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Critic's Corner
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RICH BOY Jonathan Karp, Publisher and Editor in Chief of TWELVE wrote in the foreword, “Publishers rarely have the opportunity to introduce works of this scope and ambition. An award winning writer of short stories, Sharon Pomerantz has been working on Rich Boy for ten years. She has made good use of that time. Each sentence rings true with just the right detail and feeling, drawn from her wise portrayal of the changes in her characters through four decades of American life.” As a reviewer, I totally agree with Mr. Karp’s statement. Rich Boy gives readers a panoramic portrayal of American life from the sixties to the eighties, and one young man’s determination to escape his past. Robert Vishniak born and raised in northeast Philadelphia in a Jewish neighborhood called the Oxford Circle is surrounded by his large extended family. His mother Stacia saves Green Stamps which she uses to purchase art works of a questionable nature to hang on the walls of her home. Stacia is a woman who makes every penny count, frugal to a fault. She constantly tells her sons, “Make money, Make money,” repeating this over and over until their ears ring with the words. She works hard as does her husband, Vishniak, yet they are still among the poorer relations in Oxford Circle. Robert as a teenager realizes he loves women, loves how they smell, the rhythm of their walk, and all their mysterious secrets yet to be discovered. Women love Robert. They always have from the time he was little. His Grandmother and aunts were always kissing on him, cuddling him, and commenting on his physical beauty. As a teen, everything was an aphrodisiac. At fourteen he recognized his effect on girls and women. By the age of sixteen he’d made out with most of the girls in Oxford Circle. He had become what his English teacher predicted – “A lady killer.” Stacia insisted Robert had to go to college. The best financial package came from Tufts University in Boston. Robert was elated, he’d done it, he’d escaped Oxford Circle. He arrived at the school tall, lean, and graceful thanks to his mother’s insistence he take dance lessons as a boy. Oh, and yes, he’s still drop-dead handsome. Robert’s roomie was Sanford A. Trace III, aka Tracey, for short. Tracey is blond, tall, thin, has a bit of acne, and is a clean freak. His friends, Mark Pascal and Benoit Cates go to Harvard, a school Tracey couldn’t get in to due to bad grades in high school. He’s the first Trace in five generations to get the “ding” from Harvard. Just after Thanksgiving, Tracey takes Robert with him to attend a winter fling at Smith, an all girls college. Two hours after leaving Boston they arrive in Northampton. That night he met Claudia Cates, a beauty with black hair and hazel eyes. Unfortunately, she’s engaged to a guy in the military. Music was wonderful that first year in college, The Beatles, the Rolling Stones, and Roy Orbison songs provided great dance music. The summer of 1966 Robert lived with his aunt and uncle in New York City. His uncle helped him get a license so he could drive his uncle’s cab in his off hours. Robert had to make as much money as possible so he could pay expenses for next year’s schooling. During his junior year at Tufts, war protests on campus increased. Vietnam raged on, a war no one liked or believed in. More black students appeared on campus urging everyone to take a stand towards Civil Rights. Tracey began wearing his hair longer, wore flannel work shirts, and sported an anti-war bumper sticker on his car. Tracey confessed he found his family’s history making weapons of war an embarrassment. They also had other business interests but guns made them a fortune. Everyone worried about the draft during their senior year in school. No one wanted to go, some fellows decided if called up they’d flee to Canada. Robert met Gwendolyn Smythe his senior year. She said she attended school at Boston University, and was from England. Robert loved her at first sight. She became his absolute passion in life. Soon, he moved in with her in a nice apartment which she paid for. She was avidly hoping to join the Peace Corps, worked two jobs, went to school and protested the war. By this time, Robert’s younger brother, Barry, finally decides to go back to college and make something of himself. Barry does well and becomes a successful broker on Wall Street or so you are led to believe. In the mean time , a tragedy strikes Robert’s life. Just after graduation, he comes home to find his beloved Gwen hanging from a ceiling pipe in their apartment. He then learns she is not his age, but thirty years old, doesn’t go to college, has a long history of mental illness. Yes, Robert is devastated and begins a downward spiral. His failure to realize Gwen’s sickness is indicative of his faulty personality. Once Robert regains his footing he also returns to school, NYC Law School where he makes the Law Review. Upon graduation he lands a job in an old upscale law firm. For the rest of the story and Robert’s rise to riches you must read the rest for yourself. The way each of these characters interact with each other is just short of amazing. Their lives continually intertwine sometimes on a high note and sometimes on the low down. Wait until you meet Crea who is to become Robert’s wife and Sally Johanson who is his . . . what would you call her? I call Rich Boy a fascinating read and believe you will, too. Buy Rich
Boy Patricia Ann Jones is a published writer and has recently retired from her position of 18 years as a reviewer for the Tulsa World newspaper. To comment on this review you may email pattij777@aol.com. |
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