folsom State Prison. He wrote three novels behind bars, Felony Tank (1961), Shake Him Till He Rattles (1963), and It’s Cold Out There (1966), and upon his release in 1965 began to work on On the Yard. When prison authorities learned of the book they threatened to revoke his parole, and he was forced to complete it in secret. Published in 1967, after Braly’s parole had expired, On the Yard received wide acclaim. It was followed by his autobiography, False Starts: A Memoir of San Quentin and Other Prisons (1976), and a final work of fiction, The Protector (1979). Malcolm Braly enjoyed fifteen years of freedom before his death in a car accident at age fifty-four.

Reviews

[Kiekiat · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the Yard is a story about the downfall of a prison kingpin who controls a number of illegal enterprises in San Quentin prison. It was written in the 1960's, before our current "Prison Industrial Complex" started building like Donald Trump in his Atlantic City heyday, with the result being that America routinely houses over a million souls in its prisons. There are hints in, 'On the Yard,' though, of the times to come, and already San Quentin is overcrowded and most prisoners share small cells that were built with barely enough space for one man.

Malcolm Braley was imminently qualified to write such a novel, having been incarcerated in San Quentin and several other prisons for most of his youth till about age forty. One can tell when reading this book that the author knows his subject well.

Braley's book is extremely nuanced and contains a wide variety of characters and presents them in a way that shows their humanity and the remarkable adaptations prisoners use to adjust to life inside.

It rises above the average prison novel, though, not simply through its characterization; it surpasses most in the genre because it explores issues like the use and abuse of power, both among guards and prisoners and the system, in general. Likewise, it does not paint a black and white world--i.e., prisoners bad, correction employees good. In Braley's world, which was the real prison world of the early 1960's, even pedophiles are capable of heroic behavior and not all guards are vicious rednecks itching for a chance to beat down an inmate for even the tiniest infraction. There is a natural "us against them" conflict going on, but, when it comes to inmate-guard relations, most people wind up getting what they give out.

Prison is about change, as well, and new "fish" come and old reprobates leave until their next stretch. Along with change comes unpredictability, and some inmates trying hard to avoid trouble, inadvertently wind up in serious trouble just like someone wandering into a "bad" neighborhood might end up in a dire, life or death, struggle. And because all prisoners are attempting to eke out the best lives possible in an environment not designed to promote one's well-being, a lot of strange things occur. Things that would seem quite odd, that is, to someone on the outside, but which are taken as a matter of course in the twisted world of the prison.

An interesting facet of the novel is that it was written before a time when race relations and gangs were a serious prison issue. This was to change radically in the later years of the 1960's and is now taken for granted as part and parcel of prison life. In Braley's San Quentin, prison relationships were forged more on mutual need, affinity or hostility based on real or supposed breaches in the harsh prison etiquette. One's race was far less of an issue than one's behavior, and gangs based on ethnicity and street affiliations either did not exist, or played a small role in prison life.

Braley was released in 1965 at age 40 and never returned to prison. He had written three unpublished books before finishing this one, sub rosa, while on parole. It was published after his parole finished. An acclaimed memoir of his actual criminal and prison life followed (False Starts) and I've added this book to my voluminous "to be read" list. Braley married and had children and never returned to prison. He died in a car crash in 1980 at the age of 54. Braley should serve as an inspiration to all the fledgling and wannabe writers here on Goodreads. He began an early criminal career after years spent in foster care and homes for unwanted children and received his education mainly from prison libraries. Think of him reading his ass off in a place where the din was louder than a ball-bearing factory and keep hope alive.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 5 out of 5]

Easily the best novel I've read in a long time, and probably one of the best American novels I've ever read. Hyperbole, right?
Braly spent most of his adult life in prison and wrote several novels while he was still in, and worked on "On the Yard" after his release. It's so great, it's hard to know where to begin. Multiple character arcs spiral around the black vortices of Chilly Willy, yard king, the Barksdale/Kingpin of San Quentin, who controls the trade in drugs and cigarettes; Juleson, mild-mannered suburban guy who murdered his wife. They lock horns. Nothing happens the way you expect it.
At turns hilarious, harrowing, and infuriating (don't get enamored with anyone), it's hard to overstate the importance of this book whether as a microcosm of American writ whole, or a Wire-like exploration of the worst and best in human nature. Dostoevsky would've been proud.

