Author: Leon Newton
ISBN: 0741423936
Leon Newton’s The Newspaper Boy takes a careful look at bigotry and its consequences through the eyes of a young Irishman who grew up on New York’s Lower East Side during the early part of the last century.
The story unfolds as we learn about the O’Connor family’s poverty, the wayward behavior of one of their sons, Pat, and the tragic car accident that claimed the life of their youngest daughter, Moira. We are also exposed to blatant anti-Irish sentiment, in which no matter how hard you try, you are never accepted socially or professionally by some of your peers and the white Anglo-Saxon Protestant establishment.
O’Connor’s youngest son and the novel’s main protagonist, Eric, feels compelled to fight this bigotry and gain acceptance in the mainstream of America. Fortunately for young Eric, he befriends a Jewish gentleman, Ira Goldstein, who agrees to finance part of Eric’s college studies. When Eric asks how he can repay Goldstein, the latter replies that he has already done so, as he saved his life. Apparently, Eric broke into Goldstein’s jewelry at the most opportune moment while it was being robbed, prompting the criminals to flee before they had a chance to kill Goldstein.
However, Eric realizes that even obtaining a law degree with outstanding qualifications from Harvard does not guarantee him a position with a prestigious law firm. Jewish, black and Irish acquaintances need not apply signs are blatantly present. Meanwhile, Eric marries wealthy people and a member of the same society who continually rejects him.
In a way, Newton challenges his readers to think intelligently about bigotry, class and racial prejudice. However, due to the patent on the novel, these themes are unfortunately not fully developed and only come up from time to time. In addition, the novel would have benefited and the message would have been more effective, if there had been the injection of a deeper dramatization of these themes and the immersion of the reader in the world of the story.
It is very interesting to know that according to the author, whom I interviewed, there were comments that questioned him about how he, an African American, had the audacity to write about the Irish. Newton was also asked why a Jewish gentleman was sponsoring Eric. To be sure, prejudices are still very much alive and well in today’s so-called modern world.
Another drawback of this novel is that it is clouded by its lack of editing and proofreading. Additionally, many of the supporting characters slip into abstraction, such as Eric’s first love, Kay, and his brother Pat, who play an important role in the story. There are also some incorrect historical facts, in which the stock market crash is situated in the year 1928, when in fact it was in 1929, and reference to Hello Dolly, which actually only acquired the name in 1964, although there were many precursors of the game .
However, despite these flaws, the novel still deserves to be read, as it sheds light on the subject of bigotry, class consciousness, and racism that was not only directed against Jews and African Americans, but also against the Irish during the first part of the 20th century. century. Another bonus is that it prompted me to read on to find out what the heck happens next. Newton is a good storyteller.