East Bay Grease - Hardcover

Williamson, Eric Miles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0312198612 ISBN 13: 9780312198619

Publisher: St Martin's Press, 1999

Synopsis

In a tough portrayal of adolescent survival and life on the edge, a young man growing up in 1960s and 1970s Oakland finds solace in music when he moves into a very tough neighborhood with his near-crazy father. A first novel. 15,000 first printing. Tour.

About this title

Review:

T-Bird Murphy is a Huckleberry Finn dragged off the Mississippi and dropped in 1960s and 70s Oakland. As a kid T-Bird lives with his mother, a self-obsessed woman who rides with the Hell's Angels and leaves her son to fend for himself except when she punishes him cruelly. When Mom skips town, T-Bird is passed over to Pop, fresh out of jail and embittered, who brings up his boy with a kind of rough love in a town dominated by street-gangs and family feuds. Only the smart can survive in this novel, and T-Bird watches many fall by the wayside as he learns to outwit the bullies and steal from the thieves, fighting and cheating his way to adulthood, jazz trumpet in hand. Eric Miles Williamson did every kind of mucky hands-on work under the sun before becoming Professor of English at San Jose State University. Extracts from East Bay Grease have previously appeared as short stories in a number of American magazines. This debut novel is fresh, exciting and often heart-breaking. A gloves-off story for those who eat their chilli hot and drink their whisky straight, told in a style that is at once gritty and lyrical--never greasy.-- Anna Davis

Review:

"This novel is a lively--not to say wrenching--contribution to a seldom recognized genre: the Internal Combustion Novel...Williamson's writing becomes transcendent. His prose cuts loose in torrid rhythms that evoke the peril and exuberance of jazz.""--"Sally Eckhoff," The New York Times Book Review" "[A] rowdy first novel. Onward!"--John Skow, "Time" "This is an exceptional novel...resonant...Williamson skillfully creates a unique narrative. With sparse dialogue and T-Bird's original, daring voice, the novel proves to be a remarkable literary debut."--Neil Giordano, "Newsday "

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martin's Press
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0312198612
• ISBN 13: 9780312198619
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 248