From the South Bronx to Greenwich Village (The Village), it seems as if the neighborhood is always on the mind of Abraham Rodriguez, author of The Buddha Book. In fact, the neighborhood is such a part of the Puerto Rican author's life, that his ethnicity and the area he grew up in seems to play a central role in the story about rage, lust, sin and confession.

     Rodriguez was born in 1961 in the Mott Haven section of The Bronx. Feeling out of place, the author dropped out of high school and after some time, moved to the Village. Frustrated that his life was not going anywhere, he got his high school equivalency in 1981 and went to City College, which he eventually left before completing his double major in film and English. A year and a half after leaving the South Bronx, Rodriguez was back. Rodriguez went on to write Spidertown, a novel about the South Bronx that earned him the 1995 American Book Award. The Buddha Book is a follow-up to Spidertown, but not a sequel. The only character making a return is the South Bronx neighborhood that Rodriguez feels has changed since his last book. Rodriguez states that the area has a new face now, trying to show the world it is a good place with no crime, a fact the author has a problem with. "In my eyes, this community never faced its failure in terms of dealing with its youth," he said. "And now it wants to bury the past by paving over it. Somebody should face what happened, and why."

     The Buddha Book focuses on two individuals whose lives are affected by the current state of the South Bronx community they call home. Dinky is the son of an incarcerated drug king, who struggles to distance himself from his father's reputation. Jose has not gotten over being dumped by his high-maintenance girlfriend. Together, the two boys are the secret masterminds behind The Buddha Book, an underground comic book that tells outrageous, but true tales about their life in the Bronx. The scandalous comic book is what all the students are talking about and the high school authorities are determined to catch the culprits.

     The Buddha Book is full of lively characters searching for their identities and their roles in American society. While the story is fiction, the story addresses the serious issues of inner-city politics and colonialism. The Buddha Book, beyond its inspired and darkly funny nature, is about teenagers at war with themselves and the world. Jose and Dinky's already hectic life unravels further when Jose murders his ex-girlfriend in what can be described as a crime of passion. There are no witnesses to the crime, and although it could be considered a perfect crime, Jose is struck with guilt and has an overwhelming need to come clean. Jose and Dinky decide to put out one last Buddha Book, a book that will tell all.

     While this crime and a side story about Jose's half sister, Anita's obsession to be the most notorious woman serial killer, may seem to depict Puerto Ricans in a negative, Rodriguez feels it does not. Rodriguez does not believe his characters are negatively portrayed at all. "They are intelligent, resourceful young people, who as usual have to face immensely difficult decisions with no one around to offer guidance or even support," he said. "My characters make decisions, good ones. Jose decides not to get away with it and Dinky decides to not follow the path laid out by his forefathers. Anita...well, Anita sees nothing and creates from that her own unique career. That, however tasteless, serves me as a perfect metaphor to illustrate in a snapshot the misguided misdirected political inclinations of some people who cling to old, outmoded political tenets and useless phrases that pass for nationalism." In the end, Rodriguez hopes people learn something from this book and take it with them as they go on through life. "The book is a metaphor for the Puerto Rican political condition," he said. "What it would basically say is that people must throw off the past that forces them always to take the same road. Face the past, face your role in your own life, past actions and move ahead on a new path. The Buddhists say if you don't get it right this time, you gotta come back and do it again, from the beginning."

     Send your comments and or questions about this article to JMinners@ybfree.com.