Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1287901 in Books
• Published on: 2003-06-24
• Released on: 2003-06-24
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .77" h x 5.36" w x 8.38" l, .56 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 288 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Although coming of age on the mean streets has been done to death, this debut by a Bay Area novelist/screenwriter puts an interesting spin on the genre. Fifth-grader Conrad Clay lives in a seedy neighborhood of Alameda, near the San Francisco shipyards and naval station. The son of an abusive, alcoholic welder, he is one of 14 white boys at Jack London Primary, though he fits in pretty well because he avoids "comin at it on the honky-ass tip." His father has just lost his job (but is keeping it a secret), his mother is slipping deeper into depression, his beloved grandmother is in failing health and they are all facing eviction. He finds some solace with his black best friend, Loop, but even that relationship is tumultuous: at one point his father mistakes Loop for a burglar and nearly shoots him. Characters and plot lines range from the mundane (a bully, some adolescent sexual fumbling) to the bizarre (a pair of gay pro wrestlers, Conrad's plan to kill his father with a pipe bomb), but Winer's take on boyhood, with its attendant spasms of bravado and insecurity, always rings true. He errs toward the obvious when it comes to symbolism (Conrad is partially colorblind, for starters), but his imagery is often arresting and he manages to infuse the various domestic upheavals with a dark, damaged lyricism that is deeply affecting.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
In his first novel, Winer tells the story of ten-year-old Conrad Clay, a boy whose childhood is almost behind him. The book is dramatic and well written, focusing on the struggles Con must face growing up in the poor and depleted shipbuilding town on the island of Almeda off the California coast. Con struggles with feelings brought about by his parents' constant fighting, his deep longing to escape the island, and his colorblindness. Con can see colors in others mom is yellow, best friend Loop is silver, Gramma is gray but he continues to search for his own color. Con learns that his family and friends are the only thing that can save him from getting completely swallowed up by the troubled environment around him. And when he eventually finds his own color, he realizes that he has "seen it out of the corner of my own eyes all my life." Winer's appealing use of dialog and language contributes to the story's sense of reality, although some not familiar with urban slang, such as "decks" (skateboards) and "bettys" (girls) may find some passages confusing. This quick and impressive read draws the reader in page after page. Recommended for public and academic libraries; Winer is the coauthor of a screenplay recently sold to Fox/New Regency. Lonya French, "Library Journal"
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Growing up can be tough on a kid. Take, for example, Conrad Clay, the 10-year-old narrator of this heartfelt and literary but muddled first novel. Conrad's parents fight incessantly, his father is abusive, and his mother is cold and indifferent. The local naval base is closing, which is slowly destroying any dream he has of a better life; and the bond he has with his best friend, Loop, is beginning to disintegrate. Add to this Conrad's recent discovery that he is colorblind, and you get a picture of how miserable he is. Fortunately, not all is gloomy. Conrad does have a close relationship with his loving grandmother and is offered good councel by Loop's older brother, Midnight. Finally, he does manage to find some redemption through his acceptance of others. In putting all of this together, Winer offers at best a patchy bildungsroman. The novel creates so many different dilemmas, issues, and characters that focus and direction are sometimes lacking. Fortunately, the author does succeed to an extent in giving Conrad a sympathetic and natural voice. David Hellman
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