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The Underbelly
Providing insight on homelessness, political corruption, and the potential effects of gentrification, this urban noir tells the tough story of Magrady, a semi-homeless Vietnam veteran in Los Angeles. As he searches for a friend who has gone missing from Skid Row and who may be involved in a dangerous scheme, Magrady must deal with take-no-prisoners community organizers, an...more
Paperback, 144 pages
Published
September 1st 2010
by PM Press
(first published June 1st 2010)
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Whenever crafting a novel, character development must be at the forefront of the authors mind, as believable or relatable characters help the reader become involved in the story. In the novel, The Underbelly, author Gary Phillips does a great job at creating a very real and very relevant Magrady. As a Vietnam vet, the protagonist is searching for a friend and for answers, all the while dealing with his own sobriety, his damage from the war, and his accelerating age. I like how he author shows th...more
Gary Phillips is one of the royal family of ghetto lit. He has written novels, short stories and comic books, and has collaborated on a book with the rapper Ice-T. His tales are brutal and funny, and there is no better chronicler of the contemporary U.S.
The Underbelly may be his best book so far. Magrady is a semi-homeless, recovering alcoholic, post-traumatic stress-afflicted Vietnam veteran doing his best to survive in Los Angeles. He's helped by such friends as his septuagenarian ex-movie sta...more
The Underbelly may be his best book so far. Magrady is a semi-homeless, recovering alcoholic, post-traumatic stress-afflicted Vietnam veteran doing his best to survive in Los Angeles. He's helped by such friends as his septuagenarian ex-movie sta...more
This was a delight to edit, the language is pure South Central ghetto gold:
"Who you supposed to be, old school?" Savoirfaire taunted, flexing his shoulders and shifting his weight onto his back foot. "Captain America don't live here no more."
"I'm telling you it's through," Magrady repeated calmly, eyes moving from the man's hands to his face, locking onto the faux designer shades the discount desperado wore.
"You and Floyd are done."
"You his older brother, cousin, somethin' like that?"
"You'r...more
"Who you supposed to be, old school?" Savoirfaire taunted, flexing his shoulders and shifting his weight onto his back foot. "Captain America don't live here no more."
"I'm telling you it's through," Magrady repeated calmly, eyes moving from the man's hands to his face, locking onto the faux designer shades the discount desperado wore.
"You and Floyd are done."
"You his older brother, cousin, somethin' like that?"
"You'r...more
PM Press's Outspoken Author series is well worth reading by every writer and reader of genre fiction. I give these brief books only four stars because the $12 asking price seems too high for what you get.
Everything I want in a hardboiled noir.
Eh, it was ok, a bit confusing language though, not as suspenseful as I want in a crime thriller.
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GARY PHILLIPS lives in Los Angeles and is best known for his novels and short stories featuring PI Ivan Monk. He has worked a lot of different gigs in his time: a graveyard shift security guard, a printer, a union organizer, co-director of the MultiCultural Collaborative (a nonprofit set-up to improve race relations after the ’92 LA riots) and as political director of a city council campaign. He w...more
More about Gary Phillips...
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