Early Bright

From the black jazz clubs on Central Avenue in Watts, to the tidy homes of the war widows he cons, Louis Greenberg lives life on the outside. No matter how charming and passionate he is, an outsider he will always be. He is white, a Jew, and that never goes away. It is 1948. An impulsive, irrovcable decision has led to Louis' permanent exile from his family back in New York. Six years later, his father's disappointment still haunts him. Living a fractured, confusing life in Los Angeles, Louis moves between two worlds. By day he is a c-man, artfully conning the relatives of men killed in action in World War II out of their cash, preying upon their memories and and pain. By night he enters the only world where he is truly alive. In the all black underground clubs of L.A. he nurtures his passion for bebop, listening o and playing cutting edge jazz. Here, he is still an outsider, but he has won acceptance-to a point. Here, he meets the woman he loves, but can never truly have...

"Debut novelist Silber delivers a captivating downhill ride through the alleys and clubs of LA's 1948 bebop scene, crafting a fascinating antihero who will do just about anything to keep his fingers on the ivories. At first, Jewish musician Louis Greenberg seems downright courageous, using his charm and piano skills to earn a place in the black jazz clubs of Watts; he's even pursuing an impossible love affair with a beautiful black regular, Beatrice. But soon it becomes apparent that his outsider status is deserved: his day job is swindling war widows out of their money, using the memories of their departed husbands as bait. So certain are Greenberg's future heartaches — especially with Beatrice — and so profound is his love for jazz, it's hard not to root for him, even as he draws an especially vulnerable widow into his web. Though gripping, the narrative's pulp fiction overtones come across as more slapstick than hardboiled ('But here was this woman throwing me for more loops than a ride at Coney Island'), and his worshipful description of the music can be woefully shallow." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

As Louis navigates the treacherous waters of jazz and women, passion and cynicism, he will try for one big con to put his troubled life to rights - but the many dissinant threads of past and present will come together, ensnaring him in a web of his own making. Ami Silber's poignant and memorable debut novel has an unforgettable protagonist; Louis will pull you into his world and voice will stay with you long after his story ends.

Louis--a Jewish conman in 1948, who navigates the treacherous waters of jazz and women, passion and cynicism--tries for one big con to put his troubled life right. But the many dissonant threads of past and present come together, ensnaring him in a web of his own making.