At twelve years old, Paul has withdrawn from his school, his family, and even his own body. He barely connects with reality. Then he meets Hal, a mercurial kid who harbors guilt about his brother’s arrest for a violent home invasion. Angry and lonely in different ways, the boys form a bond, first by fighting and then through a lasting, but unequal, affection—one constantly tested by Hal’s risky behavior. Their exploits include a shoplifting scheme that goes terribly wrong, a fall while playing a dangerous game, and a police raid on a gay bar. As Newark in the late 1960s decays around them, Hal’s schemes escalate, ending in a botched drug deal that leads to deadly violence. Interwoven with the boys’ adventures are scenes from Paul’s dysfunctional family life with his acerbic mother and immature father, and the seedy and sometimes dangerous men willing to take advantage of boys lost to their families and hungry for true affection. Always There by Leaving is rich in incident and biting observations about class, family, sexual difference, urban decay, and passionate friendships.

At twelve years old, Paul has withdrawn from his school, his family, and even his own body. He barely connects with reality. Then he meets Hal, a mercurial kid who harbors guilt about his brother’s arrest for a violent home invasion. Angry and lonely in different ways, the boys form a bond, first by fighting and then through a lasting, but unequal, affection—one constantly tested by Hal’s risky behavior. Their exploits include a shoplifting scheme that goes terribly wrong, a fall while playing a dangerous game, and a police raid on a gay bar. As Newark in the late 1960s decays around them, Hal’s schemes escalate, ending in a botched drug deal that leads to deadly violence. Interwoven with the boys’ adventures are scenes from Paul’s dysfunctional family life with his acerbic mother and immature father, and the seedy and sometimes dangerous men willing to take advantage of boys lost to their families and hungry for true affection. Always There by Leaving is rich in incident and biting observations about class, family, sexual difference, urban decay, and passionate friendships.