S. R. O.

by Robert Deane Pharr

Book Overview

College-educated writer and waiter Sid Bailey slowly learns to drop his conventional lifestyle and adopt the behavior of the misfits at the Harlem welfare hotel where he lives. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393317064
• ISBN13: 9780393317060
• Release Date: January 1998
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 544 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Welcome to the Logan!

Wow! Robert Deane Pharr may be one of the best overlooked writers yet. S.R.O. - though long, catches and keeps your attention from page one. Sid Bailey narrates his own story in this novel of a college educated waiter in New York who, in a drunken stupor, finds himself in the Logan - home to a vivid array of junkies, dealers, prostitutes, and welfare recepients young and old, mean and kind, ugly and truly beautiful. A struggling alcoholic (the lowest addiction on the totem pole according to the junkie residents), Sid tries to rationalize the behavior of these residents only to find that, oddly, he may be the crazy one. Don't miss out on a fabulous read with S.R.O.

Totally Original

I never read anything like it.Pharr's talent for writing dialogue is truly amazing.When his characters speak you can "hear" them in your head.You can feel Sid Bailey's heightening desperation and see his squalid surroundings.I had to read this book slowly so I could savor each and every page.Then you wonder if it's fiction or cleverly disguised truth?

Brilliant

Pharr's S.R.O. is one of the best black authored books I've read. Though it is 544 pages, the book is page-turner--I couldn't put it down!This novel tells the story of an alcoholic "square" New York waiter who moves into a Harlem Welfare Hotel and the other residents (junkies, alcoholics, pimps, etc.) who influence him. The reader watches his downfall, vividly described throughout the book.The character development is amazingly believable and the whole story is just great: a must-read!