Tag Archives: books
LUSH LIFE (Novel, 2008)
Gentrification is a popular topic in American pop culture, but one that’s mainly addressed through cliched caricatures of skinny-jeaned, PBR-swilling hipsters displacing thuggish urban gangstas. So it’s to our benefit that Richard Price, who’s been taking urban America’s pulse since Clockers, … Continue reading
FREEDOMLAND (Novel, 1998)
Freedomland, Richard Price’s 1998 novel of racial strife packaged as a kidnapping mystery-thriller, seems destined to age into the reputation of being “just as relevant now as it was the day it was published.” When it first came out it … Continue reading
THE BREAKS (Novel, 1983)
The Breaks, Richard Price’s fourth novel, is a long, meandering book about a directionless college grad trying to find himself. It doesn’t have much of a discernible structure and ends without reaching much of a narrative conclusion. Price himself has called it “[t]he … Continue reading
LADIES’ MAN (Novel, 1978)
Richard Price’s novels can be roughly divided into three phases. The first phase includes 1974’s The Wanderers and 1976’s Bloodbrothers, semi-autobiographical tales of teenage Italians growing up in the Bronx. The most recent phase, made up of 1992’s Clockers and everything he’s put … Continue reading
BLOODBROTHERS (Novel, 1976)
Bloodbrothers, Richard Price’s sophomore novel, might be the most painful reading experience he’s produced (with the possible exception of Freedomland), not because it’s bad–it’s well-written, gripping, feels true to life–but because it’s so God damn sad. That’s a weird thing to point out about … Continue reading
THE WANDERERS (Novel, 1974)
Although it launched his career and, in some ways, permanently defined what people expect from his writing, The Wanderers is remarkably different from most of Richard Price’s later works. He’s now come to be known for his vivid, true-to-life realism, a style which to some extent … Continue reading
Introduction
Welcome! Here are the answers to a few questions you might have: What is this? This is a blog about the works of Richard Price, novelist and screenwriter. Each week–assuming I can keep to my schedule–I’ll post a review of … Continue reading
Priced Out 