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Bloodbrothers
Eighteen-year-old Stony De Coco has to make a either join his father in the tightly knit world of New York's construction unions or take off and find his own path. But Stony's family is not about to make that choice easy. As he tries to protect his little brother, Albert, from their dangerously unbalanced mother, and to postpone the difficult adult responsibilities that await him, he finds hope in a job working with children at a hospital--a job that promises not to make anyone happy but Stony.
Richard Price's Bloodbrothers is a soulful and often profane story of working-class life in the Bronx, and one young man's bruising initiation into adulthood.
Richard Price's Bloodbrothers is a soulful and often profane story of working-class life in the Bronx, and one young man's bruising initiation into adulthood.
271 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
49 people are currently reading
931 people want to read
About the author
Richard Price
126 books972 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Also writes under the pen name Harry Brandt
A self-described "middle class Jewish kid," Price grew up in a housing project in the northeast Bronx. Today, he lives in New York City with his family.
Price graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1967 and obtained a BA from Cornell University and an MFA from Columbia. He also did graduate work at Stanford. He has taught writing at Columbia, Yale, and New York University. He was one of the first people interviewed on the NPR show Fresh Air when it began airing nationally in 1987. In 1999, he received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature.
Price's novels explore late 20th century urban America in a gritty, realistic manner that has brought him considerable literary acclaim. Several of his novels are set in a fictional northern New Jersey city called Dempsy. In his review of Lush Life (2008), Walter Kirn compared Price to Raymond Chandler and Saul Bellow.
Price's first novel was The Wanderers (1974), a coming-of-age story set in the Bronx in 1962, written when Price was 24 years old. It was adapted into a movie in 1979, with a screenplay by Rose and Philip Kaufman and directed by the latter.
Clockers (1992) was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. It has been praised for its humor, suspense, dialogue, and characterizations. In 1995, it was made into a movie directed by Spike Lee; Price and Lee shared writing credits for the screenplay.
Price has written numerous screenplays, of which the best known are The Color of Money (1986), for which he was nominated for an Oscar, Life Lessons (the Martin Scorsese segment of New York Stories) (1989), Sea of Love (1989), Mad Dog and Glory (1992), Ransom (1996), and Shaft (2000). He also wrote for the HBO series The Wire. Price was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the fifth season of The Wire. He is often cast in cameo roles in the films he writes.
Price also wrote and conceptualized the 15 minute film surrounding Michael Jackson's "Bad" video.
Additionally, he has published articles in the The New York Times, Esquire Magazine, The New Yorker, Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and others.
Also writes under the pen name Harry Brandt
A self-described "middle class Jewish kid," Price grew up in a housing project in the northeast Bronx. Today, he lives in New York City with his family.
Price graduated from the Bronx High School of Science in 1967 and obtained a BA from Cornell University and an MFA from Columbia. He also did graduate work at Stanford. He has taught writing at Columbia, Yale, and New York University. He was one of the first people interviewed on the NPR show Fresh Air when it began airing nationally in 1987. In 1999, he received the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature.
Price's novels explore late 20th century urban America in a gritty, realistic manner that has brought him considerable literary acclaim. Several of his novels are set in a fictional northern New Jersey city called Dempsy. In his review of Lush Life (2008), Walter Kirn compared Price to Raymond Chandler and Saul Bellow.
Price's first novel was The Wanderers (1974), a coming-of-age story set in the Bronx in 1962, written when Price was 24 years old. It was adapted into a movie in 1979, with a screenplay by Rose and Philip Kaufman and directed by the latter.
Clockers (1992) was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. It has been praised for its humor, suspense, dialogue, and characterizations. In 1995, it was made into a movie directed by Spike Lee; Price and Lee shared writing credits for the screenplay.
Price has written numerous screenplays, of which the best known are The Color of Money (1986), for which he was nominated for an Oscar, Life Lessons (the Martin Scorsese segment of New York Stories) (1989), Sea of Love (1989), Mad Dog and Glory (1992), Ransom (1996), and Shaft (2000). He also wrote for the HBO series The Wire. Price was nominated for the Writers Guild of America Award award for Best Dramatic Series at the February 2009 ceremony for his work on the fifth season of The Wire. He is often cast in cameo roles in the films he writes.
