Lush Life: A Novel

Written by Rafael Acero Tuesday, 04 March 2008 06:33

Author: Richard Price
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Year: 2008
Price: About $26.00

“Lush Life” takes an uncompromising look at a supposedly revitalized New York City, exposing the junkie beneath the expensively tailored suit that Rudy Giuliani likes to claim he single-handedly rehabilitated during his two controversial terms as Mayor. Richard Price is too good a writer to opt for the easy polemic, though, instead presenting a morally ambiguous cast of characters as compelling as the city itself, their personal dramas playing out against the backdrop of the investigation of a murder on the Lower East Side, and the so-called "Quality of Life" initiatives that arguably created a police state for all but the most privileged, enabling the quickest path to gentrification of impoverished but trendy neighborhoods.

“Lush Life” is part love letter to, part indictment of New York City, written with a journalist's eye for detail and an activist's sense of passion, and Price's rapid-fire precision style, full of fabulous run-on sentences and quick-cut transitions that perfectly evoke the breathless energy of life in New York, makes it tempting to read straight-through in one long sitting, but even better to savor over the course of a week, on the subway, at a coffee shop, finishing up in a comfortable chair at home where the various endings will resonate the strongest.

A stellar effort that's more than worthy of the advance praise it's received, and as good an example of New York City literature as you’ll read in ages.

Rafael Acero
		About the author:
		The name is Rafael Alejandro, but my friends call me Rafa. I'm a proud citizen of the land of the macho men, las putas, los narcos, los cholos y mojados. Even though I don't believe in labels and I don't like to be defined by what I do or by who I do, I have no problem in accepting that I'm a big-time fruit. I'm addicted to chocolate. Music is my drug of choice. I'm a writer, dancer, choreographer, performance artist, an occasional a-hole, and a notorious drama queen. Aunque soy medio fresa, también soy un chilango incomprendido, y como tal- valemadrista a morir.