Drama City (2005)

Wow! This is his best so far and probably the closest in sensibility to The Wire. Yet there are no cops in it. Well, a few glimpses of them but they're not the protagonists. The POVs most of the time belong to 1) Lorenzo, still on parole, working diligently for a pet rescue organization and pretty close to never going back to prison, and to 2) Rachel Lopez, his parole officer, who is privately struggling with an alcohol and possible sex addiction. Female POV is not George's strong point, which is why I give this 4 stars.

Otherwise, this is pretty damn good, better than a mere airport time killer. I'd emphasize that this isn't a police procedural or a mystery; the murders of and by drug dealers unfold before us. The second shoot-out was so well done; I was figuratively on the edge of my seat!

I spotted private eye Derek Strange once but he never appears by name. Although of course it takes place in DC, Drama City reminds me of The Wire because of the fullness of most of the bad guys' characters: They could have gone another way. Because of their broken homes, parents in jail, the temptations and material attractions, they didn't.

As in his other books, Pelecanos frequently rounds back to the turning point age for boys: that's high school, especially early high school. Maybe there was an attraction to sports, a book, a career: these boys could have gone another way or they still can but ... the odds are not so great. At near the last moment, Pelecanos even sketches how the most unredeemable character, Rico. turned so bad. He was constantly abused by his mother as a child.

Pelecanos isn't the profound pessimist that The Wire's producer and sometime writer David Simon is. OK, I haven't seen the entire TV series by a long shot but from what I've seen and heard, when you start feeling for a particular young character on the TV show, chances are good he or she will be killed or off to jail for a very long spell.

Not only Pelecanos but even some of his characters (Lorenzo and perhaps even his old drug lord buddy Nigel) see glimmers of hope and possibility. The high-school drop-out girl knocked up by her no-good boyfriend--with the help of her mother or grandmother--might go back to school, even college, and raise a good kid.

Moreover, we're seeing the world of the ex-cons in this book. Some, like Lorenzo, have vowed never to go back. You might say that prison has worked for them. Lorenzo and some of his cohorts at Narcotics Anonymous are moving to a place where they might be able to help a kid go the right way or help another ex-con. I would like to know more about those who, still "on paper", intentionally "violate" so they can go back in the can; they feel they aren't ready to do the straight world yet, so better to go back in before they do something far worse.

This book answered a question I've long wondered about: who would knowingly hire an ex-con? Well, ex-cons themselves are apparently big employers. Construction work and hairdressers, maybe restaurants and mechanics. As for the work of dogcatchers, animal rescue and pet shelters ... I never thought much about it before but I learned something. Good research, George. Of course, some dogs are like some people: because of what's been done to them, they're unredeemable and have to be put down. But the author doesn't hit you over the head with the parallels. ( )

The author writes about the parts of D.C. that no tourist buses ever visit: the ghettos in which the drug trade is the only path to advancement. Everyone who participates knows its an ephemeral life: sooner or later you go to prison or you die. Yet, its street cred, its riches, its macho violence seems to be as addictive as the drugs being sold. Occasionally, however, someone breaks away and rejoins the parallel universe most of us inhabit. This is the story of one of those men, and the people who help him, tempt him, threaten him, uplift him. The dialogue rings incredibly true, a fly on the wall experience. This one will stay with you. ( )

Wow, a quick read, barely over 3 hours. Almost put it down at the start as it had very tough material, animal cruelty, dog fighting in particular. However sticking with it wasn't so bad. Pelecanos used it just enough to make the point needed without it being gratuitous. It was a riveting storyline that kept me rooting for the good guy to hang in there and though things didn't turn out perfectly for all, it did have a whew, that's good ending. ( )

This one is slow and deliberate in it's pacing. The plot is simple and straight forward. The characters are the same. The story is about inner city gangs and how they attract young men with their promise of something better where they become trapped and then die or go to jail. The central male character is trying to move past his affliation to one of these gangs. He is trying to become a part of the fabric of his community without the gang. The central female character is his PO, who in some ways is just as damaged as he is. They both need support in finding stabilty within their community. They need each other but the book is not about them saving each other; it's about being able to find the things in the real world that Lorenzo wanted when he joined the gang.

The best part of the book is twofold. The telling of the story of Lorenzo being a Humane Service Officer is really well done. It is slowly developed and seemingly secondary to the bigger story of whether he will get sucked back into the gang or not. But this story is actually just as compelling and is obviously where Lorenzo finds a place where he can be just as committted to what he does in the real world as he once was to the gang. And the second part of the book that is really well done is the NA meetings. It is somewhat of an indictment of a book to have NA meetings be the best part of the book. But it is also true that any author that can use such a simple device so effectively, is a great writer. ( )

Okay, I'll admit it; I originally picked up this book out of a quirky sort of vanity; because I'm sort of in it.

When I was working for the Washington Humane Society, George Pelecanos spent several days riding with some of our Humane Officers while doing research for Drama City. I didn't know much about him at the time, but I met him briefly and he seemed like a nice guy. A few months later, when the book was released, a friend who had worked with Pelecanos told me that there was a character briefly mentioned in the book who sounded a lot like me. I was in the aftermath of my father's death at the time, so my mind was elsewhere and I never followed up to see what the book was all about. Then a couple of days ago, I saw the paperback on the shelf at Barnes & Noble, and figured what the hell.

I started reading mostly just to try and locate the character based on me, but then I found myself being drawn into the story almost against my will. Pelecanos has really captured the essence of DC in this book. It is obvious that he knows the city and its residents extremely well, and it's a lot of fun to hear places mentioned in the book that not I've not only heard of, but that I have a clear picture of in my head. The novel is about Lorenzo Brown, a onetime criminal enforcer who's recently returned to the streets after doing eight years in prison on a felony drug charge. Lorenzo is trying to stay clean and out of trouble; he has a job as a Humane Officer with the Washington Humane Society, enforcing the city's animal cruelty laws. Try as he might to stay straight, events keep pulling him back towards his old life. It's a simple story, based on events that happen every day in countless lives, which makes it a very compelling read. Add to that the personal connection I have to the subject matter and I was engrossed almost immediately.

But the best part was stumbling across this passage (on page 158 of the mass market paperback edition) after I'd forgotten what I was looking for:

" Jerry, a huge multitattooed Humane Officer who had a desk nearby, dropped the Metro section of the Post on Lorenzo's desk without comment before walking heavily from the room. Jerry left the newspaper for Lorenzo, section by section, as he finished it."

I am in book-geek heaven every time I read those words. ( )