The Writer's Life 9/20 - 3B

I’ve survived my first foray into urban lit. In this particular instance, the novel, The Man in 3B by Carl Weber, is similar to most best sellers except that the cast of characters is almost entirely black. It begins with a third person prologue set in a precinct in Queens. A young man has been murdered. The rest of the novel is alternating first person accounts of a handful of characters. It is good story-telling. The prose is solid, if a tad over-written. The dialogue is sound. And the mystery has a neat twist I didn’t see coming. I was only half-right as to the identity of the killer. The 355 pages glide by. My chief problem with the novel is with its sexual content, which often did not ring true. Of course, this may be a reflection of my age rather than the fault of the author. The attitudes seem juvenile, although I realize many of us, regardless of age, can be as crass and silly as the book’s players when it comes to sex. This is one of Weber’s most recent releases, published early in 2013. In scanning the list of his work at Amazon, I counted at least 15 others. He has been #1 on the NY Times best sellers list. He is the founder and publisher of Urban Books, and owner of a chain of stores, Urban Knowledge. On a scale of five, I rate The Man in 3B three. Those who have rated it at Amazon disagree. 599 contributors forge to a consensus of 4.5. I wonder how that breaks down by race. Perhaps there is a sensibility I lack that keeps me from appreciating it more. Then again, the copy was donated by a white woman who is at least 60. One thing is certain, Weber’s success is impressive and dwarfs mine. Anyone offended by modern depictions of sex and the language that goes with it should pass on the book.

I decided not to buy Alibaba, the amazon.com of China, which in its first day of trading opened above 92 and soared above 99 at one point. I was hoping it would come out at 50. I'll probably regret it. One factor that made me skittish is an op-ed piece in the NY Post by Charles Gasparino, who said investors would not be buying shares of the actual company but of a holding company in the U.S.. That doesn't sound kosher, although I have no idea if it has been done before.

Kudos to the Scots and Brits, the latter for allowing the vote for independence to take place, and especially the 45% of the former who voted for separation and didn't riot when the initiative failed. It's great to see democracy again serve as a beacon for the rest of the world. If only the citizens of other countries would follow suit.

Business was slow today on Bay Parkway, so I decided to keep the floating book shop open a little longer, and it worked like a charm. Thanks, folks.

Vic's 4th novel: tinyurl.com/bszwlxh

Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3

Vic's Short Story on Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/k95k3nx
Vic's Short Story Collection: http://www.tiny.cc/Oycgb
Vic's 2nd Novel: http://tiny.cc/0iHLb Kindle: http://tinyurl.com/kx3d3uf
Vic's 1st Novel: http://tiny.cc/rP7o9

Vic's Rom-Com Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/kny5llp

Vic's Horror Screenplay: http://tinyurl.com/cyckn3f

Vic's Blog: http://vicfortezza.blogspot.com/

Vic's Web Site: http://members.tripod.com/vic_fortezza/Literature/