Mark Slouka’s new book entitled Brewster, for the upstate New York town where it takes place, is a memorable coming-of-age story of an unlikely high school friendship. It is the turbulent 1960s and 16-year-olds Jon Mosher and Ray Cappicciano, both from troubled homes, unexpectedly strike up an extremely tight-knit friendship, a relationship that allows them to find in each other what they are lacking at home.
In Jon’s case, this means trying to survive in a preserved household that carries too many memories of his older brother’s childhood death, living surrounded by a set of parents who are unable to move on with life after the tragedy. For Ray, home life encompasses an abusive ex-cop father and a younger brother whom Ray fiercely protects from harm. While Jon passes his idle time running track, all Ray seems to do is get into fistfights. When this dubious pair become friends, they begin to dream about breaking away from Brewster for good. Freedom, however, will come at a price.
Brewster is an evocative tale of friendship, grief, loss and fulfillment. The bare-bones prose and spot-on dialogue bring this novel an authentic sense of both drama and grace. Readers, whether teen or adult, will discover an intense little world where the characters struggle to survive against a backdrop of passion, yearning and love.
Slouka, who makes his home in Brewster, N.Y., is the author of six books. Additionally, his short stories have been twice included in the anthology Best American Short Stories. Slouka has served as a contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine since 2001 and has taught literature and writing at Harvard, Columbia and the University of Chicago. He will discuss Brewster at Boswell Book Co. at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 12.
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Book Happenings:
Book Release Reading
7 p.m., Dec. 11
Woodland Pattern Book Center
720 E. Locust St.
A live reading by three collaborative artists—poets Anna Vitale, Amaranth Borsuk, and Andy Fitch—will promote Borsuk and Fitch’s joint collection entitled As We Know, a uniquely designed book composed of journal-like entries. These modern poems come complete with scratch-outs and re-writes, giving readers a window into the details and editing involved in the writing process.
