The Sweet Forever

Just finished "The Sweet Forever," my third George Pelecanos book. He's a D.C. noir writer for those not aware. He's also written for The Wire.

Pelecanos really captures DC in the 1980s. The geography, the scene, the music, the bars, it's all there. In a nutshell, "The Sweet Forever" is about a collision of a record store owner, his employees, corrupt cops, drug dealers and a party girl. The backdrop is the NCAA tournament and Len Bias' final season with Maryland. Bias is there to foreshadow what is coming to DC and the country. Just as Magic Johnson's announcement that he was HIV positive suddenly put a new face on AIDS and made us all panic, Bias' death from a cocaine overdose just two days after the Celtics drafted him had the same effect on many of us folks.

The thing with Pelecanos is he really knows how to capture neighborhoods. When he writes about being in Georgetown or U Street (pre gentrification U Street), I feel like I'm there. I got a little thrill when he set a scene at Alice Deal where I went to middle school.

His books have a fair amount of sex and drugs in them and all I can say is no one can write scenes like that without having dabbled a little in the stuff themselves. Makes me wish I'd been a little more wild in my D.C. days. Stealing super cans was fun, but it' not quite crazy sex with a party girl who likes to put ice cubes in strange places.

He grew up in Maryland and his family owned a diner in DC so he knows his turf. In reality, I spent about seven years in D.C., but they were the most formative years (learned to drive, had my first drunk, lost my virginity, first job etc.) and I still consider it home.

But if I were to try to write a book there, I'd have to do set in the 1980s too. I've been gone from the place for too long to try to capture what it's like now. The only thing is Pelecanos has this covered. He does seem more into basketball than football though so I do have that going for me. I may not know the 1986 NCAA tournament inside and out but I can tell you Jay Schroeder's stats for every game that season.

It's a start.