Black Flies: A Novel - Softcover

Burke, Shannon

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1593761910 ISBN 13: 9781593761912

Publisher: Soft Skull Press, 2008

Synopsis

Novelist Shannon Burke earned stunning reviews for his debut book, Safelight, and now he returns with the same minimalist intensity in this arresting follow-up. Black Flies is the story of paramedic Ollie Cross and his first year on the job in mid-'90s New York. It is a ground's eye view of life on the streets: the shoot-outs, the bad cops, unhinged medics, the hopeless patients, the dark humor in bizarre circumstances, and one medic's struggle to balance his desire to help against his own growing callousness. It is the story of lives that hang in the balance, and of a single job with a misdiagnosed newborn that sends Cross and his partner into a life-changing struggle between good and evil.

About this title

Review:

"An arresting, confrontational book" (New York Times)

"Carries the force of a punch... deftly sketched, with lean clarity" (Guardian)

"A dark gem of a story" (Chicago Tribune)

"Stark, intense ... a gifted stylist" (Time Out, New York)

Book Description:

A searing, intense, hugely admired novel set amongst Harlem's ambulance crews: E.R. meets The Wire.

About this edition

• Publisher: Soft Skull Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1593761910
• ISBN 13: 9781593761912
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192