Tough and tender

The Turnaround by George Pelecanos
is practically chick lit

by JULIET WATERS

When I arrived at my parent’s cottage in Maine this summer, my 74-year-old mother was half way through the first season of The Wire. She apologized for dominating the television, since she knew I’d already seen it. “No problem,” I said. “I’ve only seen it twice,” (if you don’t count the DVD commentaries).

Plus, I’m always up for a discussion of important Wire issues like: whose hotter, Stringer or D? What’s up with Avon’s goofy golf clothes? And Omar: sociopath, or modern-day pirate?

Upon my return, I read Stacey DeWolfe’s guide to Wire withdrawal (Aug. 7th), thought of my friend who watched the first four seasons during her last months of pregnancy and remembered my vacation reading for the last two summers—the latest George Pelecanos novel.

Suddenly it hit me how much women love The Wire. I’m not saying we don’t like The Sopranos, but when it comes to female bonding, The Wire has become like Sex and the City with violence, drugs and the one thing women like more than shoes: men. And yes romance, but with men playing all the parts.

Not to discount the genius of David Simon and Ed Burns, but Pelecanos deserves a fair amount of the credit. He’s hands down the most female-friendly pulp writer in the business. Read his latest, The Turnaround and you’ll understand just why they brought Pelecanos in to write the penultimate episode in three out of five seasons.

He’s a master of what those in the business of constructing narrative arcs call “catharsis.” If there’s an adorable corner boy to be assassinated, a father who needs to realize how shit he is, a male mentor lying shot on the sidewalk while his protégé walks off into the arms of a waiting gang, if you’re holding back the tears a little more than usual, you’ll find Pelecanos in the writing credits. (Whereas if the episode is almost entirely about Marlo and your blood is running a few degrees colder than normal, you’ll probably find Dennis Lehanne.)

In the latest two Pelecanos novels, The Night Gardner and this one, heroes are always tough enough to negotiate life on the street, tender enough to love their wives, and randy enough to fuck them regularly. Crisis is never just for story—it’s an opportunity to create intimacy between men who might never be able to negotiate it otherwise.

The Turnaround takes this to the next level. Forget about the police procedural of yesteryear. Street life here is used sparingly, like responsible pepper spray. Pelecanos’s earlier work fits comfortably into noir, but this is a whole new category of pulp: moist.

As a woman I was turning the pages as quickly as a well-used lipstick. As a critic I was feeling a lot more guilt than pleasure. Sure, I want to live in a world filled with almost nothing but sensitive, tough men. But there’s a reason why these men have never dominated crime fiction. Predictability is the secret to a nice life. For drama it’s poison.

The story, which opens like an extended episode of Cold Case, revolves around the lives of three young men coming of age in 1972. One white, two black. Good boys all. Too bad about their crappy friends who lure them into an incident that will destroy at least one of their lives. There are plenty of reviews that will give you a more extended summary, but The Turnaround is the kind of book that spoils easily.

This isn’t to say The Turnaround is bad. It’s a solid read with a reassuring message and more hope than is probably good for us. But if I could lend this book to only one person, it would, no doubt, be my mother.

The Turnaround by George
Pelecanos, Little Brown,
hc, 304 pp, $28.99