- Paperback: 304 pages
- Publisher: Caradeloca Press (2 Oct 2010)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0615336817
- ISBN-13: 978-0615336817
- Product Dimensions: 15.2 x 22.9 x 1.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,636,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Loisaida -- A New York Story
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Product Description
Product Description
One sweltering night, in a neighborhood on the cusp of change, boy meets girl. If they'd only gone home together, they might still be alive. The core of this gritty, only in New York-story was inspired by real events - a beautiful, aspiring dancer slain, her corpse dismembered, possibly fed to the homeless in Tompkins Square Park. The psychotic roommate has confessed, but a dilettante actor turned journalist thinks there's more to it and investigates. Soon one of his sources mentions he might have better luck gaining trust if he'd shoot dope. Welcome to New York's East Village, aka Loisaida, circa 1988. Meet your neighbors - artists, dreamers, hustlers, devil worshipers, anarchists, junkies and yuppies - all competing for breathing space in a city without air. It's the era of greed, when the poor are objects of scorn not sympathy, and the gentrifiers view themselves as urban pioneers. This is a story about sex and drugs and real estate. This is a story about a murder... Word Count: 101k Genre: Literary Fiction, General Fiction, Neo-noir Literary Thriller
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Loisaida takes us to New York's Lower East Side in the late 1980s. It is in essence a murder mystery (based on a real-life murder), but there's so much more to it than that.
There are more characters than you would easily remember, except that they're so wonderfully drawn that you remember them all. Each has his or her utterly distinctive voice. All are given their due, and all contribute meaningfully to the whole. I've never seen a novelist weave more convincingly.
But the main protagonist is, as you might expect, the title character. "Loisaida" is derived from the Latino pronunciation of "Lower East Side", and the name is carefully chosen. Marion Stein wants to distance us not only from today's Lower East Side, but even from the Lower East Side "known" to outsiders back in the eighties. She wants us to be there. Then.
The whole area has recently moved upmarket, but back in the eighties it was home to the dispossessed and the rootless, to immigrants and junkies. Bohemian at the edges, poor throughout, it was awash with drugs. This is Marion Stein's Lower East Side, and it lives and breathes again in her extraordinary novel.
If Loisaida does not become at least a cult classic, there's something wrong somewhere.
There are more characters than you would easily remember, except that they're so wonderfully drawn that you remember them all. Each has his or her utterly distinctive voice. All are given their due, and all contribute meaningfully to the whole. I've never seen a novelist weave more convincingly.
But the main protagonist is, as you might expect, the title character. "Loisaida" is derived from the Latino pronunciation of "Lower East Side", and the name is carefully chosen. Marion Stein wants to distance us not only from today's Lower East Side, but even from the Lower East Side "known" to outsiders back in the eighties. She wants us to be there. Then.
The whole area has recently moved upmarket, but back in the eighties it was home to the dispossessed and the rootless, to immigrants and junkies. Bohemian at the edges, poor throughout, it was awash with drugs. This is Marion Stein's Lower East Side, and it lives and breathes again in her extraordinary novel.
If Loisaida does not become at least a cult classic, there's something wrong somewhere.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
In a moment, I'm going to say a couple of things about this book that you may or may not believe. It doesn't matter. I'm going to say them anyway because I'm convinced they are true. We'll get to that though...
I initially bought this book as a present for someone else. I had no intention of reading it because I thought it was simply a bargain price thriller. Having poked around the Amazon forums for a few months, however, I started to see references to Loisaida which made me think that, actually, there was more to the book than I'd initially assumed. So eventually I gave it go. I read the first couple of chapters and thought I'd maybe misjudged as it came across as a well written, but rather straightforward crime story. However, I then hit chapter three and suddenly it opened out into this unbelievable range of voices, a cast of characters so authentic and distinct from each other that it is hard to believe they were all conceived and written by the same person. There are artisans, junkies, ex-cons, and amidst them all a TV actor trying to become a journalist and searching for his breakthrough story on the lower East side.
There are a lot of characters and you will have to make some effort in keeping up, but believe me when I say it's worth that effort. In the hands of a lesser writer the different voices would have been in danger of becoming a cacophony, but Marion Stein manages to make them harmonise, with narrative overlaps that never leave you wondering what's going on. The New York on display here is reminiscent of that of Arthur Nersesian, Jay McInerney, Hubert Selby Jr. It's rich and evocative and gripping.
Ok, here's my bombshell. I mentioned a couple of authors above. On the evidence of this book, I think Marion Stein is certainly as good as, if not better, than all of them. I know that's a big claim when you consider I mentioned Hubert Selby, but I stand by it. All I can say is I enjoyed this book more than 'Last Exit to Brooklyn', I enjoyed it more than 'Song of the Silent Snow'. There was a vibrancy to the characters in this novel that, in my opinion, Selby never quite matches. I would go so far as to say that if this book had been written twenty years ago, it would now be talked of as a cult classic. It is truly, truly stunning. As I said, you might not believe me, in which case I suggest you try the book and then come back and attempt to tell me why I'm wrong. I'm willing to bet you won't convince me. A tremendous piece of work.
