Blue Eyes

Isaac Sidel #1

by Jerome Charyn

"Shotgun" Coen, a Jewish cop and son of Isaac Sidel, trails a high-breasted beauty named Odile, who may be caught up with a Peruvian crime family that runs white slaves to Mexico. Reprint.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Fiction, Noir, The United States Of America, Hard Boiled, American

Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Jerome Charyn is an award-winning American author. With more than 50 published works, Charyn has earned a long-standing reputation as an inventive and prolific chronicler of real and imagined American life.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Chabon calls him "one of the most important writers in American literature." New York Newsday hailed Charyn as "a contemporary American Balzac," and the Los Angeles Times described him as "absolutely unique among American writers."

Since the 1964 release of Charyn's first novel, Once Upon a Droshky, he has published thirty novels, three memoirs, eight graphic novels, two books about film, short stories, plays, and works of non-fiction. Two of his memoirs were named New York Times Book of the Year.

Charyn has been a finalist for the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction. He received the Rosenthal Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters and was named Commander of Arts and Letters by the French Minister of Culture. Charyn is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Film Studies at the American University of Paris.

In addition to writing and teaching, Charyn is a tournament table tennis player, once ranked in the top ten percent of players in France. Noted novelist Don DeLillo called Charyn's book on table tennis, Sizzling Chops & Devilish Spins, "The Sun Also Rises of ping-pong."

Charyn's most recent novel, Jerzy, was described by The New Yorker as a "fictional fantasia" about the life of Jerzy Kosinski, the controversial author of The Painted Bird. In 2010, Charyn wrote The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, an imagined autobiography of the renowned poet, a book characterized by Joyce Carol Oates as a "fever-dream picaresque."

Charyn lives in New York City. He's currently working with artists Asaf and Tomer Hanuka on an animated television series based on his Isaac Sidel crime novels.

Reviews

[jeffrey · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hated this book. A story that involves multiple subplots, the main protagonist is a blue-eyed blonde Jewish NYC cop. It is written in a style, I guess, that's supposed to be gritty and hard-boiled, with quirky characters, lots of police jargon, and has a hero who lives and dies as a ping-pong phenom.

"Hustlers, whores and ganglords" inhabit this landscape, but the author's odd writing forces one to grapple with just trying to understand what is happening, and it quickly becomes very annoying.

The book is littered with disjointed passages, unclear objects of prepositions, characters with multiple names, muddy motivations, unclear jargon, and many other stylistic annoyances. It was not a pleasant experience.

[Lenore Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading the most unpolicitally correct book ever! And loving it. Blue Eyes by Jerome Charyn is on tour with Tribute Books and stopped by to see me. Now I am a fan of Jerome's but it is because his writing is so varied. Every time I open a new book of his I see a new writing style and that intrigues me. Blue Eyes is the first book in a series that Jerome did some years ago. We are revisiting the series since it is working hard on becoming Hard Apple, an adult animated series. With the look of a gritty comic book, I am so excited to see it bring new life into these wild characters.

Issac Sidel is the main character for the series. I did not realize it at first since there are so many characters making up the multilevel story line. This felt like I was looking into a brownstone apartment building. Seeing each apartment as it's own story line and seeing how they crossed each others paths and intertwined like residents meeting in the halls and stairwells. The characters are raw and unflinching on how they present themselves, like New Yorkers one and all. Reading Blue Eyes, book one, I know now it is going to be a struggle not to spend the 'egg money' on the rest of the series. Guess it is time for me to start socking it away so I can build up to each book.

I do want to tell Jerome thank you. You see I do not re-read books. I have tried before. But by the first few pages the whole story is flooding all around me and it seems silly to read what I remember so vividly. With Blue Eyes I am already on my third re-read. Why? The depths of the interacting story lines has me mesmerized. I am still getting all the characters down, their histories and seeing where they are traveling. I know they will continue in the series and I want to know them well. Guess I am slinking along the city streets right along side them.

[Dora · Rating 3 out of 5]

Πρώτη φορά διαβάζω αστυνομικό με εβραϊκό χαρακτήρα. Δεν ξετρελαθηκα. Κοινωνικό θα το έλεγα περισσότερο, ενα σχόλιο μιας ξεπεσμένης σεφραδιτικης κοινωνιας

[Vasilis Kalandaridis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Μάλλον φταίω εγώ,πουθενά δεν κατάλαβα το βιβλίο,τι θέλει να πει,που το πάει,τζίφος τίποτα.

