Published: April 13, 2012
Words: 61,457 (approximate)
Language: English
ISBN: 9781476349121

Short description

An unhappy teenager who turns to crime discovers that money can't solve his problems.

Extended description

James Leroy has recently discovered two things – that he wants to be an artist, and that he does, in fact, have a father. This estranged father has been sending money every month for James Leroy’s whole life, money his paternal grandmother has been keeping from them, money that his mother, Katy, knows about, and has chosen to ignore. Throw in the fact that Katy seems to want him to abandon his dreams and grow up to lead a quiet, small town life like she has, and he is out of there.

James Leroy has big dreams like his father. He feels fully justified in stealing the money back, and he makes plans to use it to take off on his own. But money is not an easy answer to life’s hard questions. From the moment he has the money in his hands, all of his relationships are thrown into jeopardy. And when he finally comes face to face with the father who doesn’t want to have anything to do with him, James Leroy has to admit that maybe, just maybe, his mother was right.

Katy may not under.. (Read more) James Leroy has recently discovered two things – that he wants to be an artist, and that he does, in fact, have a father. This estranged father has been sending money every month for James Leroy’s whole life, money his paternal grandmother has been keeping from them, money that his mother, Katy, knows about, and has chosen to ignore. Throw in the fact that Katy seems to want him to abandon his dreams and grow up to lead a quiet, small town life like she has, and he is out of there.

James Leroy has big dreams like his father. He feels fully justified in stealing the money back, and he makes plans to use it to take off on his own. But money is not an easy answer to life’s hard questions. From the moment he has the money in his hands, all of his relationships are thrown into jeopardy. And when he finally comes face to face with the father who doesn’t want to have anything to do with him, James Leroy has to admit that maybe, just maybe, his mother was right.

Katy may not understand everything about the men in her life, but she does know that becoming an artist is about more than passion or technique. It’s about the way that you see the world. She knows what James Leroy still has to learn, that art doesn’t save you from an otherwise monotonous or common life, it enriches that life and makes it beautiful.

As the full story behind the robbery unfolds, James Leroy’s parents are plunged back into the problems of their youth. Coming to terms with their own adolescent ghosts both clouds their judgment and hinders their ability to help their son. But James Leroy is tenacious. He’s going to do the big work of growing up, even if he has to do it alone.
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Tags

family drama, fathers and sons, mothers and sons, family crime, becoming an artist, artist with a day job, artistic philosophy, artist philosophy, parenting an artistic child, art life balance, developing an philosophy of art, art and growing up, art and teenagers, estranged parent, estranged father

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Reviews

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Review by: Miriam Hoffberg on May 16, 2012 :
Big Works is a wonderful book!! It is well written, introspective, first rate and first class. Loved this book! I read this book last weekend and I'm still captivated by the story.
(reviewed within a month of purchase)

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