New York Trilogy: New York Underground, Trapped, Love and Sex

Rating:
Summary: Pales in comparison with Auster
Review: I stumbled across this book while looking for Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Sadly, this novel (or, I suppose, trilogy of novels) is entirely forgettable. The comparison invited by the title does this volume no favors, because Paul Auster's luminous meditations on time, identity, and meaning put Paul Hallasy's flat, uninspired prose to shame. Hallasy's novel is the story of a young man who comes to NYU, encounters the NYC boehmian life, comes to terms with his homosexuality, and confronts the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic. I have to admit that I skimmed the second and third sections of this book, having lost any ability to pay serious attention to the narrative, so there may be other major plot points or themes that I'm neglecting. The subject matter and time period have been thoroughly covered elsewhere, and with much more insight and skill. The book is published by iUniverse.com, and the error of the title may point to a problem with this "new face of publishing": at a traditional publisher, an experienced editor might have been able to steer Mr. Hallasy away from a title already used by a better author. This trilogy is overflowing with utterly specific cultural references- songs, place names, celebrities, brands, movies, etc., that fix the story in a particular time, place, and subculture. The allusions may be the greatest asset here- if the reader was there then, this could be a sure ticket to nostalgia. There's also some wit to be had, but not much. Oh, and I came across several spelling errors. The best advice I could offer would be to go read the other New York Trilogy, the good one, Auster's, and leave this one alone.

Rating:
Summary: Pales in comparison with Auster
Review: I stumbled across this book while looking for Paul Auster's New York Trilogy. Sadly, this novel (or, I suppose, trilogy of novels) is entirely forgettable. The comparison invited by the title does this volume no favors, because Paul Auster's luminous meditations on time, identity, and meaning put Paul Hallasy's flat, uninspired prose to shame. Hallasy's novel is the story of a young man who comes to NYU, encounters the NYC boehmian life, comes to terms with his homosexuality, and confronts the beginnings of the AIDS epidemic. I have to admit that I skimmed the second and third sections of this book, having lost any ability to pay serious attention to the narrative, so there may be other major plot points or themes that I'm neglecting. The subject matter and time period have been thoroughly covered elsewhere, and with much more insight and skill. The book is published by iUniverse.com, and the error of the title may point to a problem with this "new face of publishing": at a traditional publisher, an experienced editor might have been able to steer Mr. Hallasy away from a title already used by a better author. This trilogy is overflowing with utterly specific cultural references- songs, place names, celebrities, brands, movies, etc., that fix the story in a particular time, place, and subculture. The allusions may be the greatest asset here- if the reader was there then, this could be a sure ticket to nostalgia. There's also some wit to be had, but not much. Oh, and I came across several spelling errors. The best advice I could offer would be to go read the other New York Trilogy, the good one, Auster's, and leave this one alone.