Hi , looking for ideas for coming-of-age literature describing life in the 1950s. Preferably protagonist is
in the urban areas of the US
Jewish , and/or
a PoC , and/or
working class, lower middle class
So, *no* Holdens please. Almost anything but Holden…
by redditamrur
2 Comments
I liked Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth a lot
An unconventional suggestion would be to read two sections of Underworld by Don DeLillo which effectively act as stand-alone novellas. The first is the prologue, where a kid named Cotter sneaks into the famous Giants-Dodgers game (the shot heard round the world). This was actually published as a stand-alone novella titled “Pafko at the Wall.” The second is “Arrangement in Gray and Black,” about a dropout named Nick growing up in a poor Italian neighborhood. Both are great and really capture the language of the period. The other sections of the novel are, well, worth skipping, in my opinion.