Reviews for South by South Bronx

The average rating for South by South Bronx based on 2 reviews is 1.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2016-11-21 00:00:00 Monica Hulcher What happened? Abraham is usually an incredible writer. Could some cranky publisher have demanded that he write about a plot that didn't interest him in the slightest, perhaps? The book is completely inchoate, than annoying progressive genre where every chapter sounds as if it's belonging to the chapter 3 chapter behind it, so it's impossible to remember any details, or even to want to remember any details. A white gal climbing up a fire escape and entering an open kitchen window without permission, and then a chapter about a police officer searching around for someone who has nothing to do with any of the plots. Keep writing, Abraham, and stay away from this mode of style, which is nauseating in its trendiness, please!!

Review # 2 was written on 2008-07-30 00:00:00 Paul Maienza Abraham Rodriguez has created a novel that harkens back to classic noir. He writes, as one reviewer has suggested, with a "syntax all his own." Without a doubt, this unusual syntax, makes South by South Bronx an engaging, if at times, difficult read. The general plot (beware of spoiler), is that a white womyn who turns out to be a rogue agent, climbs into the bed of an alcoholic womanizer. From there, her presence turns South bronx upside down: causing the upstanding detective in the book to turn his back on his shield, unblocking the writers block of a promising author, and ending the painting lull of a brillant South Bronx painter. I enjoyed a few of the character sketches, the detailed descriptions of smoking, and the language that Rodriguez uses to dramatize what could seem mundane. I found several sentences throughout the novel that were stunning to read - their structure compelling, and inventive. Overall, however, I found that the plot was too disjointed to be enjoyable. That, combined with the innovative, but too often unclear syntax, made reading this book a chore. I was ready to be done with the book, even as I appreciated the author's slick integration of clues and repetitive language. While I found this clever, the ultimate design of this noir book, never really deviated from noir cliches. I also find it quizzical that though race is centralized in the book, there is no discussion, hint, or acknowledgement of what it means that it is a white womyn who changes the South Bronx for these four men. Perhaps the reader is expected to undertsand the subtext - which I took, optimistically, to suggest that it's the first time these four men, meet a rogue or outsider, who one would assume would be "in." The alternative, would lessen my appreciation fo the novel. I think my review has more to do with me as a reader - in other words, what I like and connect with and to, than it does to the talent exhibited by Rodriguez. I do think that other readers might enjoy the book more than I did. The writing is unique and I will say that I think its important, for me as a reader, to read things outside of my comfort zone and mainstream literature.