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ericfheiman's review against another edition
4.0
This is a literate novel that really doesn't make itself known as such until 30 pages from the end, when I thought to myself, "I'm really bummed this book is going to be over soon." The police procedural plot is nothing fancy and essentially straight out of an episode of "Law and Order." But the naturalism of the dialogue and character development are shaded so well that I couldn't appreciate the book fully in the moment because its pretense of being a novel had been completely subverted. It plays like real time and real experience. By the end, I was so entrenched in the story—as if I, too, were cruising the streets of New York's lower east side (and I was when I started the novel)—that when it ended I felt a palpable sense of loss, as if a friend who was visiting was suddenly leaving after a week of fun. So while the book doesn't leave you with any great questions to ponder, it makes one such a part of its extended family, so to speak, that you are oddly moved by its conclusion.
vh2929's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good. It seemed more about the characters than about the plot, which seemed a bit inevitable.
fusskins's review against another edition
3.0
Pretty good detective novel. First book I ever read where I felt like I knew the locales intimately. Sometimes I miss the LES.
bikes_books_yarn's review against another edition
3.0
This was a bookclub read and I know I would have never have read it if it hadn't been for bookclub - so YAY bookclub! When I look Price up on Wikipedia I see that not only does he write for The Wire on HBO but he apparently came up with the concept of Michael Jackson's 'Bad' video. Cool!
Here is where I had a hard time with the book - I am a reeeeeally visual person. I basically have to see something to understand it. So this book drops me on page one in New York City with a bunch of detectives talking NY Street Talk. I have watched enough Law and Order to have a point of refrence here - but still I am out of my element. Some of the street talk (ok - most of it) went right over my head. And all though the dialog was beautiful in this book - it was still REALLY heavy with the dialog. I felt like I was reading a play without the stage direction thrown in.
I thought the characters were pretty good although I didn't really feel strongly about any of them. And as for the story over all? Meh. I didnt't feel strongly about any of them.
If this gets made into a movie or a season of Wired (I will be looking for that show now) I will be all over it - because I would love to see these characters come to life for me.
Here is where I had a hard time with the book - I am a reeeeeally visual person. I basically have to see something to understand it. So this book drops me on page one in New York City with a bunch of detectives talking NY Street Talk. I have watched enough Law and Order to have a point of refrence here - but still I am out of my element. Some of the street talk (ok - most of it) went right over my head. And all though the dialog was beautiful in this book - it was still REALLY heavy with the dialog. I felt like I was reading a play without the stage direction thrown in.
I thought the characters were pretty good although I didn't really feel strongly about any of them. And as for the story over all? Meh. I didnt't feel strongly about any of them.
If this gets made into a movie or a season of Wired (I will be looking for that show now) I will be all over it - because I would love to see these characters come to life for me.
dantastic's review against another edition
3.0
Bartender Eric Cash sees a coworker murdered and proves to be a poor witness. But was he really just a witness or did he shoot Ike Marcus? And if he didn't, who did?
During my second meeting with Kemper, he mentioned Richard Price being pretty good. I promptly forgot the name until a year later while I was watching The Wire, another Kemper recommendation. I found this down at the used bookstore and picked it up.
It pains me to say it, since I hold Kemper and The Wire in high regard, but I wasn't head over heels for this book. Before Omar corners me on the street with a shotgun, I will elaborate.
There were a lot things I did like about Lush Life. I liked how Price muddied the waters. The interrogation scenes were pretty powerful. Eric being scared was understandable. I also really liked that Matty's kicks were at least as messed up as the project kids that factored into the story. Price's writing is clever and there was some unexpected humor in it.
The thing I didn't enjoy was how long and drawn out everything felt. The book was about a hundred pages too long for what it was. It felt like Price couldn't decide if he wanted to do crime/mystery or literary fiction and it didn't quite work for me as either kind of book.
Still, it wasn't a bad book. I liked it more than I disliked it. I'll give it the traditional safety rating of 3.
During my second meeting with Kemper, he mentioned Richard Price being pretty good. I promptly forgot the name until a year later while I was watching The Wire, another Kemper recommendation. I found this down at the used bookstore and picked it up.
It pains me to say it, since I hold Kemper and The Wire in high regard, but I wasn't head over heels for this book. Before Omar corners me on the street with a shotgun, I will elaborate.
There were a lot things I did like about Lush Life. I liked how Price muddied the waters. The interrogation scenes were pretty powerful. Eric being scared was understandable. I also really liked that Matty's kicks were at least as messed up as the project kids that factored into the story. Price's writing is clever and there was some unexpected humor in it.
The thing I didn't enjoy was how long and drawn out everything felt. The book was about a hundred pages too long for what it was. It felt like Price couldn't decide if he wanted to do crime/mystery or literary fiction and it didn't quite work for me as either kind of book.
Still, it wasn't a bad book. I liked it more than I disliked it. I'll give it the traditional safety rating of 3.
arielamandah's review against another edition
4.0
Enjoyed this one, and have found it stuck in my head at surprising moments. It wasn't hyper-literary, but I thought it offered a phenomenal snapshot or urban life in our "now."
It doesn't surprise me that Price has worked as a writer on The Wire - this book reads like an episode (a little more graceful).
Really nails the ennui and purposeless feeling that a person can have when they're suspended between phases of their life.
It doesn't surprise me that Price has worked as a writer on The Wire - this book reads like an episode (a little more graceful).
Really nails the ennui and purposeless feeling that a person can have when they're suspended between phases of their life.
lizaroo71's review against another edition
4.0
i definitely can see how price wrote for a t.v. show. this reads like a typically episode of law and order. which i love! the random shooting of ike marcus has the lower east end neighborhood in a tailspin. the two detectives assigned to the case, matty and yolanda, may have scared their only reliable eyewitness, eric cash, into silence. an interesting drama of police politics and race relations.
dontpanic42's review against another edition
3.0
This book is a solid three stars, with some leaning in the direction of a fourth. The reason I can't give it to him is that the whole of the book is so cliche--the storylines have been done, including by Price. And the highly lauded dialogues are engaging, certainly, but there always seems to be just a little something wrong with the way characters speak. The language they use is itself a cliche, rather than an accurate rendition of how people actually speak. All of that said, Price is one heck of a storyteller. It took me a minute to get into it, and I was even considering putting it down at one point, but around the 45-page point something happened that hooked my attention, and the book didn't let go until it dropped me off at the very end.
So, yeah, it's been done, and it comes off as made-for-TV drama rather than strictly realistic--but that said, it's a fun and engaging read, a well-plotted and well-told story.
So, yeah, it's been done, and it comes off as made-for-TV drama rather than strictly realistic--but that said, it's a fun and engaging read, a well-plotted and well-told story.
pitosalas's review against another edition
4.0
Gritty, believable story about NYC police and lots of other characters trying to get along. Great read. Had a hard time gettingused to the style at the start, but really got into it.