Crossing California

by Adam Langer

Book Overview

Referring to the street in the West Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago that divides the wealthy Jewish families from the middle class Jewish families, this 1980 novel is meticulous in its details and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1573222747
• ISBN13: 9781573222747
• Release Date: June 2004
• Publisher: Riverhead Books
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

Representing Rogers Park

I have to conceed that I have a large bias here, I grew up in Rogers Park (both East and West) in the late 70's and 80's - so I am intimately familiar with all the streets, shops, and locations that Langer refrences. Moving past the feelings of nostalgia that the author conjured in me, by simply referencing the hangouts of my youth - I did not grow up Jewish - and so while the location is familiar the characters are not... and this is a fantastic book about characters and their development. Using the time constraint of the Hostage crisis to frame his story line, Langer tells the stories of a variety of jr. high / high school kids and their parents that are all in various states of transistion -- much like the country was in from the period of the late 70's into the early 80's. Other reviewers have made note of the fact that they feel each of the characters seems a bit cliche or stereo typed, and while I think that on the surface some of their struggles seem stereotypical - I would argue no more so than the challenges we actually face when in the process of transistion ourselves. High School are years often times filled with inexplicable angst,fear, and longing - and the need to define ourselves or in some cases to defy our established roles... I thought it was a humorous, gentile, and well written story - no matter your background.

Beautiful characterization

Langer has a beautiful storytelling style which is hard to capture in words. Suffice it say that you are in for some witty passages in which exchanges of throughts, words, and actions occur with no dialogue at all, and the style works. This book is poignant and I loved getting involved with the characters. The book is not, as a first glance might indicate, about the West Coast. It is about people, a diverse mix of people with various backgrounds, destinites, quirks, and dreams, all growing up in Chicago in the late 70's on the different sides of California Avenue. The richness of these characters is what makes this book work. There's too much to sum up in a review, so if you're a fan of good fiction, I implore you to pick this book up and give it a try.

A Terrific Read

Crossing California is a terrific read filled with wonderful and very funny characters. I will admit, it took me a while to get into the novel. It is a little slow at first and there is little to no actual dialogue, but mainly summaries of dialogue in long, paragraph form. The characters, however, were what ultimately won me over. They are all pretty amusing and you will see shades of yourself, and everyone you know, in many of them, which makes them somehow even funnier. The novel takes place in 1979-1981 Chicago and concerns several families living there whose lives overlap. Much happens in the novel, although there is no real plot moving the novel forward constantly, just a series of subplots, none more important than the other. I won't summarize the subplots here, others have done that more than adequately, but I will say this: Crossing California is a big funny novel about humanity, filled with warm and flawed characters you will grow to like, in spite of those flaws. If you are looking for a novel with one big story line and lots of dialogue, well, you won't like this one. If that's not important to you and if you enjoy novels with excellent, keenly observed characters, pick up Crossing California. It is a great read.

Not California, but Chicago

I'll wager many will buy this book thinking it's going to be about California. Not. It's set in Chicago. But I'll also wager that they won't regret their purchase. Adam Langer's book is epic in its sprawl and its sometimes insane attention to detail and the minutiae of his characters' lives, but it spans a period of only 2-3 years (1979 - 1981). Focusing primarily on the members of 3 families who live on one side or another of California Ave, the street that divides a Jewish neighborhood into those of the upper middle class from those of the mostly working class, the book allows us to see all aspects of that important time in America's 20th century through the eyes of a group of teenagers who come together, drift apart, and come together again in a different mix.Really, really, really, really good.

A fully realized, fully unique achievement

There are bad novels, average novels, good novels, great novels, and then once in a while a novel comes along that rattles the cage of what, optimally, this literary form can and should achieve when approached by a fresh pen loaded with new and unique ideas. Adam Langer's "Crossing California" fits into the last category.Many other reviewers have sung the praises of this work and given a synopsis of its plot and characters. I would like, therefore, to limit myself to ticking off what I think are the work's most innovative aspects.First of all, this is a text that reminds me of what happens when a jeweler pops off the back of a Swiss pocket watch: you can see all the different gears and levers and wheels that work separately but ultimately coordinate themselves to produce a single mechanical movement. In much the same way, Langer's use of language creates a vast, dense, energetic panorama of people and events, but all of these diverse elements come together to form a clear, linear narrative. "Crossing California" boasts a crowded cast of characters--each of whom is well-drawn and distinct from the others. Even the tertiary personages who pop up only for a few lines add to the text's tone and motion. Simultaneously, each of the main characters has his or her own agenda, and pursues it in the deliciously detailed topography of the Rogers Park section of Chicago.Langer's sense of humor must be described as a cornucopia. There's subtle humor, make-you-blush humor, laugh-right-away funny stuff, and laugh-the-next-day-when-you-finally-get-it funny stuff. All mixed together. In addition, Langer makes the narrator funny, but also succeeds at making the characters themselves funny independent of the narrator, on their own and when they interact with other characters. (Hopefully that explanation makes sense. If not, just read the book and you'll know what I mean.)Lastly, this is a really clever and bittersweet salute to the fizzling out of the 1970's and the jolting start of the 1980's. To Langer's credit, I don't think this book could be moved out of the Rogers Park neighborhood or moved ahead or back in time and still keep its integrity: the work is the perfect harmonization of a unique time, a unique place, a unique national and local mood, and a fascinating gaggle of characters.All in all, a very rewarding read from a dynamic new voice.