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John Manderino MANDERINO ListingsIf you cannot find what you want on this page, then please use our search feature to search all our listings. Click on Title to view full description
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John Manderino MANDERINO Sam and His Brother Len
Chicago Academy Chicago Publishers 1994 0897334078 / 9780897334075 First Edition Hardcover/Ex-Library Good
0897334078 0897334078 Good/Good c. 1994, blue/black bds. w/d.j., 234p., (lt.shelf wear, corners bumped, lt.soiling to a few pages, some lt.crinkling from page turning, binding good, d.j. taped to bds., lt.edge wear, mylar cover, lt.rubbing). From Publishers Weekly Conjuring up a curious blend of Studs Lonigan and Huckleberry Finn with an occasional echo of Franny and Zooey , this first novel is a warmly affecting chronicle of male pubescence. Sometimes with humor, often with anguish and always with sensitivity, this sparkling little fiction details, from early boyhood to the threshold of manhood, the coming of age of suburban Chicago brothers Sam and Len Rossini. Manderino tells their story from varying points of view, with the chapters dedicated to Sam observed mostly from the third person and those focusing on kid brother Len related in the first person. Sam's ongoing struggle to overcome his faulty self-image is traced from childhood daydreams of becoming a star athlete and unruly thoughts about nuns to his quest for fulfillment as an academic. At college, he is a social misfit who fails at acting, bumbles as a political-protest minstrel, seeks solace in Buddhism and, bedeviled by a subconscious drive to play the victim, gradually turns to alcohol. Meanwhile, as ''The Flea,'' terror of the neighborhood hockey games, Len raises goldfish and learns to fend for himself, maturing into the more durable of the pair. Bringing alive young ambition, fumbling sexuality, broken dreams and hope, Manderino's magically realized novel succeeds equally well as entertainment, psychological study and morality play, and deserves consideration for every reading list. Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. From School Library Journal YA?A riveting, sympathetic, believable portrayal of two brothers whose paths recurringly meet and diverge, and whose closeness pushes parents and lovers to peripheral roles. From grade school to college, Sam and Len turn to each other for reassurance, guidance, and support. Sam, two years older, is the leader?bright, creative, but restless and unable to channel his many gifts. Len is the quiet, thoughtful follower who, in his own plodding way, finds his niche until Sam's troubling behavior upsets his carefully chartered future. The brothers both narrate, with Sam speaking in the third person and Len in the first person. A briskly paced, skillfully crafted, compelling coming-of-age story.?Judy Sokoll, Fairfax County Public Library, VA Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Price:
1.90 USD
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