Paradise SalvageIn his tantalizing debut novel, John Fusco marvelously traces the unforgettable trajectory of twelve-year-old Nunzio Paradiso's last summer of innocence. To Kill a Mockingbird depicted such a summer-the last unfettered, wondrous season of youth. Each new wreck towed into Paradise Salvage-where the ferocious crusher presides with its power to reduce luxury automobiles into heaps of twisted metal-is a desultory gift from Fortune. Sometimes it's a handful of loose change or an old copy of Vue magazine with a Betty Page centerfold under the front seat, but on a hot summer day in 1979, in the trunk of an abandoned Pontiac, Nunzio uncovers a secret that will change his life. In the blink of an eye, all evidence is lost to the crusher, and only his older brother Danny Boy believes Nunzio's story. Enlisting the help of his father's renegade cousin, an ex-cop with a dark history of his own, he embarks on a bizarre and dangerous journey. A story of innocence lost and justice found, of ambition frustrated and dreams realized, and the difference between generations of a family struggling to reconcile the traditions of the past with the demands of the present, Paradise Salvage glows with heart and marks the debut of a gifted storyteller. |
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Page 91
... inside the kitchen , and I slapped the tome shut . I sat tense , until I heard my grandmother announce , ' Va bene . Good , maybe okay now . ' And then , second- guessing her own witchcraft : ' Maybe not , I don't know . ' I returned ...
... inside the kitchen , and I slapped the tome shut . I sat tense , until I heard my grandmother announce , ' Va bene . Good , maybe okay now . ' And then , second- guessing her own witchcraft : ' Maybe not , I don't know . ' I returned ...
Page 144
... Inside we could see a woman sitting on a tall stool behind the counter , phone trapped behind shoulder and ear ... inside and say hello to Miss Vega . ' ' Just go inside like that ? ' ' No , go in and get a tan . ' ' Are you kidding me ...
... Inside we could see a woman sitting on a tall stool behind the counter , phone trapped behind shoulder and ear ... inside and say hello to Miss Vega . ' ' Just go inside like that ? ' ' No , go in and get a tan . ' ' Are you kidding me ...
Page 207
... inside , ' Mayor Longo tried again and now his voice was plangent , like Oz over Grand Street . ' What'd he say ? ' Big Dan wanted to know . ' I figured all of you are working hard , and summer's too short to sit inside a school gym ...
... inside , ' Mayor Longo tried again and now his voice was plangent , like Oz over Grand Street . ' What'd he say ? ' Big Dan wanted to know . ' I figured all of you are working hard , and summer's too short to sit inside a school gym ...
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ain't asked backseat Big Clock Big Dan braciola brass breath brother called Carmella Chicago Bulls cousin Crusher Danny Boy dark dead Desiree Diaz Don Gustavo door Eddie eyes face felt fingers fucking girl Giustina glass going Goomba Angelo grabbed Grandpa hair hand head heard Indians inside Italian Johnny junk junkyard Junkyard Dog knew laughed lips looked Mayor Longo metal monkey mother never night Nonni Nunzio Okay Paradiso parked play Pontelandolfo Pontiac Pontiac Bonneville Puerto Rican pulled Ray Beans Roy Orbison Ruby Lee Sally Testa salvage Salvatore Testa Saukiwog Mills scrap shit Sister Racine sitting smell smiled smoke sound stared stood Street talk tell Three-card Monte told took truck trunk turned Uncas Uncas Fontenot voice walked watched What's wheel whispered window woman wrecking yard yard Yeah yelled Zi Bap