Little Boy Blue: A Novel

Here is the quintessential story of a young hoodlum's coming of age in post-Depression America, from the undisputed master of the genre.

"Bunker is a true original of American letters. His books are criminal classics." ―James Ellroy

"The best first-person crime novel I've ever read." —Quentin Tarantino

Alex Hamilton is young, intelligent, savvy, and independent—but also subject to violent fits of rage. Raised within the confines of a system that has done nothing but provide him with pain, his frustration and anger are completely natural—and inherently dangerous. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly running from foster homes and institutions, yearning to be with his father, a broken man who cannot give his son the home he desperately needs. As Alex is pulled between well-meaning but exhausted social workers and viciously cruel authority figures, his emotions and actions are forever careening off these two disparate influences. Only one constant remains: his no-good, criminal-minded peers, who are all too ready to plant illegal ideas in a young, bright mind that's already well on its way to social deviancy. Little Boy Blue vividly documents this destruction, allowing the reader to sift through the wreckage of a childhood gone terribly awry.

Praise for Little Boy Blue

"Bunker shoots straight—his direct and transparent prose captures the "primacy of violence" that defines life in the slammer . . . Bunker clearly articulates the "code" of prison life and the pathology of the career criminal in raw, muscular prose." ―Kirkus Reviews

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Little Boy Blue: A Novel

Here is the quintessential story of a young hoodlum's coming of age in post-Depression America, from the undisputed master of the genre.

"Bunker is a true original of American letters. His books are criminal classics." ―James Ellroy

"The best first-person crime novel I've ever read." —Quentin Tarantino

Alex Hamilton is young, intelligent, savvy, and independent—but also subject to violent fits of rage. Raised within the confines of a system that has done nothing but provide him with pain, his frustration and anger are completely natural—and inherently dangerous. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly running from foster homes and institutions, yearning to be with his father, a broken man who cannot give his son the home he desperately needs. As Alex is pulled between well-meaning but exhausted social workers and viciously cruel authority figures, his emotions and actions are forever careening off these two disparate influences. Only one constant remains: his no-good, criminal-minded peers, who are all too ready to plant illegal ideas in a young, bright mind that's already well on its way to social deviancy. Little Boy Blue vividly documents this destruction, allowing the reader to sift through the wreckage of a childhood gone terribly awry.

Praise for Little Boy Blue

"Bunker shoots straight—his direct and transparent prose captures the "primacy of violence" that defines life in the slammer . . . Bunker clearly articulates the "code" of prison life and the pathology of the career criminal in raw, muscular prose." ―Kirkus Reviews

19.99 In Stock
Little Boy Blue: A Novel

Little Boy Blue: A Novel

by Edward Bunker
Little Boy Blue: A Novel

Little Boy Blue: A Novel

by Edward Bunker

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Overview

Here is the quintessential story of a young hoodlum's coming of age in post-Depression America, from the undisputed master of the genre.

"Bunker is a true original of American letters. His books are criminal classics." ―James Ellroy

"The best first-person crime novel I've ever read." —Quentin Tarantino

Alex Hamilton is young, intelligent, savvy, and independent—but also subject to violent fits of rage. Raised within the confines of a system that has done nothing but provide him with pain, his frustration and anger are completely natural—and inherently dangerous. Rebellious since his parents split up, Alex is constantly running from foster homes and institutions, yearning to be with his father, a broken man who cannot give his son the home he desperately needs. As Alex is pulled between well-meaning but exhausted social workers and viciously cruel authority figures, his emotions and actions are forever careening off these two disparate influences. Only one constant remains: his no-good, criminal-minded peers, who are all too ready to plant illegal ideas in a young, bright mind that's already well on its way to social deviancy. Little Boy Blue vividly documents this destruction, allowing the reader to sift through the wreckage of a childhood gone terribly awry.

Praise for Little Boy Blue

"Bunker shoots straight—his direct and transparent prose captures the "primacy of violence" that defines life in the slammer . . . Bunker clearly articulates the "code" of prison life and the pathology of the career criminal in raw, muscular prose." ―Kirkus Reviews


Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781466841659
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication date: 05/01/2024
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 325
File size: 984 KB

About the Author

About The Author

Edward Bunker played Mr. Blue in Quentin Tarantino's film "Reservoir Dogs." He is also the author of No Beast So Fierce and Dog Eat Dog. Most of his life has been spent in prison, where he wrote. He paid the postage for his early manuscript submissions by selling his blood. He now lives in Los Angeles with his wife and child.


No Beast So Fierce, was published in 1973.
 
Paroled eighteen months later, he gave up crime permanently, and spent the rest of his life writing novels, many of which drew on his experiences in prison. Also an actor, his most well-known role was Mr. Blue, one of the bank robbers in Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs. Bunker died in 2005.

What People are Saying About This

William Styron

Bunker is among the tiny band of American prisoner writers whose work possesses integrity, craftsmanship, and moral passion....An artist with a unique and compelling voice.
—(William Styron)

Quentin Tarantino

The best first-person crime novel I've ever read.
—(Quentin Tarantino)

James Ellroy

Bunker is a true original of American letters.
—(James Ellroy)

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