[Kari · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm going to be honest from the start, I didn't finish this book. I am pretty open minded when it comes to books. Since I have been blogging reviews, I have expanded my reading horizons significantly. The synopsis for Blue Eyes looked very interesting, so I thought I would give it a shot. About 3 chapters in, I was so confused that I was struggling to keep up my interest in the book. I found myself searching the internet to read more about the synopsis to figure out what was going on. This is never a good sign for me. Blue Eyes was written in the early 70s and is the first in a series by Mr. Charyn. I will say that it is very well written and the slang seems very authentic for 1970s New York City. Unfortunately, I am not a fan of books filled with slang, especially when it seems the book is teeming with it.

Now, having said all that, I think you SHOULD give Blue Eyes a chance. Especially if you are a fan of gritty street crime novels. It has gotten rave reviews from most readers. It just wasn't for me. I think I would have enjoyed it more had I been able to follow it better. The series is being re-issued as ebooks. That is the great thing about ebooks, we all get a chance to read and try out older novels that have been out of print for a while. Give this one a shot!

[Shawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book. A Jewish detective in New York? Right in my wheelhouse. And there were many interesting aspects of it: the
Marrano elements in particular. But overall, I didn't like it. The language was hard to penetrate: trying too hard to capture the lingo and slang of the underworld and police. I need a character to root for in a novel, someone to believe in or respect. But these characters were either weird, unsympathetic, evil, or uninteresting. The storytelling itself jumped around; I didn't have a good sense of what was going on for most of the book.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

I thought I'd really like this book, but it wasn't to be. Lots of info dumps and lack of narrative drive. The characters were great, as was the look into old-time NYC's melting pot. But in the author's note at the back of the book, Charyn discusses Ross MacDonald's influence on him. And all it made me think was how much I would rather have read a Ross MacDonald book.

[Φώτης Καραμπεσίνης · Rating 3 out of 5]

Συμπαθέστατη τετραλογία, με κάποιος ιδιαίτερους χαρακτήρες.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Manfred Coen takes on kidnappings of child brides in the Bronx. But he's being double-crossed.

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. It can be difficult to follow along at times but it's rewarding. I will warn you that the language is harsh. If you can deal with that and are a focused reader then you will be rewarded.

[Juan Luis · Rating 2 out of 5]

No sé qué leí. Terminé de leerlo por amor propio. Una historia que se desarrolla entre marginados en un submundo marginal en el que los personajes no son conscientes de su propio estado. Un Isaac Sidel, mitificado por quienes lo conocen y por quienes han oído de él, que aparece casi finalizando la novela, manipulador maquiavélico que no duda en permitir el asesinato de Manfred Coen para lograr unos objetivos que no se muestran en la narración.
Gracias al epílogo me entero que hay precuela, con Coen vivo -por supuesto- y la continuidad del mundo pesimista que se refleja en la obra. Gracias señor Charyn por ahorrarme el tiempo de leerlo. Ha sido por su parte un spoiler que agradezco. Citar a Ross Macdonald aquí a modo de inspiración me parece atrevido.
Bueno en definitiva, tenía expectativas mejores que lo que posteriormente resultó.
Para mi es un autor que evidentemente no volverá a robar mi tiempo.

[Elisala · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lu une première fois il y a longtemps. C'est chouette de retrouver ce style, avec plein de choses, plein de personnages, plein de caractères décrits les uns sur les autres, difficile à suivre parfois, mais agréable dans sa foutraquerie, avec un humour léger mais omniprésent.
On va pas se mentir, l'intrigue policière est ici quelque peu secondaire.

[Stephan Carstens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schwerer Stoff. Kein einfacher Erzählstil. Viele Namen.

[Bill Abrams · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really enjoyed the plot. The author is writing I the 70s in a stylized version of how the police spoke. So there are a lot of uncomfortable epithets.