Price also wrote and conceptualized the 15 minute film surrounding Michael Jackson's "Bad" video.
Additionally, he has published articles in the The New York Times, Esquire Magazine, The New Yorker, Village Voice, Rolling Stone, and others.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 64 reviews
October 8, 2024
INIZIAZIONE
Co-op City nel Bronx, dove vivono i protagonisti, fu costruita tra il 1966 e il 1973, ma i primi residenti hanno cominciato ad abitarla nel 1968.
Il diciottenne Stony, al secolo Thomas Junior, è figlio di paisà che parlano broccolino, e ora ha davanti diverse scelte che si configurano tutte come bivio senza ritorno, tutte come dolorose, ogni strada chiude porte alle spalle.
Affiancare il padre nel lavoro di edile (elettricista) e farlo felice? Posto sicuro, protetto dal sindacato e dalla posizione che il padre s’è fatto in trent’anni di lavoro, guadagno assicurato e non da buttar via.
E soprattutto, dare una gioia al padre, un’immensa soddisfazione.
Oppure spezzargli il cuore?
E per cosa, quale sarebbe l’alternativa?
Lavorare in un ospedale nel reparto dei bambini, intrattenerli, raccontare loro storie, talento che Stony possiede in misura spiccata, distrarli dalla malattia. Stipendio basso, lavoro da ‘femmine’, o donnicciole se si preferisce, e contatto quotidiano con malattia e dolore.
15.372 appartamenti divisi in 35 edifici residenziali che variano dai 24 ai 33 piani. Se fosse un municipio a se stante, sarebbe la decima città più grande dello stato.
Però è questo che Stony vuole.
Ma vuole anche salvare suo fratello Albert, otto anni, bambino per il quale l’anoressia è il minore dei problemi: la madre lo respinge, lo terrorizza, lo strattona, l’ha ridotto una larva. Stony non vuole abbandonarlo e vuole proteggerlo dalla genitrice.
Ma se rifiuta il lavoro col padre e sceglie quello in ospedale dovrà andarsene di casa, dovrà trasferirsi a vivere da solo: e dopo che ne sarà di Albert, il fratellino?
Gli abitanti sono al 60 afro-americani, per circa il 30% ispanici, e per il resto bianchi e asiatici. I bianchi sono principalmente paisà.
Scelte che sembrano irrevocabili perché Stony ha diciottanni, che non è l’età dell’attesa, della possibilità, della seconda chance, ma quella del tutto e subito.
Bambini sulla sedia a rotelle che vengono da famiglie disastrate, odore di disinfettante e di malattia, camici… Dall’altra parte, vivere tutta la settimana aspettando il weekend, ripetere il modello familiare, moglie a casa, marito fuori a bere con gli amici e a mettere corna. Mette i brividi questa decisione.
La famiglia De Coco a tavola: in piedi il padre Tommy Sr interpretato da Tony Lo Bianco, Richard Gere è il figlio Stony, o Tommy Jr, la madre Maria e Lelia Goldoni, di spalle il piccolo Albert interpretatoda Michael Hershewe, che ha proseguito la carriera d’attore per un altro paio d’anni.
Non è ancora il Price delle opere migliori, questa è ancora a suo modo acerba: qualche lungaggine, qualche ripetizione, qualche insistenza, troppo vomito.
Ma la storia ha già la potenza delle sue migliori (pur se in completa assenza di poliziotti e criminali) e a momenti i dialoghi hanno l’eccellenza che lo contraddistingue.
Il film uscito nel 1978 è affidato a Robert Mulligan, un regista solido e capace, con buoni titoli all’attivo. Ma il protagonista diciottenne viene interpretato da Richard Gere quasi trentenne, troppo uomo, troppo poco adolescente, fuori parte, se non altro per l’età. Buone intenzioni, ma non del tutto risolte. Un po’ come il romanzo.
