I quit about halfway through when I realized that I was bored to tears and didn't anticipate anything improving. Honestly, I just felt like I'd heard the story before: 1950s teen gangs, pointless drug abuse and fighting and death, angst and tragedy and blah blah blah. I kept having visions of West Side Story crossed with The Outsiders and Catcher in the Rye. This was my first Ellison book; maybe I should try out his science fiction before forming an opinion on his writing in general. But this was definitely not for me.

This one's a sad tale of a young man trying to escape. Rusty Santoro is a high school student nurturing a dream to become an industrial designer. He's also the former leader of the Cougars gang, having left both his position and the gang itself. Both actions violate the social norms of his world. It's not a pleasant tale, but Mr. Ellison makes the city and Rusty's dilemma come to life. In the process, he evoked memories of my own youth, my dreams, and my fear of mundanity. It's definitely a novel worth checking out.
--J. ( )

Interesting take on New York city juvenile gangs. Intense take on life in them and the teens who belong to them. Not sentimental, Ellison view is stark for them. Shows a sure touch even in this early effort. ( )

Ellison candidly tells the reader in his prologue that this was his very first novel and that it is a little rough around the edges. He doesn't proclaim it to be his magnum opus. He researched this while running with a gang in Brooklyn and wrote it at night during basic training, sitting with his typewriter on a board on the latrine while the other guys in his unit tried to sleep.

It is the story of the gangs in New York in the fifties. They hang out at the malt shops, go to dances, and date the debs or drags. It is not West Side Story, however, and bears more in common with Vin Packer's The Young and The Violent and Don Elliot's Gang Girl than some Broadway musical. It is easy, quick reading and well-paced, but it is violent to an unexpected extreme. There is no doubt that the Cougars and their rivals are using real knives and inflicting real damage. They are not simply playacting, but they will do their rivals great bodily harm. The girls too are just as tough and are swinging poles with glass shards on the ends.

This is well worth reading to get a flavor of the delinquent youth writing that was popular in the late fifties and early sixties. It bears little resemblance to Ellison's later work as a science fiction master, but the astute reader can see even in this early tale that Ellison can spin a story.

Good stuff. Also included is No Way Out" which was the original short story that became Web of the City and two other shorts, No Game For Children and Stand Still And Die. No Way Out is the same Rusty story. No Gane For Children was okay, but I found Stand Still Abd Die to be a worthwhile read. ( )

This book is tough man, "tough as banana peels"! "Web of the City" is the main story, taking up 203 of the 284 pages. There are also 3 short stories. "Web" is a gritty story, focused on a kid trying to get out of gang life. Really authentic sounding and lots of street language from that time period. The first short story is basically a piece of "Web" with a different ending. The second short story has a husband battling his neighbor's teenage boy. And the third short story features a tough ol' cab driver up against a gang. All the tales are definitely worth reading, though I skimmed the first short story, as it was pretty repetitive. Good writing throughout, and a good introduction to boot! ( )