In The Brooklyn Book of the Dead, Michael Stephens presents the most devastating vision of the Irish-American family since the nightmarish portrayals of Eugene O'Neill and James T. Farrell. Returning to their Brooklyn neighborhood for the wake and funeral of their father (Customs Inspector Leland Coole, aka Jackie Ducks, Little Lee, Crazy Jack, but remembered by his children as the "old bastard"), the sixteen Coole children talk and reminisce about their father and family; all adults now, their lives have been painful ...
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In The Brooklyn Book of the Dead, Michael Stephens presents the most devastating vision of the Irish-American family since the nightmarish portrayals of Eugene O'Neill and James T. Farrell. Returning to their Brooklyn neighborhood for the wake and funeral of their father (Customs Inspector Leland Coole, aka Jackie Ducks, Little Lee, Crazy Jack, but remembered by his children as the "old bastard"), the sixteen Coole children talk and reminisce about their father and family; all adults now, their lives have been painful failures involving drugs, alcoholism, violence, petty crime, incest, and despair. Like any truly emotionally crippled children of a dysfunctional family, the Cooles rant with bitterness about their pasts but likewise romanticize their family, coupling an ability to analyze their plight with an utter inability to do anything about it. The novel is also the story of the decline of urban America and the story of third-generation immigrants who are both cut off from their roots and yet unassimilated into the illusory American melting pot. Stephens writes of all this with a passion and love of his materials. And he writes bravely because this is a book that will be attacked by those who believe in the mythical American family invoked by "family-values" politicians and wealthy evangelists. If Stephens has a message at all, it is that families are diseases made fatal by a cynical American society.
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Add this copy of Brooklyn Book of the Dead to cart. $3.84, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Dalkey Archive Press.
Add this copy of Brooklyn Book of the Dead to cart. $3.87, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Dalkey Archive Press.
Add this copy of Brooklyn Book of the Dead to cart. $3.93, fair condition, Sold by Your Online Bookstore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Houston, TX, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Dalkey Archive Press.
Add this copy of The Brooklyn Book of the Dead to cart. $12.50, like new condition, Sold by Nilbog Books rated 2.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Portland, ME, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Dalkey Archive.
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Seller's Description:
Very Fine in Very Fine jacket. 12mo-over 6¾-7¾" tall. 1st Printing. This is a Very Fine copy of the first edition (1st printing) in a like dust jacket.
Add this copy of The Brooklyn Book of the Dead to cart. $23.00, very good condition, Sold by bookgrove rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Glenwood Springs, CO, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Dalkey Archive Press.
Add this copy of Brooklyn Book of the Dead to cart. $27.00, very good condition, Sold by Robinson Street Books rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Binghamton, NY, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Dalkey Archive Press.
Add this copy of Brooklyn Book of the Dead to cart. $97.30, new condition, Sold by GridFreed rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from North Las Vegas, NV, UNITED STATES, published 1994 by Dalkey Archive Press.