PS
In italiano, invece che fratelli di sangue, il titolo del film è diventato "Una strada chiamata domani".
Padre e figlio, i due Thomas, Senior e Junior, hanno una divergenza generazionale sul luogo di lavoro (elettricisti edili).
Co-op City nel Bronx, dove vivono i protagonisti, fu costruita tra il 1966 e il 1973, ma i primi residenti hanno cominciato ad abitarla nel 1968.
Il diciottenne Stony, al secolo Thomas Junior, è figlio di paisà che parlano broccolino, e ora ha davanti diverse scelte che si configurano tutte come bivio senza ritorno, tutte come dolorose, ogni strada chiude porte alle spalle.
Affiancare il padre nel lavoro di edile (elettricista) e farlo felice? Posto sicuro, protetto dal sindacato e dalla posizione che il padre s’è fatto in trent’anni di lavoro, guadagno assicurato e non da buttar via.
E soprattutto, dare una gioia al padre, un’immensa soddisfazione.
Oppure spezzargli il cuore?
E per cosa, quale sarebbe l’alternativa?
Lavorare in un ospedale nel reparto dei bambini, intrattenerli, raccontare loro storie, talento che Stony possiede in misura spiccata, distrarli dalla malattia. Stipendio basso, lavoro da ‘femmine’, o donnicciole se si preferisce, e contatto quotidiano con malattia e dolore.
15.372 appartamenti divisi in 35 edifici residenziali che variano dai 24 ai 33 piani. Se fosse un municipio a se stante, sarebbe la decima città più grande dello stato.
Però è questo che Stony vuole.
Ma vuole anche salvare suo fratello Albert, otto anni, bambino per il quale l’anoressia è il minore dei problemi: la madre lo respinge, lo terrorizza, lo strattona, l’ha ridotto una larva. Stony non vuole abbandonarlo e vuole proteggerlo dalla genitrice.
Ma se rifiuta il lavoro col padre e sceglie quello in ospedale dovrà andarsene di casa, dovrà trasferirsi a vivere da solo: e dopo che ne sarà di Albert, il fratellino?
Gli abitanti sono al 60 afro-americani, per circa il 30% ispanici, e per il resto bianchi e asiatici. I bianchi sono principalmente paisà.
Scelte che sembrano irrevocabili perché Stony ha diciottanni, che non è l’età dell’attesa, della possibilità, della seconda chance, ma quella del tutto e subito.
Bambini sulla sedia a rotelle che vengono da famiglie disastrate, odore di disinfettante e di malattia, camici… Dall’altra parte, vivere tutta la settimana aspettando il weekend, ripetere il modello familiare, moglie a casa, marito fuori a bere con gli amici e a mettere corna. Mette i brividi questa decisione.
La famiglia De Coco a tavola: in piedi il padre Tommy Sr interpretato da Tony Lo Bianco, Richard Gere è il figlio Stony, o Tommy Jr, la madre Maria e Lelia Goldoni, di spalle il piccolo Albert interpretatoda Michael Hershewe, che ha proseguito la carriera d’attore per un altro paio d’anni.
Non è ancora il Price delle opere migliori, questa è ancora a suo modo acerba: qualche lungaggine, qualche ripetizione, qualche insistenza, troppo vomito.
Ma la storia ha già la potenza delle sue migliori (pur se in completa assenza di poliziotti e criminali) e a momenti i dialoghi hanno l’eccellenza che lo contraddistingue.
Il film uscito nel 1978 è affidato a Robert Mulligan, un regista solido e capace, con buoni titoli all’attivo. Ma il protagonista diciottenne viene interpretato da Richard Gere quasi trentenne, troppo uomo, troppo poco adolescente, fuori parte, se non altro per l’età. Buone intenzioni, ma non del tutto risolte. Un po’ come il romanzo.
PS
In italiano, invece che fratelli di sangue, il titolo del film è diventato "Una strada chiamata domani".
Padre e figlio, i due Thomas, Senior e Junior, hanno una divergenza generazionale sul luogo di lavoro (elettricisti edili).
