Providence (First Edition)

A series of violent, life-threatening events disturbs the equilibrium of at least five lives in the port town of Providence

Wolff's two works of nonfiction, The Duke of Deception and Black Sun, were widely and well reviewed, and this novel merits similar attention. Providence, R.I., is more than the backdrop for this intriguing tale; the city, faultlessly captured, assumes a role as crucial as those played by the main characters. Adam Dwyer is a criminal lawyer who learns that he is dying of leukemia. He and his wife Clara then receive another blow: their home is robbed by two young thugs, Skippy and Baby, who strip the family of most of their treasured belongings. Tom Corcoran, the police officer assignedto the case, becomes involved with Skippy's waitress girlfriend. Very divergent aspects of Providenceits criminal justice system; the streets of Federal Hill (home of the city's mafiosi); and the fashionable upper East Side, fertile ground for thievesbring these individuals into often violent contact with each other. Wolff's setting and characters come alive in a way that may shock and frighten some readers; all but the very squeamish will be entertained. 50,000 first printing; BOMC selection. Foreign rights: Lescher & Lescher. February
Copyright 1985 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This black, bleak comedy tells of parallel lives in Providence, R.I. The Dwyers are middle-class, settled, safe in their lives until the day that Adam, a lawyer, finds out he's going to die of leukemia. Skippy, Babe, and Lisa are young sociopaths on the lookout for fun and fortune. When the lives of these two "families" cross, no one survives without trauma. The result is a diverting gallery of grotesques and grotesqueries, a litany of sex, perversion, violence, crime, and corruption. Providence is a fairy tale with no Good Fairy. Virtue ensures no reward; neither merit nor normal precaution provides sufficient protection to the unfortunate Dwyers. This novel is breezy and entertaining, enjoyable even though it depicts a world that is chilling in the indifference it shows toward ordinary people's cares and concerns. BOMC alternate. David Keymer, SUNY Coll. of Technology, Utica
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc.