Steady Eddie

This story grabbed me and the writing kept its grip and opened my eyes to circumstances I would not have otherwise known. I felt as though I were really there, watching him pack meat, hanging with his friends, making it with his girl. I was frequently enlightened in areas about which I had been ignorant and I found myself worried one minute, anxious the next and often eager to help. This would be a good read for anyone and a gift that would be well received.

T. Glen Coughlin depicts the underside of Long Island, the dark side that many pass quickly on their way to the Hamptons or the south shore beaches. He does it with humor and reality that rings true. Eddie Trottman, 19 years old, half German, half Puerto Rican, tells the story with a clear voice that is never sentimental, or sappy. Eddie's small world of cruising from bar to bar trying to understand why he is on the outside looking in, trying to find passion in a kiss that tastes like Miller beer and cigarettes, explodes when his buddy, Loopy is accused of raping his girl. Loopy drags Eddie's name into the mix. Eddie who grew up in a crooked, half painted house, raised by a father who knows how to act in a bar room, but not keep a job, is immediately assumed guilty. Eddie struggles with the stereotypes that he has thrust upon women, and realizes that the girl who he always referred to as Armpits, might be his only ally. The novel is a zero to 100 mph read on a half-mile track. Fast and hold on. The ending is poetry. Coughlin knows the world and the waterways of the South Shore of Long Island like a beat cop knows his two city blocks. It is a gritty must read.