May 17, 2013
This is the book that made me want to read. Before this book, I hated to read, all the books we were forced to read in school sucked big time, so i had no desire to read any other books. This book was sitting on my dad's book selve forever, having nothing to do, I decided to give it a try. This was the first time I understood what people meant when they said they could not put a book down. I could not put the book down, I was reading because I wanted too, not because I had too like in school. Also unlike school books, this book contained violence, profanty and sex scenes all of which i have never read before. Took me a week to read, the fastest time at that point in my life.I was soon seaching for other Richard Price novels but could not find any, but this led me to discover a whole lot of new authors i love and a passion for books
October 20, 2020
I have always really enjoyed books by Richard Price and started this, his first book, with very high expectations. A young Italian man from a messed up unhappy family makes messed up unhappy choices. Richard Price shows his skills in doing gritty realism but what this story lacked for me was any kind of suspense. Young adult makes career choice just doesn’t match the stories the author spellbinds with in his later works, drug dealer seeks redemption, working class gang battles for respect, child goes missing etc.
May 11, 2025
I have read all of Richard Price's novels. Bloodbrothers will always be my favorite.
The scene: Co-op City, a large middle class housing development in the North Bronx. This is where Richard Price grew up. It's still there, you can catch a glimpse of it passing by on the interstate (Northbound I-95, to be precise). Even if this story isn't exactly about his specific family, Price knows these people, he's in their skin. They lived next door. Or downstairs. My older son, who loves this book too, thinks that Price is really Albert, the quirky, forlorn and abused younger son.
I first read this book a long time ago, when I was really young and lacking in any serious life experience. From my young person perspective, it was easy to read this tale as merely desperate and sad and fall into dismay that Stony (an anti-hero if there ever was one) turned his back on his one chance to escape, in the process becoming more-or-less a junior version of his Dad. You know, going to the Dark Side - like Darth Vader.
As an older person, I have a more nuanced perspective. Stony - hip, physically attractive, chip off the old block - is tres cool but has few if any inner resources. He has moments when he recognizes the big "something else", but he is not brave nor is he strategic; he has no real capacity to plan or to think outside the box. The fact that his father can land him a union job, no questions asked, is probably more than he could do for himself in an otherwise complex world.
On the other hand, I think we can all assume that Albert has gone on to other things :-).
The scene: Co-op City, a large middle class housing development in the North Bronx. This is where Richard Price grew up. It's still there, you can catch a glimpse of it passing by on the interstate (Northbound I-95, to be precise). Even if this story isn't exactly about his specific family, Price knows these people, he's in their skin. They lived next door. Or downstairs. My older son, who loves this book too, thinks that Price is really Albert, the quirky, forlorn and abused younger son.
I first read this book a long time ago, when I was really young and lacking in any serious life experience. From my young person perspective, it was easy to read this tale as merely desperate and sad and fall into dismay that Stony (an anti-hero if there ever was one) turned his back on his one chance to escape, in the process becoming more-or-less a junior version of his Dad. You know, going to the Dark Side - like Darth Vader.
As an older person, I have a more nuanced perspective. Stony - hip, physically attractive, chip off the old block - is tres cool but has few if any inner resources. He has moments when he recognizes the big "something else", but he is not brave nor is he strategic; he has no real capacity to plan or to think outside the box. The fact that his father can land him a union job, no questions asked, is probably more than he could do for himself in an otherwise complex world.
On the other hand, I think we can all assume that Albert has gone on to other things :-).
May 31, 2017
Pound for pound, I think Richard Price may well be my favorite author. I've now read all but one of his novels (only The Breaks still awaits me, set for 2018) and they've all been surefire 4-star caliber reads, crackling along with an electrifying energy almost unparalleled in my reading life. People have fallen over themselves (justifiably) praising Price's ability to write dialogue, but I also find him to be hilarious, especially in these early novels, where his protagonists are first-rate bullshitters.
