The other day I was listening to WNYC, and Leonard Lopate was doing an interview with this Pulitzer Prize-winning author who had just released his first book for teens, and I was like, “Why doesn’t anyone send me books by Pulitzer Prize winners, huh??” Then, like magic, a copy of Oscar Hijuelos’s book, Dark Dude, arrived in the mail.
I just got around to it last night, and in fact I’d been thinking maybe I wasn’t up to the task of reviewing a book by such a formidably literary author. But then I was like, “What? What? Seriously, Sabrina, you have got to be on drugs, because you have read plenty of great books in your life, and you shouldn’t be afraid to tackle something just because it’s got the words “Pulitzer Prize” on freakin’ cover.”
And then I dived in, and I didn’t come up for air until I had read the entire tale of Rico, a teenager in New York City some time in the late sixties or early seventies who gets hassled by everyone because he’s Cuban but looks white. Rico is obsessed with sci fi and comic books, and he lives in a neighborhood where a lot of things can go wrong and a lot of people have a lot of bad luck. And — I swear I’m not spoiling anything here — he eventually decides to ditch New York and run off to Wisconsin in search of a better life.
Okay, once again I’m going to go on a little bit about required pre-reading. You need to read The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain before you enter into the realm of Dark Dude. You need to because Hijuelos refers to Huck Finn again and again throughout his fantastic novel, and this story is kind of like a modern-day Huck Finn, and you’ll understand why once you’ve read both.
When I was listening to the interview with Hijuelos, and I must admit I didn’t get to hear much of it because I had to turn the radio off about two minutes in, I gathered this much: Hijuelos himself is of Cuban descent, and he was born and bred in New York City. So, while I don’t know how autobiographical this story is, it does seem certain that Hijuelos put some of himself into it, or at least some of his understanding of what it was like to grow up at a certain time, in a certain place, with a certain ethnic background. What I mean is, the story rings true.
It’s also beautifully written, and an enormous pleasure to read. Heartbreaking, as the best stories always are. Short-listed for my “best of 2008″ list — which seems to grow longer by the day. Unique, too. There are no vampires or zombies, there is no hint of chick lit about it, and if you asked me to compare it to another book, the only one I would be able to come up with is the aforementioned Mark Twain masterpiece.
I don’t do ratings here, because I only review books I enjoy, and I recommend them all sincerely. But if I were awarding gold stars here, Hijuelos would have to get all five. Now, stop dawdling on this here website and get to reading, yeah?
Buy Dark Dude
It’s completely autobiographical, at least based on the details you mentioned.
CN, considering it’s a novel, I’m sure there are details that don’t match up with Hijuelos’s life. But yes, he is Cuban and American and a New Yorker; I would be curious as to how you could say it’s completely autobiographical unless you know him yourself, though. … And unless you’ve read the book.
I can’t wait until I read Huck Finn in school this year so I can read this book! It sounds great!