Every once and awhile, I come across a book that captures
the tone of a time and place in a pitch perfect way. It resonates with the
clarity of the original moment, but it happens to someone else, in the space of
fiction, and it's written so well that I think "yes--that's it."
Better than I could have remembered it. Better than I could have captured the
moment myself in writing. Bill Hillmann's incredible debut novel, The Old Neighborhood, is one such book.
Three friends--Joe, Angel, and Ryan--navigate adolescence in
the early 1990's against the jagged backdrop of Edgewater, an economically
depressed neighborhood in Chicago. Joe grows up the youngest of the boys in the
Walsh house. He has two younger sisters, both adopted from the Dominican
Republic. His grandfather ran with the Thorndale Jarvis Organization, or TJOs,
a "stone greaser gang" that sprouted up in the 1960s (24). This gang
acted as heavies, keeping the neighborhood safe from outsiders while controlling
drug trafficking. For a generation, the TJOs helped the neighborhood find
prosperity and peace--and then the burden falls to a new generation of young
men.
Joe Walsh's father, a union laborer, lives in Edgewater, but
does not truck with the TJOs. Instead, the torch skips a generation and is
thrust into his eldest son's hands. TheOld Neighborhood opens with the transition of Patrick, the oldest Walshson, into "Pistol Pat." This is a scene that Joe cannot shake. Before
Pistol Pat is hauled off to jail, the next eldest, Rich, is the victim of a
vicious assault that alters the course of his life. Regardless of the
protection of the TJOs, the Walsh men struggle through life, often slammed by
wave after wave of violence, utterly ravaged by hard luck. The landscape is
bleak, but not hopeless. Despite being beaten down at every turn, somewhere
amidst his family trials, the urban decay, destiny to fail, among the toil,
poverty, violence, gang colors, spent bullets, addiction, and an unyielding
color line, Joe Walsh finds beauty and loves deeply.
In an early scene, after a vicious fight spurred by racial
tension, Joe lies in bed at home, crying. His sister Jan comes in to comfort
him and Joe wonders if her dark skin makes her the ugly word he heard on the
street that day. The thought had never occurred to him—she had only ever been
Jan, his sister, and he yearns to tell her he loves her:
"[s]trings of agony coursed down my throat and planted in my
heart. She stayed beside me, silently strumming her fingers gently through my
hair. My love for her, my sister, like a giant, deep lake with bright yellow
sunlight streaking its peaking surface. I went to say it—to say it all—but it
got caught in my throat as the exhaustion billowed up and encompassed me in a
heavy, warm fog, and I sank into sleep." (47)
The Old
Neighborhood is reminiscent of Claude Brown’s Manchild in the Promised Land,
re-contextualizing the classic coming-of-age narrative in a diverse neighborhood
in the heart of the city. Chicago author Bill Hillmann susses out rhythms from
the cacophony of the city and weaves them in fluid, honest prose. Bill Hillmann
is the Cormac McCarthy of the streets. A welcome addition to the modern
literary landscape, Hillmann's distinct voice captures the confusion of
adolescence with stunning accuracy, while transmuting growing pains into
soul-stirring poetry.
The Old
Neighborhood is Sons of
Anarchy meets The Wire, pulsating
with an urban vibe built upon complex, unique characters that follow their own
moral codes. Hillmann writes strong male characters that are violent and quick-tempered,
yes, but at the same time warm, vulnerable, and not afraid of their emotions. One
of Hillmann’s talents is his ability to write human paradox without vilifying
characters. All of his characters are round and dynamic, flowing in and out of
each other's lives like fish in a school, individual, yet part of an important
collective. Like the Faulknerean town, the Edgewater of The Old Neighborhood is a profound character in the narrative,
shaping the lives of its denizens in a variety of ways.
Another strength Hillmann demonstrates in this singular
debut is the ability to run characters through trials that help them develop,
without exploiting their suffering. This is no simple task for a writer: there
is a delicate balance between showing what the character goes through and
reveling in their demise. Hillmann retains the utmost respect for his motley
crew of thieves, junkies, and outlaws, and it’s palpable on every page.
As Bill Hillmann said in an interview with Jacob S. Knabb, Senior Editor of Curbside Splendor: “We are all battling within…We can’t defeat our
demons alone.” This is a statement from someone who knows. As a Union
Construction Laborer, Chicago Golden Gloves Champion, and one-time gang
affiliate, Bill Hillmann has lived this truth. And it’s a truth that calls out
from the pages of The Old Neighborhood.
I crave stories in which characters go through hell to show me how I, too, can
pull through: this is one such book. The Old Neighborhood is a story I can put
into someone's hands when they're looking for answers and needing hope. Thank you Bill Hillmann and Curbside Splendor: I'm
happy this book exists.
Bill Hillmann is an award-winning writer and storyteller from Chicago. His writing has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Newcity,
Salon.com, and has been broadcast on NPR. He’s told stories around the
world with his internationally acclaimed storytelling series the Windy
City Story Slam. Hillmann is a Union Construction Laborer and a
bull-runner in Spain. In the not so distant past, Hillmann was a feared
street brawler, gang affiliate, drug dealer, convict, and Chicago Golden
Glove Champion.
Don't miss your chance to hear the fascinating and entertaining Bill Hillmann as he swings by Boswell Book Company for a reading and signing on Saturday, May 10th at 7 PM!!!