Steady Eddie

On the south shore of Long Island, Freeport is a dreary canal town where people no longer dream, the townies, or ""hitters,"" go nowhere fast and hitter Eddie Trottman, 19, marks time by cutting chicken and fish at the Pantry Pride. His mother is an alcoholic and his father, cheesy photographer Stan the Man, seduces young local women into a pornography/prostitution ring. Although Coughlin's second novel (after The Hero of New York) suffers from a few narrative gaps, it succeeds in evoking the poignant angst of a 1970s teenager who dreams of escaping his dead-end life and sailing off to Florida in his grandfather's fishing boat. Off work, Eddie and old pal Loopy Louperino cruise in Loopy's GTO, downing Pabst beer and listening to 8-track tapes, while Eddie dreams of his old girlfriend, Ginny. Eddie's future as a union meat cutter seems locked in until the day he and Loopy take Elena ""Armpits"" Condemi and Sandy ""Dirty Drawers"" Gass to the boardwalk for one of their routine make-out sessions. Sandy accuses Loopy of rape, ripping the dingy curtain covering this fishing town to reveal that Loopy is running drugs and money for his Mafia-connected uncles. As Eddie tries to beat a charge of accessory to rape, his relationship with Elena deepens as they realize they both share a desire to escape their abusive parents. Coughlin stuffs this blue-collar drama with period references and clich d characterizations. Although the reader sympathizes with Eddie's struggles about whether he should flee the law, this gritty, melodramatic, Bukowski-like tale loses steam when it solves Eddie's problems with a feel-good ending. (Jan.)