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A look through a narrow, gritty window at a white 1950s city neighborhood decayed by addiction. Each chapter dips into the mind of a different character, all struggling basically with the choice to focus on self or community. This is woven through a propulsive story that simmers with the threat of violence & finally explodes in nightmarish murder.
Bookwomble The title being a mashup of Burnett's "The Asphalt Jungle" and Algren's "The Neon Wilderness", I had to triple-check what I was reading before I recognised it was neither ? 3y
Bookwomble Love the cover 😍 3y
Michael_Gee @Bookwomble How funny! I haven‘t read either of those, but this was published after them so I bet he/the publishers were banking on that confusion/association. 3y
Bookwomble @Michael_Gee No doubt. The cover is suggestive of both the others. Burnett's is a nice heist caper, which was made into a film giving Marilyn Munroe her biggest part up to that time. Algren's is his usual dour self, telling stories of urban alienation, which I've always assumed gave The Verve the title for their song on the Urban Hymns album. Connections! ⛓🙂 3y