A beautifully written book--some of the best prose I've read in 2012--but there's so much crammed into the book that it doesn't work as well as it should. It's got a great character--Archy Stallings--who's struggling with relationship issues, family issues, neighborhood issues, and issues of loyalty to his friends and community, and whenever the book concentrates on Archy, it's really, really good. But there are whole mess of other characters that muddle things up.