From the Block

Steven Schindler's "From The Block" received the 2003 DIY Book Festival award for BEST FICTION book of the year. The DIY Book Festival is a national competition that awards independent publishers. The ceremony took place October 2, 2003 in Los Angeles.

From a Review published in "The Coffeehouse Review of Books"-July 2001 A GRITTY NOVEL OF A GRITTY LIFE IN NEW YORKLife in New York is rarely easy. First, there's the weather. Then there's the city itself, and then there's the people on the subway. For Jerry Pellicano, born and bred in a little Irish neighborhood in the Bronx, life is anything but a bowl of cherries. Schindler's second novel is the tale of a man's trying to cope in the maelstrom of his city and his own life. It is a funny, dark, sad and grim look at things as disparate as the SoHo art scene, the aforementioned Bronx, the insane world of television news, trying to land the woman, and learning a lot in ten months from your gay co-workers. Early in the tale, Jerry's parents move out on him- they've had enough- and are off to Florida. Jerry is forced to get a life after years of being a neighborhood nebbish and tries to expand rapidly to fill the vacuum of his own existence and create a world for himself by yesterday. Along the way, he finds the familiar faces and sites he thought he knew were anything but good for him and begins to discover that life ain't what it was cracked up to be. Schindler tells a great tale that keeps the reader awake long into the night and turning pages. The style never falters and the characters flow seamlessly into each other's realities- and out of them- without missing a beat. In a few words, he paints vivid pictures of Jerry's neighborhood bar, Third Base, and its characters, throughout the book with images so vivid that it is easy to to picture the settings, people and incidents which add much to the story. One of those images is the dazzling Berta, a co-worker of Jerry's who works in the library. She is every man's dream and way too much for our hero to handle. Nevertheless, he pursues on, up to the point when he realizes that when two desires conflict in life, one usually has to go. Along the way, Jerry meets and defeats some existential evil in the form of a couple of insane bosses and a former chum who deals drugs from his building. Like a frog sitting a warming kettle, he doesn't register the rising temperature without help and it is almost too late before he can do anything about it. For some, aid does come too late and Jerry's inaction reflects on ours when he equivocates and does nothing out of feelings of powerlessness. The suicide of a gentle soul is later discovered to be a murder, and while Jerry grieves impotently, the perpetrator only gains in wealth and power. It isn't until Jerry gets a crack in the head from from the villain that his lights begin to go on and he starts to sense his own direction. Eventually he stumbles into his own and the bad guys feel the heat accordingly. I enjoyed the book in spite of a sense of dismay at the characters, none of whom seem to have much depth or sense of soul. In their defense it should be made clear that the place where they live stacks the deck against a sense of soul and t

The following review appeared in "The Book Reader"- (Spring/Summer 2001) "From The Block" By Steven Schindler, The Elevated Press. This is not just a slice of life, but a loaf. Schindler's writing is rich with descriptions and characters and compelling dialogue. Jerry Pellicano is the young man almost graduated from college flailing about in his Bronx neighborhood where he grew up. Looming over all the bar scenes, and the police investigations, and the old buddies from the old neighborhood is the suicide of "Charlie the Chinaman," only it's not a suicide and, uncovering the truth, Jerry comes to a greater realization. All of New York City is here, from the East Village to the crazy subways and ballgames and Second Avenue ("If you go fifty miles an hour you're pretty much assured of getting six to ten green lights in a row.") There's an enormous attention to detail here, whether of Berta's hesitations or of the biographies of the neighborhood people- and there's a touching scene scene in front of Charlie's grave- "I instinctively knelt in the snow and made the sign of the cross." Jerry works at several jobs, trying to figure out his own life, throwing up, crying, and just shooting the bull. Schindler has a true sympathy with the characters. There's Uncle Eugene and Stubby and Noel and Merrill, and countless more. Plus, Library of Congress cards and shooting videos and, all the while, somehow coming of age. This is a wonderful work of literature by a brilliant writer.

Buy this book. Let me say that again with more passion. Buy this BOOK!!! Steven Schindler is a writer of rare gifts. As I read Mr. Schindler's second novel I was struck by how engrossed I became in the story. I felt like I was watching a great movie. The pages flew by... I wasn't even conscious of reading. Yes, yes, I know... you think I'm making this up... I'm hyping this book. The truth is Mr. Schindler is a great writer and speaks to the baby boom generation with authority, wisdom and compassion. His attention to detail is extraordinary. And the characters are so real, so well defined you'll feel as if you grew up with them. No matter where you were raised or how old you are you will enjoy this book, this story, this writer. I thought Mr. Schindler's first novel, Sewer Balls, was our generation's Huck Finn. With his second novel, Mr. Schindler has fused Twain with Salinger. Mr. Schindler is at once a "hip" writer and an empathetic author. You sense the love he has for these characters, and it makes them come alive. You'll laugh and you'll cry. And you'll feel as if you lived this story.