36 — Friday, June 11, 1999 - North Shore News Sharks an EB Brooklyn Gang by Bruce Davidson, Twin Palms Publishers, 100 pages, US$42 EB Heartbreaker by Robert Ferrigno, Pantheon Books, 307 pages, $35.00 Terry Peters Book Reviews FOR several months in the summer of 1959, Bruce Davidson entered the world of a street gang.. In dime, the teenagers grew used to his presence and allowed him into every part of their lives. He hung out at the corner, went to Coney Island with them and their ‘girlfriends, immersing himself in their activities. A few of the pictures were published in Esquire magazine but only. now have-a complete set of prints been published. His stark black and white images, capcures the gang members’ strengths and shows their weaknesses. Viewed now, forty years later, they stand as a record of a period of rela- tive irznocence. Their lives - had risks and consequences, but their loyalty and cama- raderie carried them through it all. Following the pho- tographs, Davidson writes of Persecuted From: page 30 Asako blames oaly herseif: “I did not tell Yano it was me, selfish, hungering child that I was. It was me wanti- ng the world my way, never to change, ever. It was my fault — not the war, not the government, not some haku- jin stranger named Mackenzie.” The war that turned Asako’s life upside down has left her with an imprint of sadness but not of remem- brance: ; “My memory was blank, at least at that moment. The woman talking about camp days had done nothing to jog it. There were so many - families there, all living in tumbledown shacks, one no shabbier than the next. It was just another adventure to me at my tender age.” ~ Asako’s father — bedrid- den, feeble, unable to wash or feed himself — acts ina his impressions from those days, but what is more insightful is the interview Emily Haas with Bengic, one of the gang members who sense as an unspoken metaphor for the humiliation suffered by camp interns. The centre finally drops out of Asako’s world ina whit! of intrigue and confu- sion when her next door neighbour and only friend is murdered. With her father’s health on the wane; her brother’s affections transferred to his girlfriend; and Sachi returned safely to the bosom of her own parents, Asako is left rudderless and her role is reversed, Her wards become her caretakers. “This was the disgrace [ imagined for myself, not before some stranger but before my brothers: that I’d be pleading, crying shame- lessly not be left behind. To be held by one who had known me, every ugly bit, since long ago, since the very beginning.” Says Sakamoto: “I have long been preoccupied with eoiection, a pair of matching clip-on sunglasses and ets: look contacted Davidson after almost forty years. It is his memories that flesh out the photographs, giving the book a depth that is both charming and frightening in it’s account of who they were and what they became. ees Robert Ferrigno just keeps getting betier. In his fifth novel he sets his hook early on into the reader sad keeps the line tight right to the end. Bristling wich a raw energy, his story will force you to stay up later than you planned just to read another chapter. “You've got a conscience, Valentine, that’s your prob- tem.” “I don’t have any prab- lems,” said Val. *A conscience can weigh a man down, If his friends aren’t careful, it can drag them under with him.” “IT don’t have any friends, either.” Set in both South Florida and Los Angeles, Ferrigno tells the story of Val Duran, a man on the run from a Florida drug lord, who crash Jands into the arms of beauti- ful Kyle Abbott. Kyle’s wealthy LA. family are target- ed for a ruthless con and Duran can’t help but get involved. Duran has stumbled into a web of deceit and as he strug- the’ psychological effects of racism — how people who go through an experience of persecution tend to internal- ize their fcelings. “The racism becomes self- inflicted, and they feel some- how they are deserving of such treatment and it is diffi- cult to love and accept them- selves for who they are.” For Sakamoto, being a Japanese Canadian is “not simply a matter of being: caught between two cul- tures. Being Japanese Canadian, you are part of a hybrid culture that exists within the context of Canadian culture and society itself.” ne Now working on a sec- ond novel, to be set in both Canada and Japan and deal-’. ing with issues of separation, Sakamoto says it was “great,” that her manuscript — which allegedly sparked a bidding war amongst pub- lishers before it was even wo st Vancouver Optome 1669 24th STREE K ater STREET gang members vamp at Coney Island. gies to get to the truth, his past is speeding along to try and catch him. Forced to deal with crazies from both coasts, Duran lets his conscience be~ his guide, as he fights for his life. Ferrigno sets a brisk pace . in this exciting novel and doesn’t let up until he crosses the finish line. internalize feelings “completed — got such posi- tive attention. “With a first novel, you wonder if you'll ever get published. So it was a thrill.” | Sun. June 13 U.S. PRO 40 ‘SELECT 7:05pm every home game até Earls on Kingsway. iGreat food. - iGreat people. For tickets call 280-4400, visit any Ticketmaster centre or buy online at www-4ticketmaster.ca Canada Day 1999 It’s all about Heroes Qux Canada Day contest is open to everyone, and the letters will: be divided into two categories, one for _ adults and one for children (under 16). Ali you have to do is write about your favourite North Shore hero, and then send it to: Canada Day Contest, | clo North Shore News, 1139 Lonsdale Ave., Nerth Vancouver, V7M 2E4... The hero you choose can be welll oN known, unknown, semeone you know, maybe someone you've read about. They can be a living hero : — or someone from the past, they can be a sports hero or a science hero, a teacher hero, a peace-keeping hero, one person or a team of heroes... it’s -up to you! Entries that are selecied will be published along with the writ- ers’ photo in our special Canada Day feature. We will also frame the original letters and return them to their authors as a momento of Canada Day 1999. Entries must be received at the North Shore News by 5pm June 21, 1899. Limit of one entry per. person. The winner must be available fur a photograph. Winners will be contacted by phone.