Tournament of Books discussion

The Whites, by Harry Brandt (aka Richard Price)


About the Book (from the book's description on GR)

Back in the run-and-gun days of the mid-1990s, when a young Billy Graves worked in the South Bronx as part of an aggressive anti-crime unit known as the Wild Geese, he made headlines by accidentally shooting a ten-year-old boy while struggling with an angel-dusted berserker on a crowded street. Branded as a loose cannon by his higher-ups, Billy spent years enduring one dead-end posting after another. Now in his early forties, he has somehow survived and become a sergeant in Manhattan Night Watch, a small team of detectives charged with responding to all post-midnight felonies from Wall Street to Harlem. Mostly, his unit acts as little more than a set-up crew for the incoming shift, but after years in police purgatory, Billy is content simply to do his job.

Then comes a call that changes everything: Night Watch is summoned to the four a.m. fatal slashing of a man in Penn Station, and this time Billy's investigation moves beyond the usual handoff to the day tour. And when he discovers that the victim was once a suspect in the unsolved murder of a twelve-year-old boy-a savage case with connections to the former members of the Wild Geese-the bad old days are back in Billy's life with a vengeance, tearing apart enduring friendships forged in the urban trenches and even threatening the safety of his family.

Razor-sharp and propulsively written, The Whites introduces Harry Brandt - a new master of American crime fiction.


About the Author (from Wikipedia)

Richard Price (born October 12, 1949) is an American novelist and screenwriter, known for the books The Wanderers (1974), Clockers (1992) and Lush Life (2008). Price's novels explore late-20th century urban America in a gritty, realistic manner that has brought him considerable literary acclaim. Several of his novels are set in a fictional northern New Jersey city called Dempsy.

Price was born in the Bronx, New York City, the son of Harriet (Rosenbaum) and Milton Price, a window dresser. A self-described "lower middle class Jewish kid", he grew up in a housing project in the northeast Bronx. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1967 and obtained a B.A. from Cornell University and an MFA from Columbia University. He also did graduate work at Stanford University.

In 1999, he received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature. Price was inducted into the Academy in 2009.

Price lives in Harlem in New York City, and is married to the journalist and author Lorraine Adams.


Other Links


• Website for The Whites: http://thewhitesbook.com

• Interview -- NPR: "In Richard Price's New Novel, Haunted Cops And Cases They Couldn't Close": http://www.npr.org/2015/02/17/3857654...

• Interview -- Vanity Fair: Richard Price on Gentrification, Garner, and That Pen Name He Regrets: http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/201...

• Book review -- Washington Post: "Richard Price’s new novel, ‘The Whites’ ": https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert...

No love for this book yet?

There's a blurb on the back of the book from Stephen King saying that despite its size, he read it in one sitting. I might have done the same if I had started it earlier in the day.

There's also a blurb on the back from Lehane, and it reminded me very much of a Lehane novel. (I haven't read any of Richard Price's other work.) It doesn't feel like a Tournament of Books novel, but it was obviously really enjoyable, so I'm curious to see how the judges fall on it.

glad to hear its a fast read since it's one of the bigger books in TOB!

I'm currently in the audiobook though I've heard the second half is where it really moves so I'm waiting to form an opinion.

I really liked this and felt that the Milton character was particularly strong. I don't see it going far in the tournament, though, it just doesn't seem to have the emotional heft for it.

I'm a huge fan of Richard Price. His books Samaritan and Freedomland are favorites. In fact, years ago, when friends were encouraging me to buy a television and dvd player so that I could watch The Wire, they convinced me by telling me that Price, Lehane, and George Pelecanos were all writers for the series.

I have had it since publication and it is sitting on a shelf thumbing its nose at me. I'm glad it's in the ToB so I'll get to reading it sooner!

I officially dislike this book and I gave it two tries. I got 60% through and was confused enough about all the plot lines and unimportant named characters that I started over. And while a bit clearer, I wish I hadn't spent the effort. No characters are interesting. The plot and the flow are monotonous. I hope this book does not make it far or someone (who ever the judge may be) can enlighten why this was nominated in the first place.

Rachel wrote: "I officially dislike this book and I gave it two tries. I got 60% through and was confused enough about all the plot lines and unimportant named characters that I started over. And while a bit clea..."

EXACTLY!

I thought it was an okay police procedural, with some poignant observations about how our pasts inform our futures, and also how police officers' witnessing the evil of humans can damage them even as they strive to be good people. Some of the characters were well-drawn, many were not. I can think of other similar genre novels which do a better job in the same territory (Tana French's Dublin Murder Squad stories, for one, are more heartbreaking in their scope.) I too am somewhat puzzled at the inclusion of this book in the ToB and foresee a quick exit in the first round.

I read it back when it was published, and while I thought the concept of the title, that all these officers were chasing their "big white" whale, was intriguing, I thought the use of this word as the title was deliberately provocative, as 99% of people seeing it would presume another meaning. And while the book was ok, it didn't totally grab me and it reinforced my sense from reading his Lush Life that I really don't care for Richard Price's writing. Gritty noir police procedurals aren't my favorite genre, but I've read a lot of them, and there are much better ones out there.

Gritty noir police procedurals actually IS one of my favorite genres, and I agree that there are better ones out there. I'm kind of sad that this is the one they chose to finally represent that genre in the tournament. I agree with Jaylynny: any Tana French novel, but particularly In The Woods or Broken Harbor, would make a better representative of the genre. Having said all that, I did like this book and Price can definitely write.

I'm am so with you on Tana French. In the Woods was quite possibly the best debut novel I'd ever read in the genre, but the rest have been uneven, with Broken Harbor being the best of the sequel bunch. I met her once, incidentally, and was utterly charmed.

I'm enjoying the book so far but still agree with the small consensus here that I've read better procedurals where I cared more about the characters. I have seen a few literary devices in the texts thus far and perhaps that is what qualified it for the TOB - or perhaps we just needed a 'genre' entry since the sci-fi isn't as weird this year (go Annihilation 2015!)

I really like gritty police procedurals, but I found this one rather dull.

I tried to read this after seeing a number of good reviews, and I enjoy lots of police and crime stories, but I couldn't get into this at all. I felt bored and quit after not too long.

I think the final chapters are the best if you can make it that far. In the end I liked the tale but it won't stick with me. The best parts (for enjoyment and great writing) are the familial moments, especially those of Billy with his two boys. But they are unfortunately rare.

Agree.

Mainon wrote: "nomadreader (Carrie D-L) wrote: "Am I the only one fascinated to see the play-in round be for one seeds? I have no strong feelings about either particular book (I haven't read the Irving), but I fi..."

Sorry--too many tabs open--I mean to post it there. Will remove and repost!

I liked this one. I liked that it was chock-full of characters and side-stories and everyone's open wounds feeding into the same lines of pain; there was a kaleidoscopic atmosphere to it, shuffling around pieces of family life and work life and the main plot, and I wasn't sure what patterns were most relevant at any given time, and I enjoyed that. I enjoy when books are overstuffed with characters in general, though! The dual narrative lives really engaged me, too.

Totally agree with Amy that the final chapters are the best, and strongest, part of the book.

I wasn't a fan of how the main women characters were all written with a similar romanticized fragility, which I found annoying.