Men from Boys - Softcover

Harvey, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0060762853 ISBN 13: 9780060762858

Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks, 2005

Synopsis

What actions must a boy take to become a man? One might use a razor to clear his first growth of beard, while another could employ it as a weapon -- both actions might be a fitting rite of passage.

In these dazzling works of fiction, seventeen masters of crime and suspense explore what it means to be a son, what it means to be a father, what it means to be a man. Spanning continents and decades, the stories are set in interconnected worlds both instantly recognizable and astonishingly believable, from long stretches on a dry Texas highway to a bleak London alley, from the claustrophobic confines of an after-hours backroom poker game to a rundown jazz joint in Manhattan.

Amid card sharks, revolvers, and shallow graves, the characters who inhabit these stories strive to discover what is right, what will give them dignity, what will earn them respect. Whether at the age of ten or thirty-five, all will come face-to-face with a situation that will brutally separate the men from the boys.

About this title

About the Author:

John Harvey is the author of the richly praised sequence of ten Charlie Resnick novels, the first of which, Lonely Hearts, was named by The Times (London) as one of the "100 Best Crime Novels of the Century." Flesh and Blood, his first novel featuring Frank Elder, was awarded the Crime Writers Association Silver Dagger for Fiction in 2004. He is also a poet, dramatist, and occasional broadcaster.

From Booklist:

Veteran British mystery writer Harvey assembles an impressive list of hard-boiled writers from both sides of the Atlantic, offering stories about what it means to be a man, a theme that both is nebulous enough to coax some fine individual contributions and substantial enough to enable the collection to read as a coherent whole. There's quite a range, from the merest of vignettes (Daniel Woodrell's broken account of a prodigal son and George Pelecanos' slice of the high life), to traditional suspense stories from Michael Connelly and Jeffrey Deaver, to a spare and beguiling, tip-of-the-iceberg family saga from Andrew Coburn. Other highlights from this consistently interesting collection include Mark Billingham's searing tale of initiation rituals old and new, Don Winslow's gritty rust-belt parable on the sins of the father, a haunting impressionistic road trip from James Sallis, and, from Dennis Lehane, a father-and-son reunion worthy of Jim Thompson. This bumpy ride on the cycle of violence makes a rewarding sampler for any fan of hard-boiled crime and an excellent addition to that murky masculine nongenre offsetting women's fiction. David Wright
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About this edition

• Publisher: William Morrow Paperbacks
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0060762853
• ISBN 13: 9780060762858
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320