Blue Suburbia: Almost a Memoir

Blue Suburbia is a searing memoir so fresh, original, and honest that it will break your heart and renew your faith in the human spirit.

With each spare stroke of her pen, Laurie Lico Albanese paints a vivid portrait of the blue-collar landscape of her childhood -- rusted swing sets, auto body shops, greasy hands, home improvements -- taking readers along for the wild, treacherous ride that leads to her escape. Her mother may stand silently at the sink year after year, or lie in the basement weeping, but Albanese is determined to flee the deadening certainty of her parents' lives. Her story does not disappoint us.

By turns haunting, hilarious, tragic, and romantic, Blue Suburbia is the chronicle of a determined young woman who overcomes family limitations, socio-economic obstacles, and personal fears to build a happy -- and blessedly ordinary -- life. Written entirely in free verse, Blue Suburbia's cadence is a steady, rhythmic heartbeat, pulsing with pain, rebellion, love, and triumph. This is the story many of us might tell, if we had the courage.

Author: Laurie Albanese
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Published: 03/16/2004
Pages: 205
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.58lbs
Size: 8.06h x 5.26w x 0.65d
ISBN: 9780060565633

Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 02/02/2004 pg. 73
Booksense '76 Mar/Apr_2004 03/01/2004 pg. 1
Entertainment Weekly 03/19/2004 pg. 70
Library Journal 04/15/2004 pg. 111

About the Author
Albanese, Laurie: -

Laurie Albanese is the author of the novel Lynelle by the Sea and the memoir Blue Suburbia, which was named a Book Sense Best Book of the Year and was an Entertainment Weekly Editor's Choice selection.