Three Days As the Crow Flies — Danny Simmons

Renowned painter, art impresario, and cofounder of Def Poetry Jam, Danny Simmons captures the atmosphere of the 1980s art and nightclub scene in New York City's East Village in this accomplished debut novel.

Crow Shade is a quick-witted college drop-out blinded to his own worth by his drug habit. After stealing three paintings and a manuscript from an artist friend in order to scare up some drug money, Crow finds himself in an eccentric circle of people who open the door to what seems a golden opportunity: access to more drugs, sex, and money than he ever imagined.

With a facility that surprises even himself, Crow manages to convince a gallery owner that he's the artist, and the paintings are shown in an exhibit attended by such A-list art-world players and celebrities as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol, and even Joseph "Rev. Run DMC" Simmons -- the author's real-life sibling. As the stakes grow ever higher, all in the pursuit of a good time, Crow begins to worry whether this time he's finally dug himself a hole of deception deeper than he can overcome.

Written with an unerring ear for real-world conversational rhythms, Three Days as the Crow Flies keeps readers engaged, wondering if and when the impressive lies Crow Shade strings together -- not to mention the artist friend he robbed -- will ever catch up to him. Exuberant and ingeniously structured, the novel is funny, sexy, and pitch-perfect in its evocation of the textures and vernacular of the now-legendary New York art scene.