Getting Off Clean

When narrator Eric Fitzpatrick, a white honor student in a working-class Boston suburb, becomes involved with Brooks Tremont, a rich black student at the local prep school, his well-structured life begins to unravel. Parallel to his personal problem runs a rip in the area's social fabric, which is torn after a white girl is found murdered and raped. As tensions escalate between Eric's town of West Mendham and the nearby, largely Puerto Rican suburb of Leicaster, Eric must also cope with problems at home: an older sister's unwed pregnancy; his aging grandmother's moving in; his younger sister's Down's syndrome. Conflicts such as Eric's growing disdain for hypocrisy even while he continues to reap benefits from deceit, particularly regarding his homosexuality, plus some well-constructed secondary plots, add depth to the story, setting it apart from many other gay-themed coming-of-age novels. When, in a tensely scripted encounter, Eric's defense, and then betrayal, of Brooks makes him a local hero, Eric realizes he must finally face who he is and what he believes, even if doing so will result in being ostracized on his home turf. It's a critical decision, and Miller renders it with power, as the centerpiece in a richly layered tableau of contemporary life in a small, blue-collar town. (Mar.)