The Wanderers (Richard Price novel)
First edition
|
|
| Author | Richard Price |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Houghton Mifflin, Boston |
|
Publication date
|
1974 |
| Media type | Print (hard cover) |
| Pages | 239 pages |
| ISBN | |
| Followed by | Bloodbrothers |
The Wanderers is a novel by the American author Richard Price. It was first published as a book in 1974. The plot is set in the Bronx, New York City, from mid 1962 to mid 1963.
Richard Price was 24 years old when his first novel, The Wanderers, was published. The setting of the story is a housing project in the Bronx, New York, which is similar to the one where Price grew up.
The book contains 12 chapters, which are loosely connected with each other, mainly by reappearing characters. It is more like a collection of short stories—each chapter can stand on its own. A conventional encompassing plot is missing. However, there is a thread: the protagonists are forced to mature, each one in his own way, toward the end of the book.
Parts of the book were published as the story “Big Playground” in Antaeus, New York City, in 1972.
Regarding the year(s) in which the story takes place there is an inconsistency. In the first chapter it reads 12 September 1962. In chapter 5 Thanksgiving and 27 November 1962 are explicitly mentioned as well as Valentine’s Day in one of the following chapters. Then, in chapter 11 it reads 1 June 1962 on Buddy Borsalino’s wedding invitation. It might be an author’s inaccuracy or a misprint.
The Wanderers was first published at Houghton Mifflin, Boston, Massachusetts, USA in 1974. Reprints and publications at other publishers followed, such as:
Richie Gennaro is the 17-year-old leader of the Wanderers, an Italo-American youth gang in the Bronx in 1962. His girlfriend is Denise Rizzo. Richie’s friends in the Wanderers are Joey Capra, Buddy Borsalino, Eugene Caputo and Perry LaGuardia.
At the beginning of the book a broad range of events and characters describe the zeitgeist. In addition to the protagonists many characters appear only once. At first “gang-business” is on focus: rivalry with other gangs in the neighborhood who come from different cultural and/or ethnical backgrounds. This rivalry is determined by prejudice and machismo. But there is also competition in terms of sports such as football and bowling. And above all it’s about being cool and to have sex for the first time. But it’s a cumbersome road.
Toward the end of the book the events focus more and more on the protagonists and their problems and challenges of growing up – every one in his own way. Eugene joins the marines after watching, without interfering, his girlfriend, Nina, being raped. Perry’s father had died several years ago. Now his mother dies and suddenly he is on his own. Living with his aunt in Trenton, New Jersey, becomes unbearable for him, so he decides to go to Boston and sail to sea. After the situation escalates Joey flees from his violent father and joins Perry. And Buddy impregnates his girlfriend, Despie, on their very first date and has to face the challenges of a 17-year-old husband and father.
...
Wikipedia