A Kid from Marlboro Road

Filmmaker Burns dips into the Irish American heritage he’s portrayed in such movies as The Brothers McMullen for his bittersweet debut novel (after the memoir Independent Ed). The story revolves around 12-year-old Kneeney’s coming-of-age in 1970s Long Island, where, after his grandfather’s funeral, he slips into his typical summer routine. There are fishing expeditions off Montauk with his stern policeman father and “dick” older brother; beach days at the Rockaways with his family; and endless stories shared by assorted relatives and family friends. Kneeney feels increasingly uneasy about the family’s stability, though, sensing a widening rift between his parents. Before the end of the fateful summer, he’ll face two more funerals, forcing him to accept that the world will break his heart. He finds a way to cope through writing, and after winning the Catholic Daughters of America poetry contest, his father gives him a typewriter and urges him to read Hemingway. Though Burns based this sketchily plotted novel on his family history, the characters are straight out of central casting. Still, there are plenty of touching moments of understated affection between father and son. At its best, Burns’s coming-of-age story suggests a Long Island version of Nick Adams. (Sept.)