“[A] coming-of-age tour de force that borrows some of the tone and attitude of hard-boiled detective fiction while giving its first-person narrator an irresistibly noirish, wise-guy voice.” Booklist (starred review)
Description
For precocious twelve-year-old Eugene Smalls, growing up isn’t easy. His bad reputation precedes him, public school considers him a lost cause, and his own family seems out to get him.
He’s got a temper, so don’t dare call him “Genie!” He insists on being called “Huge,” and though small, he is tough and hard-boiled, just like his heroes, pulp detectives Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, who taught him everything he knows about crime solving.
When the nursing home where his grandmother stays is vandalized, she hires him to solve the case. But he misreads clues, misinterprets motives, and mistakes mundane incidents for diabolical schemes, as only an inexperienced adolescent with a restless imagination can.
His search for “whodunit” turns into a search for self in this coming-of-age story set in 1980s suburban New Jersey.
Praise
“[A] coming-of-age tour de force that borrows some of the tone and attitude of hard-boiled detective fiction while giving its first-person narrator an irresistibly noirish, wise-guy voice.” Booklist (starred review)
“Credible and engaging, [with] a hero who assumes the most eye-catching characteristics of Holden Caulfield, Phillip Marlowe and Nick Twisp.” Kirkus Reviews
“James Fuerst is brilliant in the way he immerses the reader both in Huge’s mixed-up head and the world in which he lives…Wonderfully written.” BookPage
“Narrator Jeff Woodman modulates his voice to sound like that of a teenage boy who acts and talks like a tough guy…Woodman’s performance never falters, never for a moment sounds like he’s a grown-up reading in the voice of an imaginative boy.” AudioFile
“Fuerst demonstrates a sensitive ear for contemporary teen talk, delicacy at handling the amusingly contentious relationship between Huge and his older sister and mom, and skill at conveying a child’s-eye view of the world that is full of nostalgia, humor, candor and emotions that all readers can relate to.” Publishers Weekly
Details
| Language | English |
|---|---|
| Release Day | Oct 20, 2009 |
| Release Date | October 21, 2009 |
| Release Date Machine | 1256083200 |
| Imprint | Blackstone Publishing |
| Provider | Blackstone Publishing |
| Categories | Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction, Children's Books, Growing Up & Facts of Life, Mystery & Suspense, Coming of Age, Children/YA, Children 8-12, Fiction - All, Fiction - Child |
Author Bio
James W. Fuerst spent his teenage years in New Jersey and now lives in Brooklyn. He earned his MA and PhD from Harvard University and holds an MFA from the New School. Huge is his first novel.
Narrator Bio
Jeff Woodman is an actor and narrator. He is a winner of the prestigious Audie Award and a six-time finalist. He has received twenty Earphones Awards and was named the 2008 Best Voice in Fiction & Classics, as well as one of the Fifty Greatest Voices of the Century by AudioFile magazine. As an actor, he originated the title role in Tennessee Williams’ The Notebook of Trigorin and won the S. F. Critics’ Circle Award for his performance in An Ideal Husband. In addition to numerous theater credits on and off Broadway, his television work includes Sex and the City, Law & Order, and Cosby.
Overview
For precocious twelve-year-old Eugene Smalls, growing up isn’t easy. His bad reputation precedes him, public school considers him a lost cause, and his own family seems out to get him.
He’s got a temper, so don’t dare call him “Genie!” He insists on being called “Huge,” and though small, he is tough and hard-boiled, just like his heroes, pulp detectives Philip Marlowe and Sam Spade, who taught him everything he knows about crime solving.
When the nursing home where his grandmother stays is vandalized, she hires him to solve the case. But he misreads clues, misinterprets motives, and mistakes mundane incidents for diabolical schemes, as only an inexperienced adolescent with a restless imagination can.
His search for “whodunit” turns into a search for self in this coming-of-age story set in 1980s suburban New Jersey.
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