This one is 3.5 stars but I'm rounding down because I don't think he quite knew how to end it (). I also think Ladies' Man, which also features a sex-obsessed kid from New York, is a mite better. But when you figure he wrote this (and already had The Wanderers in his back pocket) when he was 26 (!!) years old, you realize why people found him to be such a hot-shit author.
This one is 3.5 stars but I'm rounding down because I don't think he quite knew how to end it (). I also think Ladies' Man, which also features a sex-obsessed kid from New York, is a mite better. But when you figure he wrote this (and already had The Wanderers in his back pocket) when he was 26 (!!) years old, you realize why people found him to be such a hot-shit author.
November 9, 2012
Admittedly I am a huge Richard Price fan. But I believe that Bloodbrothers is not only Price's best novel but also one of the best novels of the second half of the 20th century. Price nails the Bronx working-class milieu of his characters--their speech, their aspirations, their resignations. Every character is distinct, credible, and memorable. Every subplot fits. Every word fits. I defy you to read this book without being moved to tears, being angered, or finding yourself nodding at times in recognition.
June 29, 2022
I am a Richard Price fan, I originally read this book so long ago that it was new to me again as a reread. There’s something here in the dialogue and the attitudes of the characters to offend almost everyone as Price fearlessly tells the tale of a working class family in 1970s era Bronx. At the heart of the story is a young man facing pressure to follow macho family traditions or follow his own dreams. There’s an honesty in the writing that will make some readers uncomfortable but others will appreciate.
February 8, 2023
In parte rovinato da un adattamento italiano che risente dei quasi 50 anni passati.
Peccato.
Rimane un libro appassionante, forse incompiuto in alcuni passi ma assolutamente valido.
Copertina comunque orrenda.
Peccato.
Rimane un libro appassionante, forse incompiuto in alcuni passi ma assolutamente valido.
Copertina comunque orrenda.
March 3, 2014
Disappointing...
I'm a huge fan of Richard Price and I've read most of his novels, so I was excited to read Blood Brothers, which I believe is one of his first. Unfortunately, I don't think it was nearly as good as his others. This was a very gritty story about an extremely dysfunctional blue collar family in New York in the seventies. However, to me the story and plot went nowhere. I kept waiting for (and wanting) something to happen. Instead, it just followed these miserable people's miserable lives for a short period one summer. Although the very last pages seemed like they were building toward something interesting that might happen, the ending was nondescript and frustrating. I will still read Price's next book, but this one was a disappointment.
I'm a huge fan of Richard Price and I've read most of his novels, so I was excited to read Blood Brothers, which I believe is one of his first. Unfortunately, I don't think it was nearly as good as his others. This was a very gritty story about an extremely dysfunctional blue collar family in New York in the seventies. However, to me the story and plot went nowhere. I kept waiting for (and wanting) something to happen. Instead, it just followed these miserable people's miserable lives for a short period one summer. Although the very last pages seemed like they were building toward something interesting that might happen, the ending was nondescript and frustrating. I will still read Price's next book, but this one was a disappointment.
February 5, 2017
Story of a vigorously dysfunctional Italian family living in the Bronx in the early 70's. The story centers around Stony De Coco, the oldest son of a violent and philandering union electrician father, an unbalanced mother, and big brother to an anorexic and introverted boy named Albert. His influential uncle "Chubby" is also in the union and as Stony comes of age, he has to take a long honest look at his family and make some difficult decisions about the direction of his life.
Sensational dialogue, straight up 70's ethnic New York. Gritty, funny in places, and jarring. I had been wanting to read something by Richard Price for a while, and though I don't think this one was amazing, it definitely was good enough to make me want to read more from him.
Sensational dialogue, straight up 70's ethnic New York. Gritty, funny in places, and jarring. I had been wanting to read something by Richard Price for a while, and though I don't think this one was amazing, it definitely was good enough to make me want to read more from him.
January 3, 2015
I love books that have an ending which is unusual and unpredictable and unhappy and realistic. The characters in this book are interesting, vile, viseral unlikeable and their descriptions hold the reader's attention.
I enjoyed this book .
