Eye of a Fly

Justin R. Smith

Mar 2011 · Justin Smith

About this eBook

Short description: Raised by slum-dwelling alcoholics, an autistic teen struggles to complete college and woo a handicapped girl-with bittersweet results.

Longer description: Eye of a Fly is a novel of tragedy and redemption with a cast of characters that includes:

• Ernest Wentworth, a profoundly introverted boy who inhabits a world of mathematics and music.
• Tiffany, his innocent younger sister whose friends practice voodoo.
• Warren, Ernest's talented but learning-disabled younger brother whose suicide triggers the novel's finale.
• Harry, Ernest's father. A former Hollywood screen writer, he has always dreamed of drinking hard, seeing the world, and writing like Hemingway-but only succeeded at the first.
• Annie, a handicapped but radiant girl who draws Ernest out of his shell.

Ratings and reviews

By Bookworm (San Francisco) - See all my reviews This review is from: Eye of a Fly (Kindle Edition) A brutal delight written with the compassion and wisdom of the greats, Eye of a Fly by Justin R Smith is one of my favorite books by a living author. Written in simple, honest and accessible poetic language, it goes right to the reader's heart. There is so much more to this story than the description would suggest. A truly beautiful transcendent reading experience cleverly disguised as a sincere and heartfelt urban coming of age tale, it is, in fact a journey into the heart of redemption of the human spirit. And even being at times a real tear-jerker, the book has humorously slapstick moments which are so rude and outright funny, I nearly s**t my pants laughing. The scene at the butcher's counter at the corner grocery store is one of those hilariously surreal literary memories that I will doubtless take with me to the grave -- and quite probably beyond. Justin Smith with this splendid new book has earned himself a place as the new millennium's answer to JD Salinger. Bravo!

Eye of a Fly depicts the ultimate toxic family, with a father, Harry Wentworth whose boozy, manic, nihilism reminds me of someone in Dostoyevsky's The Possessed. This book mixes noir, terror and humor in equal parts. Its take on Hollywood's phoniness is hilarious! This is a story that will stay with you for a long time to come!

About the author

Justin Smith grew up in New York City and attended the Bronx High School of Science and Hunter College. After earning his Ph. D. in Mathematics from New York University, he held teaching positions at Rice University, the University of Hawaii, and SUNY, before becoming a professor of Mathematics and Computer Science at Drexel University - a position he holds to this day. He lives in a suburb of Philadelphia with his wife Brigitte and their three cats, Gus and Gerri and Norton. When he isn't writing, he enjoys wine-making and his "day job" - teaching and doing mathematical research.