CITY ON FIRE by Garth Hallberg (fic)

"City on Fire" was met with great critical acclaim, and I raced to read it soon after it was published.  It is a massive book and was compared to a Dickens novel in several reviews.  I plunged into it with interest but about half way through I lost the fervor and only recently picked it up again to finish.  Hallberg is certainly a great talent and excellent writer.  At times the book seemed over-crafted, and there was so much going on with many characters and plot lines that I had to thumb back to refresh my memory.

Hallberg's city is the Manhattan of 1976 and "77 when all hell seems to have let loose.  He takes us to  the South Bronx, Hell's Kitchen, Alphbet City, and into the rich homes of the Upper East and West sides.  A murder in Central Park plays an important part in the plot.  Like the book, there was so very much going on in America's Bicentennial year that looking back one wonders how we ever got beyond it, and finally the great New York City blackout of '77 brings all the plot elements to a head, amidst rioting and an out of control fire.

Hallberg takes us back to a time without Internet or cell phones where life was fast moving, but unlike today, the characters could not be instantly connected, and the lack of communication reminds us how difficult it was for any one character or group to control events or plan outcomes.  The story centers around two generations, the older rich gentry of the city, personified by the patrician Hamilton-Sweeney family and the new wave punks, the "lost kids" followers of Nicky Chaos who ran an anarchist terrorist cell.  Bridging these two groups was William Stuart Althorp III, also known as Billy Three Sticks, who was a 33 year old heroin addict, heir of the Hamilton-Sweeney family; and, Samantha Cicciaro and Charlie Weisbarger, Long Island teens who are seduced by the city lights and disco night life.  These characters move back and forth throughout the story, as an aging detective and a journalist obsessed with the case, attempt to solve the murder. It comes as a surprise when the murderer is finally revealed.

The author who was not alive for these events does a good job of recreating the period and frantic chaos of the times.  While I respect his talent and writing, I did not enjoy the book as much as Rachel Kushner's "Flamethrowers" which covers the same period. I do recommend the the book, however, if you wish to be taken back to a confusing time before the city became what it is today, where wealthy foreigners are buying up property, and ordinary people have become tourists.