I enjoyed this book .
December 2, 2019
There are a lot of titles on the catalogue under “Blood Brothers.”
I have not read them all, nor do I intend to.
That said, this incarnation is a flower growing through the iron fences of the Bronx. Stony is 18. This story may be a little big for students younger than that.
That said—most people between the ages of 12 and 18 will be able to relate to what Stony comes through. His decisions are aptly situated within the nest of a real life coincidentally caught on paper.
Instead of giving away anything, allow me to use my words to invite—to compel you to read this story. Invite Stony in to your life for a day. What he leaves behind is precious, fitting, and honest.
*Watch for light language.
I have not read them all, nor do I intend to.
That said, this incarnation is a flower growing through the iron fences of the Bronx. Stony is 18. This story may be a little big for students younger than that.
That said—most people between the ages of 12 and 18 will be able to relate to what Stony comes through. His decisions are aptly situated within the nest of a real life coincidentally caught on paper.
Instead of giving away anything, allow me to use my words to invite—to compel you to read this story. Invite Stony in to your life for a day. What he leaves behind is precious, fitting, and honest.
*Watch for light language.
January 26, 2020
My second Price. This is a wonderful book about a highly dysfunctional family. I like the description of working class life, which besides work, is a lot about bragging, depression, violence and lots and lots of drinking. At least that is how I experienced it, when I grew up, although to be fair, we did not have a lot of violence going on.
I can fully appreciate the dilemma that Stony is in, following his father to work as an electrician or doing something really for himself. I don't think that all characters are fully explored. I think the parents want characterization.
However, this is a wonderful peek at working class life, with dialogues, that sometimes are almost too perfect. Like Richard Price was already working on writing screenplays for movies and TV.
I can fully appreciate the dilemma that Stony is in, following his father to work as an electrician or doing something really for himself. I don't think that all characters are fully explored. I think the parents want characterization.
However, this is a wonderful peek at working class life, with dialogues, that sometimes are almost too perfect. Like Richard Price was already working on writing screenplays for movies and TV.
September 12, 2020
Richard Price’s Bloodbrothers captures the urban vernacular of working class Americans in the Bronx. Out of all the earthy sometimes sordid goings-on there seems to emerge some miracle of feeling and heart that takes you right inside their troubles but doesnt blind you to the prejudices and hard edges that make up their world. It is never sentimental. Once again I sense a curious disjunction between the America I see so often in politics and the media and the this marvellous vision of the American writers. It seems a world away from Trump or Evangelical America or the gun worshipping NRA or sickly sentimental movies and all that fakery. I guess I will never fathom the contradictions of America
July 15, 2017
Actually I nearly gave up reading this book as I cant tolerate how the author focusing on the sex life of them three. However, along the time,this book managed to grip my attention. I find it difficult to let go off this book and I manage to read it in two days only! It's my achievement okay. I love the family theme that the author is trying to potray here. The brotherhood. What makes me cringed a lot and I still gritted my teeth when I think of her is Marie! Ahh damn that woman! Ahem,this is not a spoiler,aye?
However, What makes me puzzled is that what had happened with Stony? I dont get it. Why? What? How? Please anybody enlighten me about thisss.
However, What makes me puzzled is that what had happened with Stony? I dont get it. Why? What? How? Please anybody enlighten me about thisss.
March 1, 2021
I was disappointed in this novel because like a lot of readers here I felt like it lacked a plot. The characters were well rendered and the dialogue was both brutal and believable, however the story never seemed to go anywhere. This was only Price's second novel so obviously he was still a work in progress as a writer. I certainly have enjoyed his later novels like The Whites and Clockers so obviously he turned a corner somewhere as a writer.
March 17, 2019
Richard Price writes with ferocious, uncompromising energy as he lays bare (and simultaneously deconstructs) the effects of devouring families and what we now refer to as toxic masculinity. I was riveted to this book pretty much from beginning to end. Warning: Price never sugarcoats anything- most of his characters are quite racist, misogynistic and homophobic, and they talk that talk and walk that walk.
