Book Review: A Coincidental Life

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April 16

A Coincidental Life

by Ron Kemper

Genre: Literary Fiction / Historical

ISBN: 9798891321335

Print Length: 250 pages

Publisher: Atmosphere Press

Reviewed by Toni Woodruff

Years after their shared adolescence in late-1950s New York City, Billy Feeney and Stevie Alpert run into one another at a bus stop in San Francisco and reminisce about the coincidences of timing that have shaped their lives. The narrative flashes back to describe their high school years together and their young adult years apart, including their time in college, their military service, their relationships with women, run-ins with the law, and the series of chances that led them both to the West Coast.

Billy is a complicated figure with a difficult past, and his struggles to find his way through the world give the novel an emotional center. Ever since Stevie met him, Billy has lived off the beaten path. Orphaned as a teenager, he continues to struggle with the trauma of his upbringing by acting out and butting heads with authority. In high school, he leads a gaggle of teenage boys to seedy bars and clubs around the city. In college, he starts a shoplifting habit that culminates in his attempt to rob a Bank of America and subsequent incarceration in Alcatraz.