THE WARRIORS

by Sol Yurick ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 16, 1965

The ""Warriors,"" spawn of the miasmic streets, form the modern tribes of the Shook-up Generation...the Gangs. A first novel, this is written powerfully enough to make you succumb to the distorted reality and values of these groups as you follow ""The Family"" on a brutal odyssey back to Coney Island, their ""Turf."" It's the Fourth of July; representatives from the Family have attended a city-wide convention of gang leaders, a conference which erupted in violence and death, and left them stranded in the upper Bronx on enemy territory. Refusing to abandon their status--gang insignia--they are marked targets for police and rival ""boppers."" After becoming separated from their leader ""Pappa"" Arnold, the remaining members take turns in becoming the ""Father,"" and their journey leads in and out of murder, subway mayhem and gang rape. Each act, particularly the vicious murder, forms a ritualistic pattern symbolizing proof of manhood... the warrior rites. Finally Hinton, the thinker, the Family's artist, a sad, somewhat forlorn, somewhat cowardly little character finds that he has ""made it."" He had ""got his man;"" he can hold his sown; he has made it home. The last ""Father,"" Hinton swaggers into his tenement only to be shattered by a junkie's scorn. Raw, intense and perversely readable, this is for the graduate students of The Amboy Dukes.

Pub Date: Aug. 16, 1965

ISBN: 0802139922

Page Count: -

Publisher: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1965

Categories: FICTION