The Crazyladies of Pearl Street

I must admit that this story brought back my childhood in the South Bronx. The accuracy of life during the depression could only have been described from personal experience, and I wanted to write to Trevanian to tell him how much I enjoyed his autobiography, for it could not have been anything else. Later I learned that this was so, but that he had died in 2006. I have purchased several copies and sent them to family and friends who also experienced the 1930s when they and their families struggled to simply put food, any food, on the table; and children worked at any menial job that paid a few cents to assist. When Travanian talked of shining shoes, delivering newspapers, carrying parcels, hiding and reading in the public library, all was familiar to me and my brothers. The book is also very readable and enjoyable... as most of his are.

Absolutely loved this book. It allowed me to experience youth as it used to be and life as the struggle that just living was in times past. I'm hoping for "the rest of the story".

this is sort of more a collection of short stories than a proper novel. there isn't much of a formal plot, issue development, and resolution type of thing going on. what you have is maybe a couple hundred well-rendered vignettes, set in 1930's Albany NY amidst the hardships of the Depression Era,some of which are made quite moving by the realization of how deeply he loved life, and other people. It's a very compassionate novel, in my opinion. trevanian had the rare (and sought-after) gift of being able to quickly put an idea, that most of us are still forming in the unconscious, into a sentence of a few carefully-chosen words. every few dozen pages you might exclaim "that's exactly what i was thinking" or "yes, that's very true" or "that's very well-said." I say "had" because unfortunately Trevanian (pen name of Dr. Rodney William Whitaker)passed away recently, Dec 14 of 2005). This is his last novel. i find him, in crazyladies of pearl street, to be reminiscing a childhood in amazingly minute detail. that's what this is. don't expect some complicated novel that resolves some gigantic issue, this is just a fragmented (how do you remember your own early childhood if not in separate snapshots?) series of stories: well-crafted, tender, compassionate, quite human, very American, uniquely Trevanian.

When picking up the latest by Trevanian, a reader must bear in mind that Trevanian is a versatile author and that his latest may resemble nothing he has written before. Yet he is one of those rare authors who succeeds, no matter what genre he tries. If you read The Crazyladies of Pearl Street expecting a spy novel like Shibumi, you will be disappointed. If you are a curious reader, expecting to be stimulated and entertained, and to appreciate a good prose, then you will find what you are looking for here. The Crazyladies of Pearl Street is an autobiographical book (sort of), which is narrated by the young Jean-Luke. The story beings with Jean-Luke, his mother and his sister Anne-Marie arriving at Pearl Street, basically a slum. His health-wise fragile, mood-wise fickle mother has received a mail from her husband asking them to join him in Albany. But we never meet the man. We learn that he is a conman, appearing for brief periods of time, enough to charm the mother and get her pregnant, then disappearing, never to be heard from again for many years. So begins the life of this small family on Pearl Street. It is actually the story of an impoverished family on welfare, hardly affording anything, feeding on what the government can spare them. But for a story of such destituteness, it is not a depressing one. Quite the contrary it is filled with nostalgia for a whole different time, when radio and going to the movies supplied the sole entertainment, when America learned to grow up with World War II, when even the soon to be criminal boys of ghetto did not swear. It is a real story that takes you to the 30s and 40s America. Yet I think the trick here isn't that those were the good old days, but that these are the childhood memories of our author. Like every other childhood memory, this one has a longing you can associate with, even though you have never listened to a radio show that did not include pop music in your life. I can only imagine that such childhood memoirs can be very boring as the subject of a novel, but this one's written by Trevanian and not even for one sentence does it lag. From the first page to the last, it is captivating. I love it when a novel can transport me to a time and place I have never been, and does it so successfully that I do not feel like a stranger for one minute, and Crazyladies of Pearl Street does just that. For Trevanian fans, this novel is double fulfilling because it gives you an insight into the mind of this mysterious author. I thoroughly enjoyed reading his takes on radio versus television, IQ tests, religion, contemporary American politics... Some of which are in his cybernotes, not in the novel. Highly recommended to Trevanian fans and non-fans alike.

What I love about Trevanian is that it's impossible to label him an any way. Like John le Carre he evolves, he matures and his language and prose reach the level of a true master. Trevanian understands the Japanese concept of "the way" (the "do" of ju"do", ken"do", aiki"do" etc) and constantly improves his superb writing skills. If he were is Japan I am sure he'd be named a living national treasure by now. The Crazyladies of Pearl street is evidently autobiographical and written by a man whose age blurs recent events but sheds new light and sharpens what happened more than seventy years ago. If someone is looking for a story, suspense or drama (as in the Sanctions, the Incident at 20 mile, Shibumi) would be (wrongly) disappointed because Crazyladies is more of a painting than a book. A painting so vivid and so artfully done that the reader is transported seventy years ago and lives every moment. It is also a strong distillate of knowledge and wisdom by one of the most formidable authors alive today. Contrary to e.g. Shibumi, Crazyladies is not a book written for the average reader. However, it would be an immense source or pleasure for its intended audiance. Let us hope that we'll get some more from Trevanian.