Thursday, Dec. 18, 2003
The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem
Two boys — one black, one white — grow up together on a shabby block in Brooklyn in the 1970's. This is the stuff sappy after-school specials are made of, but in Lethem's hands their shared childhood becomes a rich, complicated story about race, money, music and friendship that captures the essence of a mighty city and a freaky, turbulent decade.