[Ebony Earwig · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too many characters and all of them very similar... sketchy, hectic, volatile, bored and paranoid all wrapped up in a weird self-righteousness even though, and here's the thing, they are in bloody prison. In all honesty it's put me off reading any prison books ever again, this kind of naval gazing, self piteous writing does my head in. The way it lavishes the descriptions of routines and procedures, hypes up the numbers of people and the years into a big block of "aren't we just suffering here in this prison". All the book seems to be saying is "I'm sad and mad because I'm in prison. Prison is tough so you got to be tough. I'm the top jailbird in here cos I is tough" and typically, the dialogue is actually that bad and generic.

All in all, this book made me hate prisoners, which is clearly not its intention. I think I'm meant to hate the system, but then there's nothing in here that surprises me that much as it's been played out to death in loads of better prison narratives.

[Arantxa Rufo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Magistral. No tengo otra palabra. Cuando me la recomendaron, pregunté si iba de una fuga o bandas o qué y me respondieron "no, simplemente de la vida en la cárcel", y ese "simplemente" es la clave de todo.
"En el patio" narra la vida de un grupo de presos que coinciden en la prisión de San Quintín en los años 60. Simplemente. Hay asesinos, pederastas, ladrones, pirómanos, no hay uno bueno, pero está narrada de una manera tan falsamente fría que no tardan en ser tus compañeros de patio y de condena.
No hay falsas excusas ni hipocresías, son lo que son y la historia nos lo muestra sin juicios ni moralidades.
Simplemente, la supervivencia de unos hombres en la cárcel.

[Troy S · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic exercise in exploring the depths and inevitability of empathy, and an incredibly convincing-cum-vindicating account of the utter uselessness of prison (or so it was for this abolitionist). One of the most humane books I've ever read, of course set in purposefully inhumane circumstances. A new all time favorite.

[Nancy Oakes · Rating 4 out of 5]

To be quite honest, I'd never heard of this book before I went looking for NYRB titles to read. Another NYRB title I'd read earlier, Hard Rain Falling, by Don Carpenter, also dealt with life in prison, but it examines the causes of why the main characters went to prison, what happened to them while they were there, and then what happened after they were released. Unlike that novel, the action in On the Yard occurs nearly completely within prison walls, and the story is told through the voices of a group of prisoners as well as by people who work there. As a matter of fact, the author, Malcolm Braly, had written three earlier novels while incarcerated, then started On the Yard while doing a stint at San Quentin. He had to do it in secret since it was based on his own experience and he was threatened with revocation of parole if he continued to write it. Its publication was put off until much later, according to Howard Bruce Franklin, author of Prison Writings in 20th Century America, after he was actually off parole.

The characters drive this novel -- the author often floats from character to character, as noted by Jonathan Lethem, who provides the book's introduction:

"...moving...through the minds and moments of dozens of characters, some recurrently, some only for a sole brief visitation which nearly always proves definitive. Three or four of these are into the minds of the prison's keepers, including that of the morose, long-enduring Warden. The rest are a broad array of prisoners, some "hardened" repeaters, some newly arrived at San Quentin, some floating in between and trying to measure the rightness and permanence of their placement inside those walls."

