The hero of author J.A. McNally’s collection of vignettes, SMALL SMILE’S SUNDAY BUDDY, is Aiden, from Brooklyn’s long-gone Irish community, near Park Slope. The Brooklyn Aiden grew up in during the 1960s and ’70s had a small-town feel, even though it was the largest borough in New York City. People knew each other’s names (and personal business), and neighborhood children played stick-ball together in the streets. Aiden grows up, feeling the first pangs of love during his teenage romance with a girl he dubs Small Smile, whose Sunday Buddy is her father, who takes her to church and to a local park where they watch the construction of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. This father-daughter relationship, built on trust and communication, is the real lesson Aiden learns during that brief summer romance. It’s about building bridges, not only the kinds that span water but those that span generations.
McNally writes with a poet’s economy and power and his prose paints vivid images of a New York long gone, and he packs a big emotional punch into brief chapters. Aiden goes on to train as a military medic, and grows into a mature man with children of his own. Along the way, Brooklyn changes from a collection of small neighborhoods to block after block of apartment-dwelling strangers. For Aiden, Brooklyn’s heart and soul have dissipated. But isn’t that a trick of nostalgia? Memories of yesteryear always come with a warm, comforting glow in contrast to thoughts of a cold, bleak future. Wisdom comes with hindsight, and adult Aiden can look back over his life choices and appreciate the times he took the proper fork in the road and the times that he didn’t.
Aiden is a beautifully realized character, but McNally doesn’t sketch out as much detail with his supporting cast. While there’s an underlying sense that Small Smile and Aiden’s wife, Jenna, also have stories to tell, McNally keeps the narrative focused on Aiden and his changing perception of Brooklyn. Ultimately there’s not a lot of story or plot in SMALL SMILE’S SUNDAY BUDDY, but readers–even those who have never been to Brooklyn–will identify with how Aiden’s childhood home both feels and looks different through adult eyes. Hopefully, McNally will turn his formidable literary skills toward something more story-driven for his next effort.
J.A. McNally’s SMALL SMILE’S SUNDAY BUDDY is a beautifully crafted love letter to Brooklyn’s storied past. Told through short fictional vignettes, it’s a coming-of-age tale that extends well into adulthood.
~Rob Errera for IndieReader