Ellington Boulevard
Every once in awhile I pick a book at random from the library shelves and find an accidental treasure. Ellington Boulevard by Adam Langer was exactly that. I admit that I've become suspicious of any novel set in New York after run in's with too many supposed "clever satires" that weren't. I'm glad that didn't stop me from giving this book a chance.
Ellington Boulevard: A Novel in A-Flat is a story about the sale of a Manhattan Valley apartment (84 West 106th Street, #2B) at the end of the housing boom, told from the perspectives of everyone involved, even the pigeons living on window air conditioning unit. It begins with clarinetist Ike Morphy and his dog, Herbie Mann, who arrive home from Chicago to discover that the apartment--where Ike has lived for 25 years--is being sold out from under them.
Herbie Mann is standing impatiently in his apartment, waiting to go out. Herbie Mann is usually outside long before the sun has started to set. He has spent the past half hour watching exasperatedly as Ike Morphy stood atop a ladder in their living room with a can of black paint and a brush, writing I'VE GOT A GODDAMN LEASE! on his ceiling.
Ellington Boulevard reminded me in many ways of a modern day Dickens novel, and I do mean that in a good way, because I love Dickens. The style is modern, but the way the characters and subplots interconnect was similar. There's a very strong sense of place--the city itself is practically a character--and Langer evokes a sense of nostalgia for an era that's coming to an end. (Sort of like Brideshead Revisited, another recent read that I loved.) But don't let all my talk of similarities lead you to think that there's nothing original about Ellington Boulevard, because there is.
The book is structured like a Broadway musical--the real estate broker's actor boyfriend thinks apartment 2B is the perfect fodder for a musical--is sometimes humourous, sometimes tragic, and sometimes heartfelt, but often some combination of the above. The characters really drew me in, and I ended up spending most of Sunday afternoon hanging out at home reading in between my loads of laundry. It's a very "New York" novel that for once is enjoyable rather than alienating and is actually clever because it doesn't try too hard to be so, and I highly recommend it.
Ellington Boulevard: A Novel in A-Flat is a story about the sale of a Manhattan Valley apartment (84 West 106th Street, #2B) at the end of the housing boom, told from the perspectives of everyone involved, even the pigeons living on window air conditioning unit. It begins with clarinetist Ike Morphy and his dog, Herbie Mann, who arrive home from Chicago to discover that the apartment--where Ike has lived for 25 years--is being sold out from under them.
Herbie Mann is standing impatiently in his apartment, waiting to go out. Herbie Mann is usually outside long before the sun has started to set. He has spent the past half hour watching exasperatedly as Ike Morphy stood atop a ladder in their living room with a can of black paint and a brush, writing I'VE GOT A GODDAMN LEASE! on his ceiling.
Ellington Boulevard reminded me in many ways of a modern day Dickens novel, and I do mean that in a good way, because I love Dickens. The style is modern, but the way the characters and subplots interconnect was similar. There's a very strong sense of place--the city itself is practically a character--and Langer evokes a sense of nostalgia for an era that's coming to an end. (Sort of like Brideshead Revisited, another recent read that I loved.) But don't let all my talk of similarities lead you to think that there's nothing original about Ellington Boulevard, because there is.
The book is structured like a Broadway musical--the real estate broker's actor boyfriend thinks apartment 2B is the perfect fodder for a musical--is sometimes humourous, sometimes tragic, and sometimes heartfelt, but often some combination of the above. The characters really drew me in, and I ended up spending most of Sunday afternoon hanging out at home reading in between my loads of laundry. It's a very "New York" novel that for once is enjoyable rather than alienating and is actually clever because it doesn't try too hard to be so, and I highly recommend it.