Lethem's assessment is quite accurate. How these people deal with the stultifying sameness that is their life day after day is one of the main themes of this novel. For example, there's Billy Oberholster (aka Chilly Willy), imprisoned for several armed robberies, who made his way to the top of the food chain so to speak on the inside by being at the head of several operations: he runs a usurious cigarette loan business, has the corner on nasal inhalants (which the prisoners use to get high on amphetamine sulphate), and runs a tidy black-market business that offers him a great many advantages while serving out his time. His influence is spread everywhere, down to his ability to maintain a cell with no roomies. He is the king of the yard - and uses others for his dirty work, keeping his hands clean. He counts among his friends Society Red and Nunn, a repeater back only after half a year of freedom. Then there's Stick, a sort of Neo-Nazi who survives through creating scenarios in his head with himself as the centerpiece -- constantly staging "new myths" in which he plays the major part, imagining himself as vampire and deliverer. Another most interesting character is Lorin -- an intelligent 22 year-old, in for stealing a car, spending his time trying to fend off the attention of another inmate who has a thing about shoes. When he's not dreaming about Kim Novak, Lorin works on his poetry writing. One of the most interesting characters is Paul Juleson, who's been incarcerated for the murder of his wife, and who wants nothing more than to be left on his own, often living in favorite fantasies, trying to steer cleer of the other inmates, "watching the animals from a distance and taking every precaution necessary to keep free of them in all essential ways." He spends his days mostly reading and visiting the library on his lunch break; the only person on the outside who still keeps in contact with him is his aunt, who sends him $5.00 each year on his birthday. When Juleson decides to spend his not-yet-received birthday cash on cigarettes, he runs afoul of Chilly Willy when the money fails to arrive, leading to one of the major plots that runs throughout the novel. Each character's worst points are carefully revealed rather than soft soaped, yet the author provides them with a fair amount of points with which the reader finds him or herself showing some empathy -- including those outside cell bars: the psychologists, guards and even the warden and his servant. For readers who are more interested in plot, there are several stories at work that will keep you actively engrossed in the story. But it is Braly's characters, each brought to life (if even only for a few lines in some cases) that will draw the reader's attention on a deeper level.

While its content may seem tame to modern readers, considering what goes on in today's prisons, On the Yard is still a solid read. Kurt Vonnegut's blurb on the back cover notes that this book is "Surely the great American prison novel." In my case, it would be difficult to agree with his statement since I don't have a lot of reading experience in that area, but I did find On the Yard to be quite engrossing once the cast of characters was introduced. It seemed a bit slow at first (as character-driven novels often can be), but I started the getting the picture of what happens within the prison walls (how the hierarchies play out, the interplay between prison officials and the prisoners, and among the prisoners themselves), I couldn't put this book down. The author, Malcolm Braly, spent a large part of his life behind bars in different prisons, so he knows what he's talking about and this is exemplified in the book's realistic and gritty tone. Obviously, the subject matter might not be for everyone, but it is one of those novels that you won't soon forget after putting down, not just because of the story, but because of the writing and Braly's mastery of characterization.

[Misha · Rating 4 out of 5]

On the Yard by Malcolm Braly is about a prison in the 1960s. While it has many characters, it essentially boils down to the story about the downfall of a prison kingpin, and his strange enmity with another prisoner, which is the start of his downfall.

I was drawn to this because of Hard Rain Falling by Don Carpenter, a surprisingly tender book about prisons. On the Yard feels more gritty, less tender than Hard Rain Falling, but it's not without humanity. I love books that explore moral ambiguity, and there is nothing but ambiguity here. This book is full of short episodes, each following a different prisoner, and in that short time, Braly is able to build an in-depth portrait of each character. We are taken into each of their heads, which sometimes feels almost too intimate. One feels horrified by some of their crimes, but it's also accompanied by this confusing and uncontrollable wave of empathy for the kind of hopelessness one has to live through. This book keeps you asking - is the punishment deserved? Is there a possibility of redemption? But these come with grey areas. Can a pedophile, for instance, really be forgiven despite his feelings of guilt? What about the 'decent' man who killed his wife in a fit of rage? But also - what about that 26 year old who has only known the insides of prisons since a very young age, and he was only guilty of theft? Who decides that one person deserves more human dignity than the other?

What adds further nuance to this book is that Braly was imprisoned for a large part of his life. The years he lost to prison vs. his crime don't match-up at all. He wrote this book in prison while trying to hide the contents from the guards. That sense of injustice is reflected in the book, albeit so subtly - who gets to get away vs. who doesn't? It's all about power dynamics and class. While this book is not without humour, it's so terribly bleak in its honesty. 

