Greetings from a longtime lurker providing a rare
report:
Tuesday night I A-trained to a Brooklyn Heights bar, Magnetic
Field, for the George Pelecanos official publication date
reading of The Night Gardener. About fifty people pretty much
filled the place, which had a long wood bar, mildly hipster
d飯r, a dozen beers on draft, a little stage, and a small
cushioned seating area. Most of the crowd was there for
Pelecanos, some for the "backup band," Steve Wynn and the
Miracle 3. This was not your usual reading. First Pelecanos,
solo, read Lorenzo's Narcotics Anonymous speech from Drama
City, his previous book. Then he read a combination of the
opening and closing sections of Night Gardener while Wynn's
group jammed an edgy blues. I had a good time listening to
Pelecanos and Wynn, keeping an eye on the Mets game, and
enjoying happy hour priced Yuengling pints. All literary
events should be so multisensory. Then Wynn played a twisted
love song, "Cindy, It was Always You," with lyrics by
Pelecanos, and followed up with songs both recent and from
his Dream Syndicate days, including a ripping
"Days of Wine and Roses." Afterward, I said hi to George and
got my books signed.
So how's the book? I read Night Gardener a couple weeks ago
as an ARC, and it's damn good. There's much that's standard
Pelecanos: D.C. urban anthropology, music and pop culture
references (a Clapton album title is an actual plot point),
the bad in good people and the good in bad people, a big
Western-style shootout. There's also some new wrinkles,
particularly a strong domestic element and an uncommon
ending. (No spoilers, but in a month or so, I'll ask the list
if anyone knows other stories that use this type of ending.)
If you're a Pelecanos fan, this book is a must read. If
you're a Pelecanos detractor (and I know there's some on the
list), you might want to give this one a shot.
Reading Chris M's recent Pelecanos post made me think about
my own history with his books. In the early 90s I was living
in DC and read a glowing review of a crime novel with a local
setting. The Stefanos books clicked with me. I had no
connection with drugs, guns, and crime (hell, I'm a
librarian), but I was a young guy with my eyes open about
non-federal-government DC, and Pelecanos wrote about a world
I lived in. I've been a fan (ok, collector/stalker) ever
since, even after I left DC for NYC in 1997. His last two
books, Drama City and Night Gardener, are different from his
three series (Stefanos, Karras/Clay, Quinn/Strange). These
moral novels of social realism set in the present day still
speak to me, even if
"my DC" is ten years gone. It sounds like a backhanded
compliment to say that after 14 books, he's really getting
better, but it's true.
(And that's generally preferable to the later works of those
authors who stop progressing.)
Apologies for length,
Bob V in Washington Heights
PS: A Wynn/Pelecanos CD is available at
www.stevewynn.net
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