[Sandie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Detective Manfred Coen is a product of the streets. Raised in the '40's in New York City in the Bronx, he grows up with Jewish gangsters, con men, policemen and politicians. Most guys gravitated either to the police or the gangs, and Coen ends up in the police. He is the protege of Captain Issac Sidel and is disliked by the rank and file both for his mentor and for his blond hair, blue-eyed Hollywood handsome good looks.

But times change. Sidel is now out of the force, disgraced in a bribery scandal. Coen floats from precinct to precinct, never finding a home but still the most effective cop the force has on the streets. His world is full of Chinese Hispanic gunman, a clubfooted confidential informer, a gangster's son who is a man with the mind of a child, a rich girl who ends up as a porn star and stripper, an ex-wife who married a dentist the second time around, a ping-pong club owner. All have roots in Coen's past and he moves among them, taking what he needs from each to solve the case while protecting them all the best he can.

There are hints of a white slavery ring operating out of New York and sending girls to Mexico to become brides. There are currents and cross-currents of shakeups and realignments in the gang structure that has held true for decades. Coen seems to be the one who can solve the cases; but is he also being manipulated behind the scenes?

Jerome Charyn is an important figure in American literature. Two of his thirty books have been New York Times Notable Books. Michael Chabon calls him “one of the most important writers in American literature.” Blue Eyes was released in 1974 and is a gritty representation of the world Charyn grew up in. The language can be jarring with street talk and name-calling, but the sense of place is done superbly. There are picturesque characters, loyalties and betrayals that stretch across decades, plots and counterplots. This book is recommended for mystery readers and for those interested in reading about the streets of New York City in the '60's and '70's.

[Lenore Webb · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been reading the most unpolicitally correct book ever! And loving it. Blue Eyes by Jerome Charyn is on tour with Tribute Books and stopped by to see me. Now I am a fan of Jerome's but it is because his writing is so varied. Every time I open a new book of his I see a new writing style and that intrigues me. Blue Eyes is the first book in a series that Jerome did some years ago. We are revisiting the series since it is working hard on becoming Hard Apple, an adult animated series. With the look of a gritty comic book, I am so excited to see it bring new life into these wild characters.

Issac Sidel is the main character for the series. I did not realize it at first since there are so many characters making up the multilevel story line. This felt like I was looking into a brownstone apartment building. Seeing each apartment as it's own story line and seeing how they crossed each others paths and intertwined like residents meeting in the halls and stairwells. The characters are raw and unflinching on how they present themselves, like New Yorkers one and all. Reading Blue Eyes, book one, I know now it is going to be a struggle not to spend the 'egg money' on the rest of the series. Guess it is time for me to start socking it away so I can build up to each book.

I do want to tell Jerome thank you. You see I do not re-read books. I have tried before. But by the first few pages the whole story is flooding all around me and it seems silly to read what I remember so vividly. With Blue Eyes I am already on my third re-read. Why? The depths of the interacting story lines has me mesmerized. I am still getting all the characters down, their histories and seeing where they are traveling. I know they will continue in the series and I want to know them well. Guess I am slinking along the city streets right along side them.

[Tia Bach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Eyes reads like a gritty exposé of New York City in the 1970s. Corruption, greed, family ties, and questionable loyalties abound. Manfred Coen is loyal to his mentor, Isaac Sidel, and weakened by the town whore, Odile. But where others' loyalties lie is constantly evolving.

Coen, through a series of twist and turns and changing family allegiances, is thrust into the dirty world of ping-pong hustling and human trafficking. Young girls are being sold, but even that storyline isn't as black and white as it sounds.

Although this is the first Isaac Sidel mystery, Isaac is not a main character. Yet, he manages to be the force behind much of the story. Just enough of his character is revealed to entice the reader to want to know more about him, especially since his sphere of influence is so large.

So much was going on with this story and so many characters introduced, I was often confused. If I had time, I'd definitely want to re-read and catch the nuances of the many characters and sub-plots. Each character was ultimately crucial to the story, but similar sounding names (Chino, Coen, Cesar, Chinaman) and changing references (sometimes Manfred, sometimes Coen, Freddy?) left me overwhelmed.

About halfway through, I finally had enough background to really connect with the story. Once I did, it was a fast and engaging ride. Don't give up early on.

I recommend this book to readers who enjoy crime and mystery novels that are no-holds-barred. You'll be mesmerized by Charyn's well-crafted world and story.

