Review: The Last Block in Harlem by Christopher Herz

The Last Block in Harlem
Author: Christopher Herz
Publication Date: July 13, 2010
Publisher: Amazon Encore
ISBN: 978-1935597049
215 pages
Source: ARC from the publisher for review

All fire escapes lead back to the same block in Sugar Hill, Harlem – where kids run through hydrants and music blares from stereos plugged into lampposts. When a new resident (the story’s unnamed narrator) notices the trash polluting the picturesque streets and tainting the block’s beauty, he is spurred to action. However, his best intentions go awry when the clean-up brings media coverage that in turn, sets off a rash of evictions and ushers in an influx of new and affluent tenants. In an attempt to preserve his neighborhood, the tenant mobilizes a grassroots effort to improve the neighborhood from the inside out.

Realizing he has yet again polluted his reality with unintended consequences, his fight to clean up the block evolves into a quest to cleanse his soul. The choices he makes cannot change the past and the secrets that haunt him, but will alter the future for himself, his family…and the last block in Harlem.

My Thoughts:

“You know, we all have the same time in one day. What you do with it is the only thing different about us. Don’t believe what anyone tells you is impossible.” – Armando, the super p. 57

This is a story about a neighborhood. A neightborhood in Harlem, New York, USA. What thoughts just went through your head when you read the word Harlem? There is such a negative connotation with Harlem being this dangerous place, that we don’t really stop to think about the people who live there. The people who have amazing stories to tell. The people who make up this wonderful debut novel by Chris Herz.

The main narrator, never named, is struggling to identify who he wants to be in life. In his mid-thirties, he works as a copywriter, but is very unhappy. Each day he walks through his neighborhood, he hears stories of other peoples’ lives, of their triumphs, and of their failures. Each day, he also seems people trashing his neighborhood, making it filthy and disgusting. One day, on a whim, he goes into the $0.99 cent store and purchases a broom and some garbage bags. He begins sweeping up the garbage lining the streets.

What ensues is a movement of sorts. He does not want recognition of his efforts. He just wants a clean neighborhood. When his efforts spawn media attention and the support of the local Councilman, many Harlem natives find themselves being pushed out by the rising rents and an influx of more affluent people looking to purchase homes in the neighborhood. In order to preserve his neighborhood, the narrator develops a plan, with the voices of the neighborhood contributing, to take back their lives. What he doesn’t account for is how all of this will affect his own life; his marriage, and his sanity.

The narrator’s relationship with his wife, Namuna, is interesting. She is an architect and makes money off of the building of new structures. This seems to conflict with her husband’s vision of keeping the integrity of the neighborhood the same. Their relationship is very up and down and, the final 50 or so pages of the book, just plain bizarre for me. The story seemed to stray a bit from the main plot and into this strange series of events involving the narrator and his wife. I didn’t quite fully understand the author’s intention for their relationship.

I really enjoyed this story of a man trying to find his place in life, with very unexpected outcomes. This is a great debut novel from Herz and one I would definitely recommend.