Clint Arthur’s More More More is an energetic and gritty coming-of-age memoir wrapped in the clothes of a novel. The story follows Jack Powers III, a boy born in the wreckage of an abandoned Alphabet City tenement in 1960s-70s New York, raised by two immigrant squatters chasing the American Dream. The novel walks us through Jack’s tumultuous youth—marked by poverty, passion, discovery, and a relentless hunger for meaning and money—as he grows from a wide-eyed child into a fiercely self-determined young man. Through his eyes, we experience a raw, unfiltered love for New York, an awakening to capitalism, and a personal confrontation with life’s brutal and beautiful truths.

Arthur’s writing pulses with life. His depiction of the Lower East Side is so vivid. There’s something incredibly cinematic about the opening chapters—Jack’s father meeting his mother in a burnt-out building, the flicker of firelight illuminating her face, the quiet tension as strangers become lovers. It’s romantic and dangerous, and the tone sets the stage for a book that constantly asks: how much is enough? How much love, how much war, how much money? It’s in these passages, like the discovery of the mysterious box filled with old coins and a pistol, where Arthur shines—he makes the personal mythic and the mundane magical.

The novel isn’t just about heart or hustle—it’s about ideas. Arthur pulls no punches about his love for capitalism, and he explores it through Jack’s eyes with a mix of awe and desperation. The chapters where Jack discovers Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead and begins idolizing self-determination and personal value are powerful, if a bit on-the-nose. Still, his passion is infectious. When Jack realizes that the Peace Dollar he finds feels more “real” than modern money, it’s a brilliant metaphor for his craving for authenticity and value—not just in currency, but in life itself.

What I found most touching, though, was the love story between Jack and Anya. Their first kiss during a YES concert at Madison Square Garden, holding hands through the crush of the city, sneaking wine in jelly jars on a rooftop picnic—it all made my heart ache in the best way. There’s such honesty in the awkwardness and beauty of young love. Their relationship becomes a grounding force in a novel full of chaos and ambition, and it’s one of the most tender threads in the book.

More More More is a wild ride. It’s messy, loud, heartfelt, and brutally sincere. Clint Arthur doesn’t bother cleaning it up to make it prettier—and that’s what makes it so special. This book is for readers who love stories about struggle, who believe in the power of reinvention, and who aren’t afraid to wade into the unpolished grit of life.

Pages: 260 | ASIN: B0DW48NT98