Johnny Critelli and the Knifemen: Two Novels

By Frank Lentricchia

Two slim novels are bound together in this volume written by Frank Lentricchia, a follow-up to his successful debut The Edge of Night. Like his earlier novel, both of these stories are set in Utica, New York, in the 1950s (also the setting of the Lentricchia's own childhood) and are peopled with first- and second-generation Italian-Americans. The writing has much passion and little concern for restraint or subtlety, but what do these characters need with subtlety? They are family, after all, and workers, bosses, and butchers. Plus, some are drunk and tend to be disturbed and upset. The prose lurches forward, intermittently pulling into weigh stations to measure out some honest anger and frustration. The autobiographical elements of Johnny Critelli and The Knifemen are not as explicit as The Edge of Night, though this is a difference of degree and not of kind. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0684814080
• ISBN13: 9780684814087
• Release Date: November 1996
• Publisher: Scribner
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 1.01 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Fun, and then not so fun.

"Johnny Critelli" made me feel I got to know Lentricchia just a little bit better, even though a lot of it was not true. What the hay. The reading was fun and then we got to "The Knifemen". And that, my friend, was one big ouch. Lentricchia should be more widely read. We sure would have a smarter country if he was.

Two unforgettable reads under one cover

Somehow, this remarkable book slipped under the radar of most reviewers and readers upon release. Do yourself a favor and seek it out immediately! The book collects two novellas which are lyrical, funny, and ultimately very moving. Mr. Lentricchia may have made his name as a critic, but his prose reveals him to be a natural novelist. His writing is clear, vivid, and filled with striking images and phrases. Imagine Joyce...

Not for the faint of heart (or mind, apparently)

The two compelling novellas that make up this volume trace how the past haunts us, tracks us, shapes us even when we think ourselves beyond it. Lentricchia's probing of his character's memories and personalities is ruthless and brutal, his prose exacting so that it can cut deeper. But despite being immersed in the violent fantasies of the protagonist of "The Knifemen" and the toxic remembrances of "Johnny Critelli," the...