Four Months in Brighton Park
Larry Ehrhorn
released September 2017
Madijean Press, Madison, WI
coming of age fiction
Paperback, 252 pp $12.99
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Kindle edition $2.99
About the Book
Set in a working class neighborhood on Chicago's southwest side in 1965, Four Months in Brighton Park focuses on Kelly Elliott, the kid with two first names. Kelly is a cross between Holden Caulfield and Walter Mitty, rarely facing reality until one day when he is forced to confront the consequences of his actions, when he impulsively makes an obscene gesture at Joe Swedarsky, the school jock and bully. That initial conflict starts a cascade of humorous and affecting dominoes that change his life. Being raised by his single, hard-working mother, Kelly stumbles through misadventures -- dealing with his mother's tyrannical pilot boyfriend, peer pressure, male curiosities, teachers, and friendships. Besides Ma, his guides through this journey include Little Joey, the legless owner of a local deli; best friend Jerry Hogan, Mary Harker, a troubled, mature woman; and Linda Martinsen, the quiet girl who found something likable in Kelly. The four month journey taken by Kelly provides insight, change, humor and empathy, elements of which all people are familiar.
My review
Told in vignettes during Kelly’s final high school semester,
Four Months in Brighton Park shows how one boy made a difference to others in
his sphere of influence.
Facing life after high school is often a frightening
experience if one is unprepared. Kelly, an unfortunately acne-scarred young man
with a big personality formed through the influence of his devoted single mom
and various males who both taught and threatened him, proves his preparedness
through his determination to experience life in full color before he leaves the
relative safety of home.
Told in mostly generous internal monologue as noted in the summary,
Kelly learns to stick up for himself even though it often pains him—literally.
The era was vastly different from today, which may invoke giggles or shock.
While I recommend the story for those who get a kick out of teenaged boy
coming-of-age stories with all the puberty-driven humor and testosterone-driven
shenanigans and language, readers who go between the lines will find a lesson
in growth of character.
About the Author
Larry Ehrhorn was born in Chicago and raised in the city and its suburbs. After his own graduation (not nearly as traumatic as Kelly's), he attended Northern Illinois University, working summers and vacation holidays at various factories. After college graduation (a whole other story), Ehrhorn began a 33-year career as a high school English teacher (not Mr. Bates from the novel) in various schools ranging from a Chicago large suburban school to several small rural schools in Wisconsin. It was this during this somewhat lengthy career when he realized that times and places change, but students do not. Much of Four Months in Brighton Park reflects not only the author but the more than 3,000 students he taught.
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