Meezly snagged this one quite wisely at our local thrift store. She was aware that Richard Price had been one of the principle writers on The Wire and recognized his name on the cover of the book. Good find! The pacing, situation and characters in this book are not those of the crime genre that I favour. It's very deliberate and consistent and much more of a character study (and a place study) than a mystery, suspense or action novel. That being said, it does what it wants to do extremely well, so that I was caught up in it and really didn't want to put it down. Even more in its favour, is that ultimately, Lush Life is a critique of the lower east side of New York city and the gentrification that has gone on there. It is particularily scathing towards the white, artistic hipsters that try to claim the culture their as their own. This I found very satisfying. You can see why Price was a good writer for The Wire. Check it out.
And check out Meezly's review for a more thorough explanation of the plot.
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