Lazarus Man
A Novel
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3.7 • 31 Ratings
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- $14.99
Publisher Description
In this electrifying novel, Richard Price, the author of Clockers and a writer on The Wire, gives us razor-sharp anatomy of an ever-changing Harlem.
East Harlem, 2008. In an instant, a five-story tenement collapses into a fuming hill of rubble, pancaking the cars parked in front and coating the street with a thick layer of ash. As the city’s rescue services and media outlets respond, the surrounding neighborhood descends into chaos. At day’s end, six bodies are recovered, but many of the other tenants are missing.
In Lazarus Man, Richard Price, one of the greatest chroniclers of life in urban America, creates intertwining portraits of a group of compelling and singular characters whose lives are permanently impacted by the disaster.
Anthony Carter—whose miraculous survival, after being buried for days beneath tons of brick and stone, transforms him into a man with a message and a passionate sense of mission.
Felix Pearl—a young transplant to the city, whose photography and film work that day provokes in this previously unformed soul a sharp sense of personal destiny.
Royal Davis—owner of a failing Harlem funeral home, whose desperate trolling of the scene for potential “customers” triggers a quest to find another path in life.
And Mary Roe—a veteran city detective who, driven in part by her own family’s brutal history, becomes obsessed with finding Christopher Diaz, one of the building’s missing.
Price, the bestselling author of Lush Life and, most recently, The Whites, has created a bravura portrait of a community on the edge of disintegration. Rich with indelible characters and high drama, Lazarus Man is a riveting work of suspense and social vision by one of our major writers.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
In the aftermath of a disaster, New Yorkers find a chance to start over in Richard Price’s gritty novel. In 2008, a Harlem building collapses, killing six and traumatizing the whole community. Rescued a day and a half later, troubled former schoolteacher Anthony Carter quickly gains public notoriety as the so-called Lazarus Man. We get to follow intersecting storylines as the neighborhood struggles to come to terms with the tragedy. But what really drew us in was watching some of the neighbors find ways to heal traumas and heartbreaks that had been there since well before the collapse. A master of both dialogue and detail, New York City native Price hits every moment with precision, vividly depicting a community threatened by gentrification and the unstoppable spirit of its residents. This is a story so striking and memorable, you’ll feel like a resident of the Big Apple yourself if you aren’t already.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Price (The Whites, as Harry Brandt) delivers a remarkable excavation of urban angst in this story of a five-story East Harlem tenement building that collapses, killing six of its tenants. The ruin becomes a spectacle, drawing myriad characters including Felix Pearl, a young filmmaker who lives near the building and was roused that morning by the "abrupt harsh clatter and buckshot pop of shattered glass suddenly raining down on the street" followed by a more alarming "absolute silence." Royal Davis, a mortician with a failing business, capitalizes on the accident as a way to solicit new clients, while Mary Roe, an NYPD detective with a complicated home life, puts all her energy into finding out what happened to Christopher Diaz, a tenant who is mysteriously unaccounted for. Price also focuses on survivor Anthony Carter, an unemployed teacher and recovering cocaine addict who was rescued after being buried in the rubble for 36 hours, and who becomes a symbol of hope for a community ravaged by blight and gentrification. As these vivid characters cross paths following the tragedy, they compose a searing snapshot of contemporary Harlem annotated with the author's precise observations ("One of the reasons why the Daily News and the Post were the commuter's choice was that they were easier to manage on a crowded train. Reading the Times on the subway was like trying to spread your arms in a phone booth"). Price once again proves he's the bard of New York City street life.
