Goodbye, Rudy Kazoody

Growing up as a teenager ina big city is hard for the youth of any generation, but being an immigrant fromItaly growing up on the mean streets of New York City in the 1960s was a biggerchallenge than most. In Goodbye, Rudy Kazoody, author A.A. Freda gives us apicture of his own life as an immigrant in the Bronx from that historic timeperiod. This semi-autobiographical tale is strikingly heartfelt and has thering of deep truth, which makes it difficult to put down.
Joey is an innocent kid trying tomake his way in the tough world of the Bronx, and while many of his companionsare also immigrants newly arrived to the Big Apple, he gravitates to Spike, hiscousin, who seems to be everything that Joey admires. There is a brotherlyrelationship between the boys, and a believable through-line of a plot thatoutlines many of the heartaches of youth. The unrequited love of an olderwoman, the confusing bonds of brotherhood and family, and the moral fiber thatbegins to form and strengthen in our earliest years - all of this and so muchmore is explored in the pages of Freda's novel. There are moments of prose sopure and honest that it can almost be mistaken for poetry.
Freda keeps the action moving,and like the childish heroes of this tale, readers are forced to race aroundand chase the endlessly winding plot. Some of the more personal, intimate andsexual scenes are not portrayed voyeuristically, but rather academically,depicted with the curiosity of a child. The portrait of the Bronx that theauthor paints is not so much based in the time period, but in our imaginedcaricatures of certain neighborhoods and individuals.
Writers like Freda, who are ableto capture their own experiences honestly, and with such devastatingsimplicity, have talent that should be spent on nothing but writing. Theaccuracy of the dialogue is excellent, and a pleasure to read at a rapid clip. Itcan be difficult to capture the essence of youthful speech, but Freda does itwell, as though he can still hear many of those conversations bouncing aroundin his memory.
While there are some technicalissues in the writing, a solid final editing sweep and some minor correctionswould raise this book from very good to great. The plot is also tragic in itsown right, which shows the emotional range of the characters and allows Fredato flex his literary muscles a bit. All in all, this is a coming of age storywithout a particularly happy resolution. If readers push deeper into the story,there are serious ruminations on death, love, innocence and growing up. Butdespite the often dark tones, the book finds moments of joy, and even a fewspots that will make you laugh out loud. Freda has a delicate hand and awonderful eye for the past, making this an exceptionally memorable read forpeople of all ages.