Stewart O'Nan's latest novel could likely take place anywhere, but it's
absolutely right that it takes place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Filled with
local dialect, or "Pittsburghese" (like the term chip-chop ham), and with
fathers working for the biggest of the local corporations such as Nabisco,
this book is Pittsburgh through and through. The geography is impeccable;
there is a passage where a character drives a stolen car around town that is
so perfect, I could swear I was in the car. Mr. O'Nan even flavors the tale
with real Pittsburgh weather --- everything gray, always raining.
Over the course of one week in the fall of 1998, East Liberty, a community in
Pittsburgh, is on the verge of being cut off from the rest of the city by the
opening of a new expressway for buses. The town has long been victim to
poverty and gang violence; during this one week, their patience will be
tested more than usual.
The youngest child of the Tolbert family, Chris, a.k.a. Crest, has recently
been in a horrible accident on that very expressway which left him paralyzed
from the waist down. The accident also took the life of his best friend. His
girlfriend and mother of his son, Vanessa, is going to school to improve her
chances in life; his brother has recently returned from jail a born-again
Christian, and the marriage of his parents is in crisis. Beside this one
family, there are neighbors dying, friends being robbed, and political
upheaval.
The novel is very nonjudgmental. These characters are who they are. They are
parents, drug lords, homosexuals, politicians. They each speak in very
distinctive voices, never losing the slang of the inner city. The dialect is
near perfect.
O'Nan uses a very effective form, telling the story of different characters
in separate chapters. Each character has his or her place, and because of the
way the chapters are broken up, the novel is a quick and ever-changing
read. This form fits perfectly the pace of life for these characters, and is
benefited by the strong voices of each character.
From the beginning quote by Raymond Patterson, one understands that this is a
novel not only about the plight of the black man in the city, but of how the
city can benefit from, or harm, its urban residents. It shows in a powerful
way how society keeps going in circles, and how we often wonder how to get
out of the pattern. One character, while reflecting upon life in East
Liberty, thinks that "there wasn't a day he didn't wonder what exactly he was
doing there." This might well be the thought heard round the world. Haven't
we all thought of ways to get out of a bad situation? And haven't many just
stayed for reasons unknown?
I began reading this novel believing that it would focus primarily on Crest;
by the end, I felt it focused more on Vanessa. Though the other characters
are equally strong in voice and story, Vanessa and her new life as a result
of night school occupy the most chapters. And while she begins this novel
with a slightly soft tone and a new wide-eyed view of the world, she ends it
with an attitude that comes off as a bit "holier-than-thou." I would have
liked to have spent more time inside the head of Crest. The final chapters
where he attends the opening of the busway where he had his accident are
powerful and moving. They ring the truest of all of the well-titled chapters.
After reading Stewart O'Nan's novel, readers will be more than familiar with
the workings of life in urban America. If they have never been to Pittsburgh,
they will feel as if they have been, and if they have been, they will receive
a very welcome return trip. They will listen to the voices of these
characters, and they will know them to be everyday people, rather than
hooligans, or drug lords, or thieves. And they will go out singing "O Happy
Day."
Special Note: The last sentence sent chills right through me. Definitely
worth the careful reading to feel the power of that sentence.
--- Reviewed by Josette Kurey
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