Trenton Makes

In this taut debut, Koelb takes on manhood and the rise and fall of the American Century as Trenton, N.J., evolves from a booming postwar factory town to a place full of closed factories and dope-smoking, draft-dodging hippies. The protagonist, Abe Kunstler, is a watchful, angry man whose life is predicated on keeping his secret: he is no man at all, but a woman who killed her traumatized veteran husband in a marital fight, cut her hair, and, physically built up from wartime factory work, went out into the world. For Abe, power lies in manliness, not the weak body of a disrespected female. For a while he achieves that power: he acquires the suit that makes him feel like a “real man”; a marriage of sorts with Inez, a dancehall girl with a taste for alcohol; and even a son. But the son intended as the final proof and future of Abe’s masculinity comes of age when America is riven by generational divides and mired in a senseless war. Koelb is insightful, if not always subtle, about how short the era of triumphant white American manhood was and its tendency to fight a rear-guard action that hurts men and those they love. Agent: Anna Stein, ICM Partners. (Mar.)