I initially bought this book as a present for someone else. I had no intention of reading it because I thought it was simply a bargain price thriller. Having poked around the Amazon forums for a few months, however, I started to see references to Loisaida which made me think that, actually, there was more to the book than I'd initially assumed. So eventually I gave it go. I read the first couple of chapters and thought I'd maybe misjudged as it came across as a well written, but rather straightforward crime story. However, I then hit chapter three and suddenly it opened out into this unbelievable range of voices, a cast of characters so authentic and distinct from each other that it is hard to believe they were all conceived and written by the same person. There are artisans, junkies, ex-cons, and amidst them all a TV actor trying to become a journalist and searching for his breakthrough story on the lower East side.
There are a lot of characters and you will have to make some effort in keeping up, but believe me when I say it's worth that effort. In the hands of a lesser writer the different voices would have been in danger of becoming a cacophony, but Marion Stein manages to make them harmonise, with narrative overlaps that never leave you wondering what's going on. The New York on display here is reminiscent of that of Arthur Nersesian, Jay McInerney, Hubert Selby Jr. It's rich and evocative and gripping.
Ok, here's my bombshell. I mentioned a couple of authors above. On the evidence of this book, I think Marion Stein is certainly as good as, if not better, than all of them. I know that's a big claim when you consider I mentioned Hubert Selby, but I stand by it. All I can say is I enjoyed this book more than 'Last Exit to Brooklyn', I enjoyed it more than 'Song of the Silent Snow'. There was a vibrancy to the characters in this novel that, in my opinion, Selby never quite matches. I would go so far as to say that if this book had been written twenty years ago, it would now be talked of as a cult classic. It is truly, truly stunning. As I said, you might not believe me, in which case I suggest you try the book and then come back and attempt to tell me why I'm wrong. I'm willing to bet you won't convince me. A tremendous piece of work.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
A great book - and I don't mean a great, self-published cheap Kindle book, I mean a great book full-stop. The story is told from multiple perspectives and points of view, and the author has total control over all these voices. The subtitle, "A New York Story" is perfect, because the multiple voices seem like a chorus for the city. Because of these shifts in view point, the book seems initially slightly scrappy, and all over the place, but careful reading reveals every section has a part to play.
The plot itself is strong too, and full of drugs, death, and sex. There's some genuine harrowing and moving scenes, and strong character development (if that's the right word for some of these character's fates).
Recommended if you like edgy literary fiction.
The plot itself is strong too, and full of drugs, death, and sex. There's some genuine harrowing and moving scenes, and strong character development (if that's the right word for some of these character's fates).
Recommended if you like edgy literary fiction.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent and fascinating
I bought Loisaida on someone's recommendation and was very glad I did.
It's both a fascinating portrait of a time and a place, and a gripping story from multiple... Read more
It's both a fascinating portrait of a time and a place, and a gripping story from multiple... Read more
Published 8 months ago by Titus Powell
Over-complicated, but an okay read
I found this book a little over-complicated in terms of the number of characters and the constant switches from first to third person. Read more
Published 10 months ago by P. Evans
Loved this book - fascinating insight into life in Manhattan's LES in...
Just finished this book this morning - what a bargain buy for my Kindle! Fascinating insight into this part of Manhattan during the late 1980s. Read more
Published 12 months ago by KS
Loisaida
"Loisaida" can be viewed two ways. As a work of literary or general fiction, which was the authors intent, or as a mystery. Read more
Published 12 months ago by BigAl
Disappointing
After reading all the previous reviews praising this book I was expecting a great read. Unfortunately I got fed up with it half way through and didn't finish it. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Poppy Poole
A remarkably assured thriller.
Marion Stein first caught my eye a year ago, on a writer's website. I'm delighted to see her wonderful novel of New York's Lower East Side is now available on Kindle. Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jake Barton
pitch perfect
Loisaida is a book I love on so many levels. At once lyrical and lewd, heartbreaking and hardboiled, this is a book that operates on many levels and succeeds spectaularly on every... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Dan Holloway
Cracking Read
This was one of the first books I read on my new kindle and I thought it was a cracking read. I could feel the heat of the City, the desperation and hope of the characters. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Woozle
Multilayered and fascinating
I finally got a Kindle for Christmas, which gave me the chance to read Marion Stein's wonderful novel in a format it deserves, rather than reading it on a computer screen. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Richard Pierce
Loisaida
Marion Stein's stunning new novel, set in New York's Lower East Side (Loisaida) in the 1980s, is largely based on the real life murder of Monica Beere, whose body was rendered into... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Larry Harrison
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