Ray Palen's Reviews > Owning Up

It's been a few years since we saw new fiction from George Pelecanos and OWNING UP is well worth the wait. This collection of four short stories delivers on the same premise that has made him one of the best in the business at what he does.

I have always categorized Pelecanos amongst a trio of writers who truly have their ear to the ground and are able to convert that into street-level fiction that is so gritty and real it consumes your senses. These three writers are Michael Connelly, Dennis Lehane, and of course, George Pelecanos.

My recap of these four deeply layered tales is as follows:

- THE AMUSEMENT MACHINE - here we meet fellow inmates Ira Rubin and Jerrod Williams. Two young men wearing the orange jumpsuits that have become synonymous with incarceration who are serving their short time and eager to return to their lives in Washington D.C. Williams first notices Rubin because he was one of the few white inmates. Rubin was arrested for some minor level theft and Williams on a trumped-up gun charge. Moving forward in time, the two men run into each other on the outside as they are both auditioning for extra roles on a Baltimore-based film. Williams indicates that this is what he wants to do with is life, act. Rubin, meanwhile, has little skill and just needed to make some money and stay out of trouble. As their lives begin to diverge again, the bond that has formed between them remains strong.

- THE NO-KNOCK - this story features a small loophole in the law enforcement field that allows for an unexpected or 'no knock' search of property if someone involved in a felony resides there. This is why this traumatic event hits the unsuspecting Caruso family. When author Joseph Caruso sees men in kevlar vests suddenly descending on his home his thoughts immediately go to his somewhat misguided son, Vincent. It was indeed a criminal incident regarding Vincent that caused this, but the upheaval and damage done to their home from the no-knock search is something that will mark the rest of the Caruso's lives. The symbolic piece here is the loss of a valuable and cherished piece of jewelry, a gold cross necklace that was a gift to Vincent. The police claim to have no knowledge of this piece and its loss symbolizes the incursion made against their lives by this incident. We see the fallout from it in the successive years that follow and the writing that Joseph plans to release to define what they all went through.

- KNICKERBOCKER - this is a historical story that deals with memory and an incident from the past that caused significant racial divide in Northeast D.C. Leah Brown is visiting her grandmother Maria at a retirement home. It is during this visit that Maria regales Leah with a story from her own past and a violent incident in the heart of the prohibition age that she can never forget. Her own boyfriend at the time was involved as was a black gentleman named Robert Charles Weather. Robert was unfairly blamed with a tragedy that befell the local Knickerbocker Theatre and this is a story Leah wants to confirm for herself. The touching and emotional center of this story is when Leah meets with the elderly Robert Charles Weather and, explaining who she is, getting his side of the saga.

- OWNING UP - the last story and one in which our collection is named for tackles yet another social and moral conflict, this one between religious sects in D.C. Beginning in the 1970's and continuing from there, we get to witness a major violent incident through the eyes of young Nikos. He finds himself in the mix of anti-Muslim hatred and revenge that some Muslims take on those who they feel wronged them. Nikos is moved by this situation because he is a big Lew Alcindor/Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fan, and was inspired to learn more about why his favorite NBA star became a devoted Muslim. The local incident driven by hatred and religious intolerance features a hostage crisis that rocks the city and will shape Nikos for the rest of his days.

George Pelecanos never pulls any punches with his writing, it's just not in his DNA. However, he does not allow any judgement to enter into his narrative and stays in the gray area between fact, fiction, right, and wrong and leaves the rest up to the reader. I have always respected that about his work and it is what makes him the street poet that he is.

Reviewed by Ray Palen for Book Reporter