Note: I received a complimentary copy for review purposes. A positive review was not requested or guaranteed; the opinions expressed are my own.

[Caitlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you're a fan of classic noir pulp fiction, Jerome Charyn's Blue Eyes would be a great place to indulge your interest. The first book in a series of four, Blue Eyes has a lot in common with other great pulp fiction published in the early seventies, although the author reminds me most of Ross MacDonald (if MacDonald was writing about New York).

The main character, Manfred Coen, is a detective caught up in a feud between his mentor Isaac Sidel and a group of pickpockets. The story takes us on a journey through New York in the seventies, a time when the city was literally falling to pieces and the NYPD was both influenced by its corruption and decay and trying to hold the place together.

Coen, assigned as the lead officer in the kidnapping of a producer of pornographic films is our hero. You remember, right? Back in the days when porn was filmed on ... you know ... film. For a great read on the history of porn, I highly recommend The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry by Legs McNeil. The book includes a walk through New York's porn scene in the seventies and dovetails nicely with the background of Charyn's book. Coen meanders through Bronx on his way to Mexico where the ultimate showdown occurs over a game of Ping Pong. How delicious is that?

Creative and well-conceived, this is hard-boiled detective fiction at its very best. With an eye for details of place and for untrammeled chaos, Charyn will keep you up all night. Highly recommended.

[Carol Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most vintage mysteries, there’s some racism and sexism that needs overlooked, and some jargon I was unfamiliar with. But the characters were amazing. They were all nuts, from the Chinaman who wore a red wig and couldn’t work in Chinatown to Coen’s Spanish stoolie who he actually seemed to have a good relationship with. There’s a young porn star/prostitute, who in her real life prefers the company of women, but of course falls for Coen none the less. There’s the old man who runs numbers, and half the neighborhood, from his candy store. It’s an odd world, peopled with unique characters. It’s a seedy corrupt New York but not quite real, maybe due to Charyn’s descriptive style.

And then there’s Isaac, a shadowy figure for most of the book, Coen’s former mentor, now in disgrace. He’s the man that carries the series, not Coen.

It a odd journey, full of twists and turns that I didn’t see coming. One especially stood out for me, and made me realize that you can’t hang on to your expectations when reading Charyn, because he’ll just roll right over them.

[Wendy Hines · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first Jerome Charyn novel I have had the pleasure to read. I don't know why I've never heard of him before - his writing is phenomenal. From page one, I was pulled into his world of crime and multi-faceted characters. Sidel and Coen aren't your average detectives and it is that uniqueness that makes them shine. From the shady corners of the seventies in New York comes a pulp fiction sort of novel that will leave you waiting for the next installment. Blue Eyes was originally published years ago but is being re-released as it is being made into an adult animated series. If you enjoy reading hard-boiled detective novels with exceptional characters and writing that will keep you riveted, pick up Blue Eyes!

[Fabio Tassi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Scrittura funambolica, ma troppo declinato sul registro grottesco e a tratti surreale per essere coinvolgente ed emozionante fino in fondo (quarta stella stirata - tendente a tre stelle nella mia classifica di gradimento). Raccomandato per appassionati dell'Autore Charyn (o del genere alla Pennac), anche se tanti squarci metropolitani rendono bene le atmosfere dei quartieri della grande mela... nulla a che vedere pero' con il Bronx ancora piu' nero e iper-realistico di Chester Himes! Incuriosisce il personaggio del vice-capo Isaac il Puro, vero deus ex-machina della vicenda che rimane sempre defilato sullo sfondo fino al finale, muovendo i personaggi come burattini del suo teatrino di potere personale.

[Hex75 · Rating 4 out of 5]

può un romanzo grottesco, surreale e divertente essere anche malinconico al punto di commuovere? può un libro seguire la storia di un uomo e delle persone che gravitano intorno a lui rivelandoti solo nel finale quanto fossero tutti burattini manovrati dal personaggio apparentemente più marginale del libro? quanto storie si potranno ambientare ancora a new york riuscendo -come fa questo libro- a non cadere nei peggiori cliché e perchè nessuno riesce mai a dipingerla in questo modo, concreta e al tempo stesso irreale? ma sopratutto: perchè caspita un autore di alto livello come jerome charyn in italia ha avuto una piccola fama come autore di culto ed ora è dimenticato da tutti, con i libri irreperibili se non all'usato o nei reminder?

