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Little Boy Blue
 
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Little Boy Blue [Paperback]

Bunker (Author), Edward (Author)
5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
RRP: £7.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 320 pages
  • Publisher: NO EXIT PRESS (5 Feb 2008)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1842432680
  • ISBN-13: 978-1842432686
  • Product Dimensions: 19.3 x 12.7 x 3 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 604,266 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Review

"A scalding experience - and a literary triumph in the tradition of Dreiser, farrell and James Jones. This is an important book." - Roderick Thorp (author of Nothing Lasts Forever) "Bunker belongs to the majestic and uncompromising tradition of Jean Genet and Hubert Selby Jnr, who have introduced us to victim literature. Bunker's novel is the culmination of those innocent tales of puberty in America that began with Huck Finn and brought us to Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. In Little Boy Blue he has taken us to the end of the line. he has introduced us to the most endearing, fascinating and violent child we are ever likely to meet" - Norman Bogner (author of Arena) "Integrity, craftsmanship and moral passion...an artist with a unique and compelling voice" - William Styron --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Description

Young Alex Hamilton is intelligent and independent but given to sudden fits of rage. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly absconding from foster homes and institutions to be with his father, a broken man who can't give his son the home he desperately needs. Surrounded by well meaning, over worked social workers, vicious and cruel authority figures, and always by no good peers, Alex is on a collision course with the law and himself.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Ed Bunker really is underrated. Ex-con turned author, his books have an extra resonance and relevance when you realise he is not just talking the talk but has very much walked the walk, spending many years in some of America's toughest penitentiaries. He doesn't have that over-eloquent, self-conscious style that many crims turned authors use, instead he is clearly a natural and his prose and narrative flow easily and grip tightly.

His books are not as noir and hard-boiled as other LA writers, the language is "from the street" but not melodramatic or stereotypical, the action brutal but not glamorous.

Little Boy Blue tells of one child's formative years and the seemingly inevitable descent into the worlds of crime and prison. It explores the relationship and contradictions between his own inherently violent nature and the institutions he is sent to which serve only to make him tougher and further alienated. Each chance of redemption or rehabilitation seems to be snatched away as he is passed from reform school to detention centre.

Perhaps things could be different if he were exposed to some form of nurturing, a caring environment or love. Perhaps his violent nature means this is impossible. Whichever you decide, it is tragic to witness each opportunity to cheat his destiny slip away, the sense of inevitability almost claustrophobic. No moralising from Bunker however, he deftly gets on with telling the story leaving the underlying themes to discuss themselves.

There is no doubt some autobiographical elements in all of this given Bunkers history. Little Boy Blue, is shocking and gripping and ultimately bleak and depressing. The author shows great restraint in never over-dramatising a small but very human tragedy and one that needs no further embellishment.

For a fictional journey into the world of juvenile crime, I can't imagine a more human, impartial and thought provoking treatment.

Bunker himself is testament to the fact that there is much worth among the forgotten.

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Amazon.com:  10 reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
it could happen to you 2 Dec 2000
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
All I can say is that "Little Boy Blue" is a blueprint for how a troubled boy can be transformed into an adult sociopath. Ironically, the system that is supposed to reform him is the culprit in pushing him toward further hopelessness and delinquency. Alex Hammond is basically a good kid with good instincts who is battered by authority until he lashes out and becomes submerged in hatred. There are many instances when he can choose between obedience and rebellion, and even though he inevitably decides to rebel, he often seems to have little choice. Frustration with a dictatorship of adults who have little patience or tolerance for the special needs of this disturbed boy sends him hurtling on a collision course with tragedy. Especially troubling is the scene where Alex is placed with relatives who are inflexible in their method of discipline--he seems to be making slight progress when a fabricated lie shoves him back down the mudslide. Here Alex actually shows a hint of conscience--or has he simply gained dominance over the aggressor? The harrowing course of his life is told in uncompromising, brutally-honest terms. Every professional involved in rehabilitating children should own a copy of this book. It chronicles the downfall of innocence, introducing a doomed child whose life is always threatened by an undercurrent of depression.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
The internal and external making of a juvenile delinquent 14 Oct 1997
By A Customer - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
Edward Bunker cuts through the fluff of American social pathology theory and the disingenuousness glorification of popular gangster culture to present this straightforward tale of how a bright, inquisitive boy becomes a juvenile delinquent and, eventually, a criminal. Bunker, while not ignoring the effect of the "system" of the 1940's and 50's on driving Alex Hammond down the wrong path, emphasizes his protagonist's temperament - specifically, his flaring hot temper - in his wayward development. "Little Boy Blue" poignantly captures the duality of Alex's desire to be normal and free with his interfering need to feel powerful and respected amidst the twisted mores of the juvenile criminal class. The reader can't help but cheer for Alex as he eludes the authorities, all the while knowing his "victories" are pushing him farther and farther away from the chance for a genuinely fulfilling life.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Taut, poignant and shocking 29 Jun 2000
By D. Ross - Published on Amazon.com
Format:Paperback
If you appreciate crime fiction that is firmly rooted in reality, the upbringing of Alex Hammond as told by Bunker is stark, sad and brilliantly told.

The product of a broken LA home in the forties, Hammond's world is one of petty crime, reform schools and not so petty crime; a sequential stream of vignettes that inevitably leads from 'gladiator school' to big-time crime and (of course) prison.

All of Bunker's books are outstanding... and I'm awaiting my Amazon shipment of 'Education of a Felon' with baited breath. It will be interesting to contrast 'Little Boy Blue' with the non-fictional account of his life.

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