
I had expected this book to be very light and frothy, but in essence, this was a very gritty and dark tale. Though Goldstein takes care to thread humor into his story, the book was fiercely gripping and had me very anxious to discover the family’s fate. There was a lot about this book that surprised me, and in its own way, I believe that the book felt and read like a memoir, yet it was billed as a fiction release.
Ricky was a character that was impossible not to love. He wasn’t a tough guy or a punk, but a boy who was experiencing life as it was and who made the best out of bad situations. He was both amiable and kind and had a penchant for trying to fix problems that were not his own. Most of the time, his help wasn’t helpful at all. I truly cared about him, and through his eyes, I could see the mother and grandmother he adored and the father that seemed so staunchly mystifying to him. Here was a child that wanted to be a man, yet could not stop thinking like a child.
I also thought that the relationship between Ricky’s parents was like a battlefield, with each side mounting attacks upon the other and taking casualties. I didn’t necessarily like Pearl but I could understand where she was coming from and the idea that she held about putting her family first. She was a proud woman but not socially or financially advanced. This often left a gap between who she was and who she wanted to be. At times, I believe that she put immense pressure on her only son, and it was interesting to see that Ricky could also see this.
While Ricky’s mother was a rather easy character to relate to, his father was not. Goldstein was adept at making the reader feel the distance between Ricky and his father, as well as his distance from the reader. His way of coming up with cockamamie schemes to bring wealth to his family and pay off the mobsters made me rather angry, and I took umbrage for Ricky’s sake that these schemes never paid off. I began to see that life was a series of games of chance to this man, and that he may have been incapable of ever really relating to anyone at all. During a pivotal scene in the book, he begins to share his feelings with Ricky, but this too felt distancing and confusingly rough.
While I didn’t expect that this book would be so dark and sometimes brooding, I did fully appreciate the depth and breadth of character scope that Goldstein plied in his story, and I felt very close to some of the characters by the end of the book. The author’s skill in evoking place was also very exciting and made me feel as if I was there, looking in through a window to the past. This was a very thrilling read and one that will have a large impact on its audience. Very intriguing and well executed.
![]() In my early twenties I was selected as a Bread Loaf Fellow and had my nonfiction book, Becoming: An American Odyssey published by Saturday Review Press. However, in order to make a living while writing I worked at many diverse jobs: tree planter and assistant librarian in Oregon, organic orange and olive farmer in California, school bus driver, Zamboni driver, editor, stock broker, power transformer tube winder and tennis pro in the Berkshires, and custom builder in the Boston area. I’m slowly transitioning out of construction and becoming a full-time writer. I play competitive table tennis three times a week, mentor a ten-year old boy every other week, and take care of my grandson one day a week. He fills that day with joy. I grew up in a world that no longer exists: The Bronx 1947-1960. The Bookie’s Son, based on my childhood, was the story I wanted to tell. I have been writing The Bookie’s Son on and off for forty years. |
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A warm thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing this book for me to read and review. Please continue to follow the tour by visiting these other blogs:
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This book was provided as a complimentary review copy.
13 comments:
I passed on this one, but really need to reconsider. I think it sounds so interesting. Great review
I've seen a few reviews of this and was under the impression that it was a true story. Thanks for setting the record straight on that. I'm fascinated with organized crime so I think this sounds good!
For some reason, this book does look a little gritty to me. I'm not afraid of grittiness but I thought this was a true story and grit and the truth don't mix for me. I can deal with dark when I know it's not true. LOL.
Great review -- you hit exactly what was so compelling about it. I really liked and cared about Ricky -- which was a surprise to me, he's not the kind of character I'm drawn to -- but Goldstein's writing was solid and warm.
Sounds fascinating! I thought it also was a true story, for some reason. Probably that picture on the cover? Anyway, sounds great!
This book sounds very gritty and absorbing. Thank you for the care you put into your reviews. Wonderful review!
I'm glad to see that you really enjoyed this one even though it wasn't the book you expected it to be!
Thanks for being on the tour.
I'm also on the tour and really liked this one as well.
Great review.
http://www.ManOfLaBook.com
I figured you'd enjoy this one. Like you, I liked Ricky which is normally unusual for me. I usually bond with female characters much more but Ricky just seemed so vulnerable at times. This is an excellent book.
Sounds like a good read. I prefer dark and gritty...
Ricky sounds like a great character, one I would like to meet. I will have to look for this book. Great review!
I kept forgetting that this wasn't a memoir, it felt so much like Goldstein was channeling his own story.
Sometimes the best books are those which surprise us the most as readers; it's quite a jump from "light and frothy" to "dark and gritty" but it sounds like it was a very rewarding reading experience all the same. I really enjoyed reading your thoughts about it!
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