A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints

Raised on the streets of Brooklyn in the late 1970s, Montiel followed in the footsteps of other neighborhood hooligans, committing various violent and criminal acts. In the 1980s, he fell in love with the music scene with his band, Gutterboy, while hanging out with a variety of celebrities, including Allen Ginsberg. This memoir about the different "saints" in his life ties all this together in an erratic but amusing manner. Jason Collins manages this directionless assortment of stories magnificently. He holds to a slight Brooklyn accent for Montiel but doesn't overdo it. Flawlessly, he transitions to other characters with their own vocal quirks and delivers the more emotional moments in a somber and reminiscent tone that enhances Montiel's words. L.E. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

May 12, 2003
Montiel's saints run the gamut from omniscient priests to wacky con artists. In his rambling memoir of growing up in the 1970s and '80s in a tough Queens neighborhood, he escapes to the East Village to emerge as a Calvin Klein underwear model and lead singer of the punk band Gutterboy. Montiel's childhood was rough but thrilling. "n our neighborhood we would take your everyday type of kids' game and throw in an extra little consequence clause that no one else seemed to have." Games escalated from stealing from the church poor box (consequence: 50 Hail Mary's from saint number one, Father Angelo) through peeing through the windows of Mafioso hangouts (consequence: "being chased by crazy Dimitrios with a meat cleaver") to gang fights (consequence: Montiel's pal Antonio kills a guy with a baseball bat and spends six years in prison). When the scene shifts to the sex-, drugs- and punk rock–ridden Lower East Side, Montiel's love affair with Manhattan predominates, as he roams the city with girlfriends, junkies and his mother (more saints) and hangs out with Allen Ginsberg (whose photos of Gutterboy appear in the book) and Warhol protégée Cherry Vanilla. Several Kerouac-like road trips feature the thrill and beauty of being "crazy high" in a non–New York world. Montiel tells his entertaining, sad tales with a combination of affection, glee and nostalgia. He's managed to escape the dismal fate of many of his childhood cohorts, while still cherishing and embracing their humanity. Photos. (July)Forecast:Slam poets and beat fans will go for this, as well as anyone interested in the East Village 1980s punk rock scene or celebrities like Warhol, Ginsberg and fashion photographer Bruce Weber. The upcoming movie based on the book (directed by Robert Downey Jr.) will increase interest.