Personally, I was quite taken by the central character (if there is one at all), he reminded me of Dostoevesky's 'anti-social', outcast characters. Something brutal and harsh in the characterization, as well as the inevitable glimpses of humanity. I don't have any clearer answer about prisons than I did before reading this, but there is something about this book that surpasses the age it was written in. 

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jonathan Lethem's enthusiasm for this, as his introduction (which gives away too much of the plot) in this NYRB reprint testifies, as the best American prison novel, makes me wonder about the others as runners-up. I found this after he lauds it in his preface to Don Carpenter, Hard Rain Falling, which in its county jail and San Quentin (the latter is the entire setting here in Braly). I agree it's convincing.

However, like much genre fiction, the characters, each with a backstory deftly integrated into the no-nonsense, omniscient narrator, who nevertheless manages to filter the perspectives of the main men, and the prison itself, loom in the telling more effectively than the plot, which about 85% in reaches a melodramatic climax. It might have worked better onscreen, but on the page, it feels heavy handed.

Yet the control over the main arc, shifting between mainly the inmates, remains impressive. Naturally the verisimilitude is hard-earned. It's 1967 when published, but it feels somewhat detached from the San Francisco of the hippies and freaks, the antiwar protests and the Mad Men corporate capitalism. For of course, those guards and convicts share a time suspended, and this Braly sketches out grimly.

[AC · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, at the least — but it did not fulfill its promise. Not as raw or authentic as I had expected it to be. Too novelized, so to speak.

[La Librería de Íñigo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Es una auténtica barbaridad de novela, la verdad. Maginifica

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could not stop talking about how much I was enjoying this book. I'm sure people tired of my "It's Oz in a book!" refrain, but it is. The characters in this 1967 prison novel are intriguingly complex, and I seriously cannot remember a more gripping climax to a fiction narrative. I was bent on writing a film adaptation, but I see it's already been done. Remake perhaps?

[Ross Cumming · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had this one sitting in my Kindle library for years and had forgotten all about it until I came across it, while looking for something else and knew I just had to finally read it.
It’s a story of several different inmates of San Quentin Prison during the mid sixties, a subject the author was well qualified to write, having been an inmate himself for many years. Chilly Willy is the prison ‘Kingpin’ being the prison ‘bookmaker’ and selling branded packs of cigarettes, which are the main currency within the prison walls, among others scams. He is a career criminal and is ably assisted by his two sidekicks Nunn and Society Red, whose humorous baiting of one another is a continual theme throughout the novel. Chilly tends not to get his hands too dirty , so if there’s any intimidation or beatings to be meted out he has plenty of willing volunteers. He also greases palms of both inmates and staff to ensure he has an easy life and lives in relative luxury compared to his fellow inmates. However the warden decides it’s time Chilly Willy’s reign was brought to an end and he sets out to bring him back down to earth.
Juleson and Manning are two other prisoners, and cell mates, whose stories also figure prominently in the novel. Juleson has been jailed for murdering his wife but he is not a ‘criminal’ as such and sufferers deep remorse for his crime. He is an intelligent man and very bookish and keeps himself apart (and aloof) from most of his counterparts. Manning is a ‘fish’, a new inmate, who has been jailed for having a relationship with his 15 year old stepdaughter, a crime that he doesn’t really regret but one that he can’t really come to terms with. Juleson helps Manning to understand prison protocol and helps him adjust to his incarceration. Lastly there is Stick, also a first timer, who is the leader of the Vampires, a gang/army that exists mainly within Stick’s head. The story follows the fates of all these characters, among others, with the story culminating in a tragedy that ultimately affects the whole prison and its inmates and staff.
I do enjoy prison novels and this one is exceptional, probably due to Braly’s unique insight, due to his own experiences. He takes us through the practices and procedures of the prison system, starting with the initial processing procedures, as seen through the eyes of a new batch of prisoners arriving after sentencing. He introduces us to the characters and slowly builds up their backstories. I particularly enjoyed the way that he moved the story from character to character, as they meet and interact with one another. Braly’s characterisation is excellent, as most of the characters have time to dwell on their crimes and there is a great deal of pondering and self analysis regarding their motivations. The story is also very much of its time and there are references and phrases that were initially unknown to me but it didn’t detract from the story at all. On the other hand there are themes, such as drug taking and overcrowding, that would be particularly relevant in today’s prison system, that were just starting to impact on the prison at that time.
An excellent prison novel, although of its time, is still a great read and only wish I’d read it sooner.

