Review
Fans of HBO's "The Wire" will no doubt recognize the type
of characters and narrative style in George Pelecanos' novel
The
Turnaround; he was a writer for the critically acclaimed series
.
Turnaround opens in Washington DC in 1972. Pelecanos draws on his own
background working as a delivery boy for his father's restaurant to write
the character of Alex Pappas, a teenager of Greek descent, who works in his
father's coffee shop in a working class section of Washington DC.
Alex and two of his friends are driving around, drinking beer and smoking
pot, when two of the boys decide to drive through Heathrow Heights, the area
of town where the working class black population lives. They throw a pie and
a racial slur at three young black men, and physical violence ensues.
Thirty-five years later, the repercussions of that...
Beyond the Book
The Fisher House Program
War veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are coming back with
injuries that would have been fatal a few years ago. Medical advances mean
that more young men and women are returning home with serious brain injuries and requiring artificial limbs. These vets need long periods of rehabilitation.
To assist them and their families, the Fisher House Program was created. New
York real estate magnate Zachary Fisher donated money to build Fisher House
'comfort homes' on the grounds of each of the major military medical centers
in the United States which enable families of vets to live close to their family member while he or she undergoes rehabilitation.
Anywhere from eight to
twenty-one suites exist in each home which...
