Carlito's Way: Rise to Power

Edwin Torres

Dec 2007 · Open Road + Grove/Atlantic

About this ebook

The unforgettable novel—and the basis for the feature film—about Carlito Brigante, a Harlem drug dealer in the 1960s, and his rise to the top.
 
Carlito Brigante is just another Spanish Harlem street punk with a poor boy’s dream of flash and fast money. But as he gets older he determines that it’s either take or be taken, and he knows which role he intends to play.
 
Soon he’s a mob-connected professional with an easy charm, joie de vivre, stubborn pride, and hair-trigger temper. But the rules change rapidly in a sudden-death world of scams, sell-outs, and payback, where only the strongest and smartest predator can be king of the barrio. And when there’s a major changing of the guard in the top echelons of the mob, Carlito will have some hard choices to make.
 
Taut, thrilling, and a joy to read, Carlito’s Way established a voice that has lost none of its vivid color or power to enthrall.
 
“Exhilarating . . . Boils with raw energy.” —Newsweek

Ratings and reviews

I got this book because I love the movie. Edwin Torres has written a great story about the rise of Carlito Brigante and his attempt at going legit. But the streets keep pulling him back in. A great look at how hard it is to break out of the code of the streets once you know the rules of the game.

awesome

About the author

Edwin Torres was born in New York City. In 1948 he entered City College and in his junior year enlisted in the Navy. He returned in 1954 and graduated cum laude, going on to put himself through Brooklyn Law School in two years while waiting tables at night. The same year he graduated law school he became the first Puerto Rican Assistant District Attorney in New York City, assigned to homicide. He published Carlito’s Way in 1975 and two novels followed, After Hours and Q & A; with the completion of Carlito’s Way, all three will have been made into films. Edwin Torres is a Justice with the Supreme Court of the State of New York.