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Hero For Christ

Boys of Life



WARNING! This review describes a book with extremely graphic adult content. Neither the book nor this review are intended for children.











Paul Russell's "Boys of Life" is one of the most lyrically beautiful books I've ever read --a fact made all the more remarkable in consideration of the book's dark and disturbing themes, including murder, madness and extreme sexual perversion.

The plot largely concerns the narrator, Tony, who begins the book as a bored and lonely teenager in a stiflingly small Southern town. When an eccentric group of independent filmmakers comes to town, Tony is easily seduced by the group's charismatic leader, Carlos. Running away from home, he follows the group back to New York City.

The story unfolds in a series of non-linear vignettes and indelible images, as Tony searches his own past and the history of those around him for answers to the chaos of his life.

The book is so masterfully written that it's hard to pick out its best characteristics. One of the book's many strengths is the cast of supporting characters. As many of them as there are, each is unforgettable when seen through the narrator's eyes --a gaze both intensely emotional and preternaturally non-judgmental.

Another is the way the seemingly unconnected details slowly aggregate into a coherent whole, a chilling portrait of the line between art and madness, as tracked through Carlos's increasingly disturbing artistic visions.

The book's greatest strength, however, is the narrator. Lost, tortured, vulnerable, vengeful, he tells his own story in a voice that never rings false, and with a core of innocence that seems untouched by the varied degregations he endures and participates in.

One must be warned, however. This is not a book for the faint of heart or stomach. Page after page is filled with graphic descriptions of scenarios that the average reader would shudder to even imagine.

And yet, somehow, in Russell's hands, the material all reads like poetry.

Because of the subject matter, it's likely that this book will never reach as wide an audience as it deserves. But for those brave enough to embrace it, it is a work with many rewards.
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