[Nigel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Extraordinary and strange tale of a blue-eyed Jewish New York detective, abandoned by his mentor, Isaac Sidel, tossed from department to department, loathed as a spy by his fellow cops, he is thrust into the dealings of the Guzmann family from his old Bronx neighbourhood to shut down the delivery of young girls to Mexico. Surrounded by enemies, Coen is tough but vulnerable, and only has time for ping-pong. Told in lovely, lyrical prose that packs more info and character and sights and sounds in a single paragraph than most writers can manage in a whole book, Blue Eyes is fast, furious, almost hallucinatory, a bit like Chester Himes or James Ellroy, but utterly unlike them at the same time.

[Otto Penzler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even if you don't generally read mysteries, author Jerome Charyn may be the author to change your mind. Probably best known for such historical fiction as The Secret Life of Emily Dickinson, he has created a unique mystery series, beginning with Blue Eyes, about Isaac Sidel, the complicated detective whose bad decisions set off a chain reaction for blue - eyed cadet Manfred Coen. A surprise twist catches you off guard and keeps the prose exciting as Coen is pushed into the investigation of a human trafficking operation. The novel is filled with notable characters whose questionable decision making doesn't underscore their likability.

[Michael Lussier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerome Charyn has written a beautiful elegy to crime and punishment in the five boroughs. Charyn isn't your typical genre writer. He tells character-driven shaggy dog stories, much like Dickens did. 1970s New York is depicted in the Isaac novels exactly as I remember it - crumbling, dangerous and incongruously multicultural; full of misdirected frustration, bitter truths and unhealthy romance.

This is a good read for anyone who enjoys Raymond Chandler and J. G. Ballard. Charyn isn't so much interested in telling a tightly woven tale, as he is in exploring the psychogeographic landscape.

[Debbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had read a later book in the series, which I liked well enough that I decided to start from the beginning. Charyn has a unique style that I really enjoy, and find myself re-reading sentences just because I like the images he's created, or the odd mix of words. The story is interesting in a surreal way, which I'm beginning to see is a trademark, and it certainly goes places I wouldn't have expected if I hadn't already read the later book. If you're a hard-boiled procedural fan who enjoys wordplay and quirky situations and characters, this series might be for you.

[Paula Ratcliffe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was written in 1977, while reading that much was evident in the story. We meet Manfred Coen who sets out to find out who kidnapped the daughter of a porn director. This book while very good, I found myself having to look up some things as I wasn’t around in the early 70′s and didn’t know certain things, like Orange O’s. This book would be great for mystery buffs who love reading about New York in the 70′s, and about the Police in that time frame. Full of adventure, and tons of mystery! Definitely worth the re-publishing for electronic format!

[Star · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blue Eyes is an extra hard-boiled tale of a disgraced detective and his protégé. Coen, the young cadet, is pulled into a human slavery/trafficking investigation by Isaac Sidel. Sidel and Coen live in a world filled with crime, unsavory characters, and wicked twists of fate. Mr. Charyn keeps you guessing via rich descriptions and gritty language. The first in a series about Detective Isaac Sidel, Blue Eyes is a wild ride through the darkest of noir.

[Paul Boger · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very literary crime novel, as if Chester Himes had written "The Spy Who Came in from the Cold." While the plot is loose, at best, and lacking any real tension, themes of family and tribe mingle with scenes of tabloid NYC. This is the first of a quartet featuring Issac Sidel and Manfred Coen, but I don't know if I'll read the others. An interesting experiment, but certainly not a page-turner.

[Malamas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Διαβάζοντάς αυτό το βιβλίο μετά το τελευταίο της τετραλογίας μπορώ να δω πολλές διαφορές στη γραφή του Charyn. Το βιβλίο είναι άναρχο και απρόσμενο. Όχι στη γραφή αλλά στα συναισθήματα και τις συμπεριφορές των προσώπων του. Και πάλι σε μαγνητίζει, μην μπορώντας βέβαια πολλές φορές να καταλάβεις τη ψυχοσύνθεσή τους, όσο και αν προσπαθήσεις.