Slapboxing with Jesus : stories / Victor D. LaValle.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

LaValle, Victor, 1972-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Urban youth.

Queens (New York, N.Y.)--Social life and customs--Fiction.

Queens (New York, N.Y.).

City and town life--New York (State)--New York--Fiction.

City and town life.

New York (State)--New York.

Urban youth--New York (State)--New York--Fiction.

Genre:

Fiction.

Physical Description:

213 pages ; 21 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Vintage Contemporaries, 1999.

Summary:

Thirteen original and interconnected stories in the tradition of Junot Diaz and Sherman Alexie. Victor D. La Valle's astonishing, violent, and funny debut offers harrowing glimpses at the vulnerable lives of young people who struggle not only to come of age, but to survive the city streets.

In "ancient history, " two best friends graduating from high school fight to be the one to leave first for a better world; each one wants to be the fortunate son. In "pops, " an African American boy meets his father, a white cop from Connecticut, and tries not to care. And in "kids on colden street, " a boy is momentarily uplifted by the arrival of a younger sister only to discover that brutality leads only to brutality in the natural order of things.

Written with raw candor, grit, and a cautious heart, "Slapboxing with Jesus" introduces an exciting and bold new voice in contemporary fiction. La Valle's voices echo long after their stories are told.

Contents:

Raw daddy

Ghost story

Getting ugly

Slave

Ancient history

Chuckie

Trinidad

Who we did worship

How I lost my inheritance

Pops

Kids on Colden Street

Class trip.

ISBN:

0375705902

OCLC:

41090775