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Product Description
Time Out
'The most heralded work of fiction to come out of New York since Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities'
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'The most heralded work of fiction to come out of New York since Tom Wolfe's Bonfire of the Vanities While Wolfe's high-rollers only dipped a toe into the dark side, Price gives us all the raw detail of the street timely, majestic' Time Out 'Big, shocking, powerful resounds with vivid detail' Independent on Sunday 'Dazzling An odyssey of cops, drugs, survival and power A closely-observed tour de force' New York Daily News 'One hell of a book Price shows that he's got the best equipment a novelist can have - that combination of muscularity, insight and compassion' Washington Post
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Richard Price first came up with the idea for Clockers whilst sat in a fast food restaurant in New York, during the waning years of what later became known as The Crack Epidemic. Whilst he observed overworked teenage kids sweating behind the counter for minimum wage inside, outside street dealers - in full view of the restaurant staff - made twenty times as much selling Crack. This posed the seemingly obvious question: What stops the guys inside the restaurant from doing what the guys outside the restaurant are doing? With that question in mind Price set out to research and, ultimately write, one of the finest examinations of 20th century crime ever written.
Set against a modern day equivalent of Hogarth's Gin Lane, rife with crime, privation, and a new form of Mother's Ruin - Crack - Clockers is the story of murder, deceit, prejudice, corruption, and, ultimately, redemption. While there are some minor inaccuracies concerning the actual drug, it's clear the rest of the book, including the black society in which it is set, was meticulously researched, for which the author should receive recognition - after all it isn't often non-black writers document Afro-America without relying heavily on conjecture.
Slightly dated now, this is still a brilliant, edifying, and educational novel. Top marks.
Set against a modern day equivalent of Hogarth's Gin Lane, rife with crime, privation, and a new form of Mother's Ruin - Crack - Clockers is the story of murder, deceit, prejudice, corruption, and, ultimately, redemption. While there are some minor inaccuracies concerning the actual drug, it's clear the rest of the book, including the black society in which it is set, was meticulously researched, for which the author should receive recognition - after all it isn't often non-black writers document Afro-America without relying heavily on conjecture.
Slightly dated now, this is still a brilliant, edifying, and educational novel. Top marks.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I feel that Richard Price should be considered among the great modern American writers. He seems to be underrated, perhaps because his books tend to be (wrongly) stuck in genre sections of bookshops. He should be on the list with John Irving and Tom Wolfe. He has the ability to bridge the gap between entertainment and profound art. It's exciting and enjoyable reading his work, but you also feel good doing it.
Clockers is probably his overall finest book, alternating from two characters points of view throughout the book. It's moving, scary, exciting and profound and gives more real detail than any contenders writing about street life. The best thing I can say about Richard Price, which is something you find all too rarely these days...He's an excellent storyteller and that's all you need to know.
Just buy it.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Clockers' is an unrelentingly bleak novel, set in the Projects of Dempsey, New Jersey, at the height of a crack cocaine epidemic. Bleak, but after a slow beginning, this novel makes for compulsive reading.
I struggled at first to find my way in; set in the late eighties, 'Clockers' is slightly dated now, there is a lot of colloquial language and its characters have few redeeming qualities, making for an uneasy read. If I hadn't been watching 'The Wire' around the same time as reading this, I would have probably failed to understand what was happening in the opening hundred pages. There are large amounts of detail about the way drug deals are handled, and how the various police departments interact with the disenfranchised youths selling the drugs. 'The Wire' owes a huge amount to this book, and fans of the series will find much to like here.
Once past the first section, and the fatal shooting around which the rest of the novel hinges, 'Clockers' really takes off. Price has a very descriptive way of writing; no detail remains unanalysed, his characters are full bodied and his two protagonists (a dealer, and a cop) are very well drawn. The reader is pulled into their world and is forced to sympathise with both, despite them being fairly unlikeable characters. The sense of deprivation, despair and the impossibility of escape in both walks of life is acutely assessed.
'Clockers' is no ordinary thriller; the reader is asked to make an emotional and cerebral investment that is not required for your average crime novel, but the book is all the better for it. For me, 'Clockers' drops a star because of its slow beginning, which almost led me to put it down unfinished, but if you can push past that, and care about plot and characterisation, then this is a must read.
I struggled at first to find my way in; set in the late eighties, 'Clockers' is slightly dated now, there is a lot of colloquial language and its characters have few redeeming qualities, making for an uneasy read. If I hadn't been watching 'The Wire' around the same time as reading this, I would have probably failed to understand what was happening in the opening hundred pages. There are large amounts of detail about the way drug deals are handled, and how the various police departments interact with the disenfranchised youths selling the drugs. 'The Wire' owes a huge amount to this book, and fans of the series will find much to like here.
Once past the first section, and the fatal shooting around which the rest of the novel hinges, 'Clockers' really takes off. Price has a very descriptive way of writing; no detail remains unanalysed, his characters are full bodied and his two protagonists (a dealer, and a cop) are very well drawn. The reader is pulled into their world and is forced to sympathise with both, despite them being fairly unlikeable characters. The sense of deprivation, despair and the impossibility of escape in both walks of life is acutely assessed.
'Clockers' is no ordinary thriller; the reader is asked to make an emotional and cerebral investment that is not required for your average crime novel, but the book is all the better for it. For me, 'Clockers' drops a star because of its slow beginning, which almost led me to put it down unfinished, but if you can push past that, and care about plot and characterisation, then this is a must read.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Great stuff
It's all there, and damn worth the read - check out the other reviews it's pretty clear. If you like it also give these a go :Homicide: A Year On The Killing Streets and The... Read more
Published on 7 Jun 2009 by Verve
Superb writing.
"The walls of the waiting room were hung with black-and-white cautionary posters, encircling Strike with admonitions, the subjects ranging from AIDS to pregnancy to crack to... Read more
Published on 2 Dec 2008 by Robert Greenwood
cant see what all the fuss is about
Sorry, but I hated this book, it grated on me from the first page.
The characters, the dialogue, the story - I just didn't connect with any of it - I found it tiresome,... Read more
The characters, the dialogue, the story - I just didn't connect with any of it - I found it tiresome,... Read more
Published on 28 Aug 2008 by An avid reader
damn good read
I read this book a while back and loved it. I was woried when I heard they were making the film, being a huge fan of US crime/cop tv shows I thought they had miscast it, but the... Read more
Published on 23 Aug 2008 by T. Josham
Starts well, but becomes tiresomely tedious
Unlike some autobiographical fiction, this book thankfully is'nt filled with the phoney milage of personal hardship, however, this book is simply only interesting because of how... Read more
Published on 30 April 2001 by jersey_darren@hotmail.com
Superb, atmospheric book on life in the Bronx
I do not want to waffle on endlessly about this book because you should simply go out and buy it. You don't want to put it down because you live through each page with each... Read more
Published on 16 Oct 1999
A hard hitting insight into life in the Bronx.
I think it's a very gripping book with a strong moral content - if you do wrong you will pay for it one way or the other. Read more
Published on 27 Aug 1999
An urban tale with heart
This is quite a massive book, but still retains a pace which flows as easy as cognac on a cold winter's day. Read more
Published on 20 Aug 1999
Intense, fast read but with real depth to the characters.
I took this book to the shore, expecting an entertaining but superficial read, ala Grisham. What a pleasant surprise! Read more
Published on 14 April 1999
Like a CNN broadcast from hell.
This is one 'action/drama' that won't insult your intelligence. It is superbly crafted as well as viscerally intense. Every character is finely drawn and believable. Read more
Published on 12 Mar 1999
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