Loisaida -- A New York Story [Kindle Edition]

I just finished this book, having started it yesterday. As a fan of both true crime and suspense, I saw this book posted on an Amazon thread and it struck me as something right up my alley of interest. Wow. What a gritty, evocative story, written in a style every bit as good as Patricia Cornwell's or James Patterson's. Stein has created such multifaceted characters that even as you hate them, you root for them, against your better judgment. This book is a masterpiece in forcing the reader to not only accept, but understand, the grey areas in life. Amazing.

In a moment, I'm going to say a couple of things about this book that you may or may not believe. It doesn't matter. I'm going to say them anyway because I'm convinced they are true. We'll get to that though...

I initially bought this book as a present for someone else. I had no intention of reading it because I thought it was simply a bargain price thriller. Having poked around the Amazon forums for a few months, however, I started to see references to Loisaida which made me think that, actually, there was more to the book than I'd initially assumed. So eventually I gave it go. I read the first couple of chapters and thought I'd maybe misjudged as it came across as a well written, but rather straightforward crime story. However, I then hit chapter three and suddenly it opened out into this unbelievable range of voices, a cast of characters so authentic and distinct from each other that it is hard to believe they were all conceived and written by the same person. There are artisans, junkies, ex-cons, and amidst them all a TV actor trying to become a journalist and searching for his breakthrough story on the lower East side.

There are a lot of characters and you will have to make some effort in keeping up, but believe me when I say it's worth that effort. In the hands of a lesser writer the different voices would have been in danger of becoming a cacophony, but Marion Stein manages to make them harmonise, with narrative overlaps that never leave you wondering what's going on. The New York on display here is reminiscent of that of Arthur Nersesian, Jay McInerney, Hubert Selby Jr. It's rich and evocative and gripping.

Ok, here's my bombshell. I mentioned a couple of authors above. On the evidence of this book, I think Marion Stein is certainly as good as, if not better, than all of them. I know that's a big claim when you consider I mentioned Hubert Selby, but I stand by it. All I can say is I enjoyed this book more than 'Last Exit to Brooklyn', I enjoyed it more than 'Song of the Silent Snow'. There was a vibrancy to the characters in this novel that, in my opinion, Selby never quite matches. I would go so far as to say that if this book had been written twenty years ago, it would now be talked of as a cult classic. It is truly, truly stunning. As I said, you might not believe me, in which case I suggest you try the book and then come back and attempt to tell me why I'm wrong. I'm willing to bet you won't convince me. A tremendous piece of work.

This stunning novel could also be titled City of the Lost as there is not a single character in it who is not lost in some way. Marion's background as an oral storyteller shines through in the voice of each character as they tell their own stories, and in the voice of the city of which they are all a part. In a way, this novel is a loving portrait of a place -- New York's lower east side -- and a time -- the 1980s, before the influx of yuppies and the advent of the internet. It is a masterful mosaic painted from the full spectrum of the human psyche.

Marion has full mastery of all of the literary techniques of the Twentieth century -- modernist, post-modernist, beat, punk. And here she unobtrusively applies all of these techniques to achieve her goals, elevating the noir thriller to an art form, revealing the depth of human frailty and self-conceit, and above all painting the mural of an urban region as diverse as it is dirty.

You'll be picking the grit out of your teeth for a long time after reading this one. And you will find yourself unable to put it down, unless it is to applaud the author on a job well done.