[Ana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Todo empezó buscando inspiración para una historia que hace ya un tiempo que me ronda. La idea central estaba más o menos perfilada, pero siempre quiero que tenga algo de base real, así que comencé a buscar bibliografía. Lo poco que encontré estaba en inglés, así que decidí inspirarme en novelas centradas en cárceles americanas... y allí surgió este título. La sinopsis me gustó, así que me lancé de cabeza. Escrita por un ex convicto de prisiones como San Quintín y Folsom, las autoridades estuvieron a punto de denegarle la libertad condicional cuando supieron de la existencia de este libro. No se trata de una autobiografía, sino de la vida de una serie de reclusos en la prisión de San Quintín. Un repertorio rico de personajes con su bagaje y sus esperanzas (o desesperanzas). Son tan variados que no terminas de centrarte en ninguno; todos son protagonistas, e incluso podrían tener su propia novela independiente. Pero la unión de todas estas vidas hace que la novela sea tan colorida y amplia en sus puntos de vista. Vidas (y muertes) que se cruzan en este mundo cerrado. Aquellos personajes que podrían llegar a ser "los malos de la película" no lo son tanto, e incluso terminas sintiendo aprecio por ellos y sus circunstancias. Es una Novela, con mayúscula. De las que te dejan un gustillo amargo, pero que se mantienen en tu cabeza después de terminadas.

[Aidan Jude · Rating 1 out of 5]

Too flowerly. DNF.

[Johnnie]

great novel

[Mateo Toledo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gran fresco carcelario en los años 50/60. Y más que eso.

[Geoff Hyatt · Rating 4 out of 5]

"On the Yard," like a boxer who finds his rhythm in the later rounds, starts off on shaky footing but really comes through in the end. In his introduction to Braly's novel, Jonathan Lethem compares the narrative's shifting point-of-view to both an audition process and to the hesitation cuts of a suicide. Fortunately, this process isn't indefinite, and the work isn't killed by its early attempts. Grimy realism mixes with hopeless dreams behind the walls. None of it feels contrived, and while a couple aspects seem outrageous, they don't undermine the story's impact. This ain't no "Shawshank Redemption," so if you're looking for a triumph of the spirit, move on. "On the Yard" is a novel about people imprisoned by more than just bars and bricks; they are trapped by love, duty, rage, addiction, and madness. They are serving life sentences as human beings. That, more than anything, is the Big Bitch--no one gets out alive.

[Kid · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this in a thrift store and bought it for the blurbs. . .Vonnegut, John D. MacDonald, Truman Capote all were saying that it was the heaviest book ever. And they were mostly correct. It is a lost classic of sorts.

This must be relegated to the cult status b/c I have to work too hard to prop it up. The writing is amazing, the characters are amazing - it's a novel written by a career criminal who saw the light after like 20 years in the big house - so it has the tinge of authenticity in its favor. But I'm like 3/4 of the way into the book and I'm really not sure what the point is to this thing besides a portrait of a prison. That is all well and good and apparently we need more of these kinds of books - probably we need more NOW but that's another review. I recommend that you check this out though. It's one of those forgotten genre classics that crate diggers will appreciate. I think you know who you are.

