Marilyn's Musings

THE EDGE OF WHITENESS, although sort of a quirky coming of age story, is also a humorous and edgy social commentary on one community’s reaction to the inexorable march of change which defined a unique time period - the funky early 1970’s. 1969 Brooklyn smolders in the volatile aftermath of the recent race riots. The family of young Joey Montaperto flees their beloved Italian neighborhood for a New Jersey suburb so painfully white that it makes the TV show “My Three Sons” seem exotic. Ironically, when the high school there is then later forcefully integrated, the sensitive Joey in confronted with an even more brutal racial conflict. Unexpectedly rescued from a hallway ambush by a murderous yet artistic loner, though, he is subsequently introduced to a fascinating new world of black culture. Finding his soul and “soul” in the writings of Malcolm X, a doomed first love with a sizzling but heroin plagued Puerto Rican hairdresser, and ultimately, a spiritual journey into the study of Isla...