September 27, 2025
I keep Richard Price books around when I need to read something good after a series of disappointing reads. Light bulb: the characters didn't seem real to me then I realized that my father (WWII vet) was like the men in the story. I hated him.
August 15, 2019
3.5 stars
September 3, 2019
More experimental and emotionally overblown than the later better-known novels. Enjoyable.
December 28, 2019
As usual with Price this is a great read with great characters. The only thing letting this down is the ending as it just seems to go nowhere right at the very end. Still worth reading though
April 21, 2020
I always enjoy Richard Price and Bloodbrothers was no different. Intense and violent but with an underlying sadness.
February 11, 2021
Glimpses of the Richard Price humanity I love but not enough...
August 6, 2021
Un abandon pour moi à la 60e page… la perception de la femme dans ce roman est pour moi insupportable, le nword bien trop fréquent et un vocabulaire auquel je n’adhère pas vraiment
August 5, 2025
I read this in AP Lang and I got a bunch of people hooked onto it
May 28, 2024
Richard Price missed me with this one. Though I enjoyed the writing in this book, it was difficult to be engulfed by it.
I found out about Richard Price through the show The Wire on HBO. He directed some episodes but was brought in because of his writing chops and his realness that he brings. With that being said, this book delivered on those aspects.
A lot of what I’ve read in this book isn’t portrayed in many books these days to my experience. This book was writing in 1976 which is a totally different time in our society. I realize this and don’t just the book 100% based on this.
What I did like was the up in your face violence and language of the characters. With the setting in New York and knowing how big of a melting pot that is, I can see how a race might talk and think unfavorably about another. This was realness that hit home for me but I took it for what it was. I like this piece of it. Like I said, you don’t read stuff like this these days. Or I should say it more difficult to find.
I thought the read was dull. This was my 1st Richard Prince book but looking forward to reading more of his work to really know what he stands for.
I found out about Richard Price through the show The Wire on HBO. He directed some episodes but was brought in because of his writing chops and his realness that he brings. With that being said, this book delivered on those aspects.
A lot of what I’ve read in this book isn’t portrayed in many books these days to my experience. This book was writing in 1976 which is a totally different time in our society. I realize this and don’t just the book 100% based on this.
What I did like was the up in your face violence and language of the characters. With the setting in New York and knowing how big of a melting pot that is, I can see how a race might talk and think unfavorably about another. This was realness that hit home for me but I took it for what it was. I like this piece of it. Like I said, you don’t read stuff like this these days. Or I should say it more difficult to find.
I thought the read was dull. This was my 1st Richard Prince book but looking forward to reading more of his work to really know what he stands for.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 6, 2025
Bloodbrothers isn’t my genre of choice, but I loved the 1978 film and wanted to read the original story. While some scenes are exactly the same on the screen, much of the story is different. The main character is incredibly unlikable and hard to root for. Every one of his family and friends is unlikable and hard to root for, with the exception of his kid brother, who is so afraid of his mother he’s become incapable of keeping food down and is literally starving to death. In the movie, while the father is a rage-a-holic and philanderer, the uncle is sweet and has a big heart. Paul Sorvino has tears in his eyes when he sees his nephew get yelled at and beaten. In the novel, the uncle is also a philanderer and a drunkard who beats his wife to a pulp (that scene was changed to the father in the film). In the movie, the lead is Richard Gere, whom you root for no matter how bad he is. He wants to better his life by working with kids instead of following in his father’s footsteps. In the novel, he’s still conflicted about which career choice to make, but the reader reads his inner thoughts (instead of just watching Gere’s expressions) and can only come to one conclusion: he’s the scum of the earth.
Richard Price wrote in a crude style, using vernacular of the New York neighborhood of the characters. While it is immersive, and I do admire his talent, it was a very unpleasant book to read. There was massive abuse, physical and emotional, that was either softened in the film version or was somehow more palatable. If I believed that all men shared the inner thoughts of the men in this book, I would never go on a date again. The dialogues were revolting, as were the way women and sex were described. Unlike the movie, which is upsetting, heart wrenching, and uplifting, the novel is disgusting, disturbing, and depressing.
https://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/blood...
