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Check for Availabilityout of stock. Click on the button below to search for this title in other formats.  This title in other editionsThe Book of Ralph
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments:The Ralph you know is better than the Ralph you don't. Remember Ralph? He was the kid who failed grade school not once but twice, the kid who was constantly, unwaveringly up to no good. He was the outsider you avoided at all costs. But who precisely was Ralph? And whatever happened to him? The Book of Ralph, a resonant tale of boys growing up together, reintroduces you to the Ralph you once knew. Suffused with wit and charm, this dazzling story draws readers inexorably into the lives and antics of Hank — a good boy, a B+ student — and his troublemaking classmate Ralph, who takes Hank to places he has never dreamed of — places on the edge, sometimes, of genuine danger. It is 1978 in Chicago. Hank wants eighth grade to be his big year to shine. But when Ralph starts acting as if he and Hank are best friends, things don't go quite according to plan — in fact, Hank's special year spirals into an odyssey that is as frightening as it is hilarious, as poignant as it is bizarre. Reluctant cohort though he may be, Hank none-theless joins forces with Ralph and his older cousins, Norm and Kenny, employees of the Tootsie Roll factory; together, they wreak havoc over Chicago's southwest side. For good or ill, Hank's right there by his side when, for instance, Ralph becomes a thug-for-hire and starts stalking a fellow eighth-grader with plans to bite off his ear (rate: $15.00). For his part, Ralph proves his loyalty in unexpected ways, including a show of solidarity with Hank's grandmother when she's hauled in for a series of shoe-store robberies. Through it all, in a year that sees the rise of Styx, Cheap Trick, and Kiss, Hank doesn't win the popularity or acclaim he'd hoped eighth grade would bring. But as the adult world seems increasingly opportunistic and indifferent, his alliance with Ralph offers him an escape, and even some wisdom. By the end of the school year, though, unanticipated events have altered the nature of their friendship, possibly forever. John McNally, an award-winning author and an exciting new voice in fiction, presents a delightful, warm-hearted coming-of-age tale replete with the terrors and wonders of early adolescence. Hank and Ralph are an irresistible and entirely surprising blend of wise beyond their years and awestruck at the world made available to them as high school approaches. Beautiful in its plainspoken insight into the experience of teenage boys and all human beings, this story exquisitely renders those flashes of transcendence that can occur in everyday life. As they seek to survive eighth grade, a bad economy, and threadbare family lives, Hank and Ralph give us a window into the ties that bind us together, hold us back, and sometimes redeem us. Review:"[An] enjoyable first novel....This lively novel will appeal to fans of Rich Cohen's Lake Effect or even Jean Shepherd's wistful fiction." Publishers Weekly Review:"Harmless fun for the lads, courtesy of second-timer McNally." Kirkus Reviews Review:"John McNally's vivid, skewed characters, his vibrant prose and hilarious situations make The Book of Ralph, with its undercurrent of menace, a serious joy." Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire Falls Review:"Wildly goofy yet touching, The Book of Ralph inhabits the same territory of growing up charted by Stuart Dybek and Tobias Wolff, and with as much warmth and terror as those masters. John McNally is sharp and smart and flat-out funny. The only time I stopped laughing was to marvel at his talent. And then he'd get me again." Stewart O'Nan, author of The Night Country and Wish You Were Here Review:"John McNally brilliantly evokes childhood with all its love and loneliness, fear and sorrows, laughter and joy. His bold leaps through narrative time reveal our inability to fully escape the pressures of our past." Chris Offutt, author of No Heroes Review:"Hilarious, perverted, cartoonish, violent, absurd, disturbed, and, in the end, dead-on realistic. How can we withhold our love from someone so haunted by Chicago's most notorious serial killer, so lustily inspired by Cheap Trick (I Want You to Want Me...)? In The Book of Ralph, McNally more than cops a feel of his generation's psyche, he nails it." Julianna Baggott, author of Girl Talk, The Miss America Family, and The Madam Synopsis:From the award-winning author of Troublemakers comes this dazzling coming-of-age tale that speaks volumes about the wondrous and antic lives of teenage boys. About the AuthorJohn McNally is the author of Troublemakers, a Book Sense 76 pick, and winner of both the John Simmons Short Fiction Award (2000) and the Nebraska Book Award (2001). He's edited four anthologies, most recently Bottom of the Ninth: Great Contemporary Baseball Short Stories. He's been the recipient of Michener (University of Iowa), Djerassi (University of Wisconsin), and Jenny McKean Moore (George Washington University) fellowships. A native of Chicago's southwest side, he's presently an assistant professor of English at Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, where he lives with his wife. Readers may contact John McNally at bookofralph@aol.com Table of ContentsContents The Present: 1978-1979 The Vomitorium Power Lines The Price of Pain Sheridan Drive-in Junk Heaven Peacock Alley Smoke South Side Records The Book of Ralph You The Bear at Your Front Door Red's The Grand Illusion The Past: 1975 A Diagram of the Future The Future: 2001 Brains of the Operation
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