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Boombox: A Novel
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About the BookOne block. Four neighbors. One very loud problem. Black and white, young and old, men and women, they live in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill, sharing a courtyard in relative harmony. It’s what a former mayor liked to call “the urban mosaic.” There’s Carol Fasone, a secretary enjoying her new marriage to a Bosnian immigrant. There’s Mitchell Brett, a Wall Streeter transplanted from Manhattan’s Upper East Side, trying to get his wife pregnant. There’s Grace Howard, hoping for a promotion in her corporate job, surprised to find herself beginning a romance with a member of the Board. And then there’s teenage Jamel Wilson, who buys a big sound system to impress his friends from the projects around the corner, blasts gangster rap into the backyard gardens, and—over the course of one hot summer—pushes the block’s friendships and alliances past the breaking point. In Boombox, the author of the Edgar Award-nominated novel Red Hook turns to a different kind of story: a finely-observed urban drama, and a heartfelt, unflinching answer to Rodney King’s plaintive question: “Can we all get along?” Reviews“Boombox runs on the propulsive energy of urban life, a sensitive and knowing look at the tensions, anguish, and real pleasures that we all experience.”—Meg Wolitzer, author of The Position “Gabriel Cohen is as brave as he is talented, not just because he delves fearlessly into the difficult topics of racism and gentrification, but because he inhabits the hearts and minds of such a disparate cast of characters.”—Lisa Selin Davis, author of Belly “I loved Boombox. It successfully captures the flux of the neighborhood and the cultural and generational differences. The portrayals of Carol and Grace are amazing and Jamel’s situation is compelling and all too real. Gabriel Cohen has written a terrific book!”—Mary Gannett, co-owner of BookCourt bookstore, Brooklyn, New York About the AuthorGabriel Cohen has written for The New York Times, Time Out New York, and The Progressive, and has taught writing at New York University. His first novel, Red Hook, was published by St. Martin’s Press in 2001. |
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