[Jim · Rating 3 out of 5]

Again, a blurb for a book overstates its significance or power; this was a good story of a genre I enjoy, prison stories (why? I have no idea). The writing was decent, but not amazing, and the characters were kind of dull (my opinion). There really wasn't any new story line that I haven't seen before, and the rather startling lack of racial tension that actually exists in the prison system (especially California---at least two Hispanic rivals, blacks, and whites), I think watered it down a bit. There are better, and in fact funnier fictional pieces, as well as really good memoirs. Also, a couple of characters are introduced, and then seem to simply vanish. And there were underlying hints of misogyny that made me feel uneasy. Overall, however, I liked the story, as well as finding out about this little-known author.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A landmark novel. In the archives of prison literature, there are notable figures, but Braly here tells a narrative so full of gritty detail and humanity, I overlooked the fictional framework. If the story, itself didn't seem all that original, it's because the characters were so much bigger on their own paths. Their intersections mattered less. Also, as much as I enjoy Eddie Bunker, Braly avoids the braggadocio and the macho conquests. Though characters are weaker or tougher than others, depending on circumstances, everybody is equally unfortunate; some better or less adapted to their prison hell. Incredible dialogue is reminiscent of the best of George V. Higgins. San Quentin and its inner-workings, especially the black market and convicts' subversive activities are endlessly fascinating.

[jeremiah]

On the Yard is correctional facility Shakespeare--a novel at once limited by prison walls, yet inside the head, the heart, and the hands the reader slams on the table in disbelief in light of its twists and turns. Here Braly is on to a sort of desiccating lucidity, and I doubt I'll come across another novel with such power.

[Raro de Concurso · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sencillo libro en sus planteamientos, pero a la larga, profundo y lleno de matices. Historia coral que gira alrededor del patio de una cárcel de San Francisco en los años 60, y escrita por un ex convicto. Y son esos personajes que rondan el patio los que dan vida a un relato muy humano, y conmovedor a ratos.
Muy recomendable si vamos a pasar unos cuantos días "a la sombra".

[Slade Grayson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A classic tale of life behind bars for an assortment of characters, written by someone who actually lived that life.

Tip: Don't read the introduction until after you read the novel. Lethem gives away a few plot points.

[Kobe Bryant · Rating 5 out of 5]

The moral of this book is dont fall in love with a queen

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5*

[Chris Holtz · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book rules. review complete.

[Christina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up on a whim during my first (and only) trip the Strand last summer. Took a little bit to get into this, but about 20 pages in, I was completely engrossed in the world of this prison. Braly, who spent much of his life behind bars and started writing this book while incarcerated, offers a slate of well-developed characters, presenting each of them with empathy while not holding back any of their ugliness or violence. The way he talks about homosexuality is definitely of its time, and in keeping with the uber-masculine culture of a men's prison, but I also found it surprisingly humane and complex. The plot is fairly loose, but I enjoyed this quite a bit. My one complaint is that a couple of characters he gives time to at the book's start fall away and are never really mentioned again. I wanted to know what happened to Lorin, and more about what Nunn's deal was.

[Eldon · Rating 5 out of 5]

More than a little surprised that I did not ever hear of this book until very recently. Published in 67, it is a novel about life in prison (San Quentin) set in the mid-60's. It reflects the correctional philosophy and practices of the time--less secure and a little more human that the more efficient prisons operating today. The writing is superb, introducing and then following multiple characters as they try to navigate and find their way to operate in an environment hard for those not familiar to understand. Although a bit dated in some details, the struggle of the humans doing time is no different that the struggles experienced today.

[Daniel Polansky]

A panoramic view of an American prison in I guess the 50's. Braly spent much of his life locked up for armed robbery but there is nothing of the prison noir here, rather a sincere and sympathetic attempt to depict the lives of the inmates and staff. Excellent stuff, Braly is an astute observer of the human condition and in particular of those commonalities which unify the species despite the manifest differences in our circumstance. It's also tightly plotted, cleverly structured, really an excellent book. NYRB killing it as always.

[apm_1993 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante novela sobre la vida en la prisión de San Quintín allá por los años cincuenta-sesenta. Eso sí, no es una novela demasiado brillante. Desde mi punto de vista, tiene algunos problemas, como la exagerada cantidad de personajes o la falta de alma/gracia a la hora de narrar algunos pasajes. Sinceramente, si tuviera que recomendar una novela de este estilo, esta sería 'La fábrica de animales' (ambientada también en San Quintín), de Edward Bunker, pero 'En el patio' se deja leer. 3,5 estrellas.

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