Richard Price wrote in a crude style, using vernacular of the New York neighborhood of the characters. While it is immersive, and I do admire his talent, it was a very unpleasant book to read. There was massive abuse, physical and emotional, that was either softened in the film version or was somehow more palatable. If I believed that all men shared the inner thoughts of the men in this book, I would never go on a date again. The dialogues were revolting, as were the way women and sex were described. Unlike the movie, which is upsetting, heart wrenching, and uplifting, the novel is disgusting, disturbing, and depressing.
https://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/blood...
December 28, 2025
This book was a wild ride. It presents itself as a gritty, realistic portrayal of working class life in 70s New York, but there’s seemingly nothing realistic about it. Our working class characters launch into monologues every other page.
There’s a ton of sex and lots of subplots that go nowhere. It actually has no main plot, things just kind of happen and the pacing is all over the place. I think it’s attempting to be a slice of life type book but it struck me as pretty aimless.
Is this a good book? No. Is it a fun 70s curio? Yes.
There’s a ton of sex and lots of subplots that go nowhere. It actually has no main plot, things just kind of happen and the pacing is all over the place. I think it’s attempting to be a slice of life type book but it struck me as pretty aimless.
Is this a good book? No. Is it a fun 70s curio? Yes.
August 20, 2010
i ran out and bought this one after finishing Clockers because i wanted desperately to stay in the Richard Price world but couldn't find my copy of Lush Life. the publication date of my copy is 2009, but be warned, Price fans, this was actually his second book, re-issued.
parts of it are stellar, but it is a second book, ya know? if you're expecting the kind of polish Price has achieved with later books, it's just not here.
it also lacks the psychological cohesion of Price's later characters--in this book, Stony's (the protagonist's) young brother Albert is being abused by their mother, and Stony is trying to make a life for himself working with children, but after the first third of the book, Stony just stops thinking about Albert. eh?
so, read it if you want to say you've read all of Price's books. but for the sheer thrill of Price, go out and get a copy of Clockers or Lush Life.
parts of it are stellar, but it is a second book, ya know? if you're expecting the kind of polish Price has achieved with later books, it's just not here.
it also lacks the psychological cohesion of Price's later characters--in this book, Stony's (the protagonist's) young brother Albert is being abused by their mother, and Stony is trying to make a life for himself working with children, but after the first third of the book, Stony just stops thinking about Albert. eh?
so, read it if you want to say you've read all of Price's books. but for the sheer thrill of Price, go out and get a copy of Clockers or Lush Life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 2, 2011
Richard Price has been one of my favorite authors for a long time, most recently as one of the writers of HBO's The Wire (a fantastic show if you haven't seen it) and I've finally gotten around to his earliest books.
A coming of age story told from the "mean streets" of New York. Stony De Coco must choose between following in his father's footsteps or stepping out (as it were) on his own. Many complexities influence this decision, each a full-blown issue of its own. It's an interesting journey and a bit of a surprise where it ends up.
The story, and the writing, is slightly dated, but it certainly evokes a time and a place well. My only complaint is that the character of Albert, Stony's younger brother, while it first appears that it will be the most important part of the story, really just suddenly drops off at some point and we never really know what happens. Perhaps that is intentional, as real life is often like that (isn't it?)...who knows...
Like all of Price's novels, there is much to recommend it.
A coming of age story told from the "mean streets" of New York. Stony De Coco must choose between following in his father's footsteps or stepping out (as it were) on his own. Many complexities influence this decision, each a full-blown issue of its own. It's an interesting journey and a bit of a surprise where it ends up.
The story, and the writing, is slightly dated, but it certainly evokes a time and a place well. My only complaint is that the character of Albert, Stony's younger brother, while it first appears that it will be the most important part of the story, really just suddenly drops off at some point and we never really know what happens. Perhaps that is intentional, as real life is often like that (isn't it?)...who knows...
Like all of Price's novels, there is much to recommend it.
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