New York: Scribner's, 1962. dj. Hardcover first edition - Young African American writer's first and only published novel. Based on his own experience of juvenile gangsters in his Brooklyn neighborhood, this is an unusual book in that it is one of the few from this period by a black writer which features almost exclusively white characters - a decision made, according to Perry's daughter, out of a fear that issues of race could cloud the humanity of the characters. Kay Boyle called this "one of the most powerful and disturbing novels I've read in years." 307pp.