Postal Child

By Joey Truman

Suggested price: $16.00 $16.00

Category:

Description

“Whitey Whitlock had an ear for the birds. He could whistle their songs as well as they could. He did so on his route. He talked to the birds.The birds talked back.

Whitey was a black man. He was called Whitey because the index finger on his left hand was white. A birthmark. His first name was Esmerelda. Middle name Torno. His last name was Whitlock because his mom’s last name was Whitlock.

His mom was high when Whitey was born. She was also high when she named him. Esmerelda was the name of her sister, the only person in the world who ever treated her decently, and Torno was short for tornado, because that’s how it felt when Whitey came out.

Whitey’s mom had a penchant for the cocaine.

She was a good mom though. Albeit an inconsistent mom.Whitey learned how to deal with her mood swings and her ever-present hangovers. By the time he was three he could make his own breakfasts. By the time he was eight he could get himself to school. By the time he was ten he was doing all the shopping and housework. By the time he was twelve he could do all the paperwork that allowed him and his mom not to starve or be homeless. On one of the pubescent days leading up to his thirteenth birthday he woke up to find his mom dead on the couch.”

What happens to Whitey after this is a tale for the birds.  Postal Child, the latest from Whiskey Tit, is available April 23.  And if you’re in NYC, please join us for our release party.

Review copies available; write to [email protected]. Download Press Release.

BOOK DETAILS

ISBN: 9780996764612

Publication date: 23 April 2016

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING

In Postal Child Joey Truman has combined hard boiled with heart-on-sleeve to produce a work that Charles Bukowski might've typed up while blackout drunk, forgotten about, and then read with admiration.

– Sean Wilsey

"I was appalled at first and then was sucked in by the whole thing."

– Jon Frankel

QUICK QUIZ
Your boyfriend drops dead from an overdose. You want to roll the body in plastic to conceal the smell but your only helper is 12 years old and together you're not strong enough to lift the body. In your purse are 2 big bags of cocaine. You:_____

– Jonathan Butterick

My stomach has not yet climbed back out of my mouth.

This is one of the most horrifying novels I've ever read, and yet I was completely engrossed. The vernacular and that horrors afflicted on the narrator are a direct affront to my sense of decency, and yet this is a novel that pulls zero punches. It's brilliant.

– Amazon

Hated this book because it lasted only 6 days and I was left with nothing to read as moving as this. A finely written, succinct book with deeply disturbing subject matter. The last sentence is still resonating.

– Renee Turman