Third and Indiana

Third and Indiana is a novel written by Steve Lopez. It is about the experiences of several people connected to 14 year old Gabriel Santoro, while living in the dangerous gang-controlled streets of the Badlands section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. The novel gave notoriety to the real life intersection of Third Street and Indiana Avenue, a real life intersection in the Fairhill area known for the prevalence of drug dealers.

In 1997 Aaron Posner's play adaptation of the book was premiered and produced at the Arden Theatre Company in Philadelphia.

On one occasion staff members of Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones allied to option Third and Indiana for a film version; Oprah's group wanted a "happy ending." Oprah's option evaporated. Jones's found another group of investors who said they raised money for a film version and never executed any plans. Tom Bradford, a 35-year old Center City resident, said that he would begin plans to make a film version of Third and Indiana.

Characters

• Gabriel Santoro - Gabriel, the protagonist, is a 14-year old boy who runs away from home and deals drugs on the street. Ultimately Gabriel is good at heart, and hopes to pull away from a life of drugs and violence. Brian O'Neill of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette stated that he as a reviewer cared about Gabriel, the character.
• Ofelia Santoro - Ofelia, Gabriel's mother, frantically looks for Gabriel. She is 40 years old.
• Marisol - Gabriel's girlfriend, Marisol attends night school and works at a restaurant during the day.
• Eddie "Joe Pass" Passarelli - A South Philadelphia Italian American, 38-year old Eddie loses his girlfriend, leaves a crumbling marriage, and finds that he has to pay a mobster named Thin Jimmy $10,000 U.S. dollars since the truck, driven by Eddie, had a fire and burnt. Eddie is nicknamed "Joe Pass" as a reference to the musician Joe Pass. He suddenly moves out of his Roxborough house and moves into his mother's rental apartment in Kensington. O'Neill stated that Eddie becomes a "raging bull" at the end of the book.
• Diablo - Diablo, an ugly drug kingpin, keeps Gabriel and the other gang members of the "Black Caps" under his thumb. O'Neill described Diablo as a "cardboard character straight from a Steven Seagal movie."
• Lalo Camacho - Lalo, one of Gabriel's close friends, is in the Black Caps
• Ralph - Ralph, one of Gabriel's close friends, is in the Black Caps
• Mike Inverso - Inverso is the shady friend of Eddie who constantly insults Eddie.
• Father Laetner - A Roman Catholic priest from Pittsburg, California, Laetner is shocked by the neighborhood and helps Ofelia in her quest to find her son. O'Neill states that Laetner is "two dimensional" and that Lopez made Laetner "incongruously agnostic" since Laetner "acts heroically." O'Neill added that Laetner did not seem to have awareness of "Christ's predilection for the poor, the basis for the liberation theology movement within the Catholic Church." O'Neill said "There are Hallmark cards that go deeper than this guy. (Has any American novelist since Willa Cather given us a believable priest?)"
• Bill Bagno - Bagno is a police officer and a Vietnam War veteran.
• Anthony Faggioli - The owner of the Faggioli Funeral Home, he helps Gabriel and Eddie steal the mayor's ring.
• Sarah Lerner - Sarah is Eddie's girlfriend. She leaves him as the story progresses. 43-year old Sarah is five feet and eleven inches tall, has red hair and green eyes, and does not decorate her nails. Eddie liked the fact that she was Jewish as she was distanced from his community. A substitute teacher at Temple University, Sarah lives in an Old City apartment before moving into Eddie's apartment. She leaves him at a later point in the book.
• Marie - Marie is Eddie's wife. She does not get along with him and feels betrayed when he leaves her.

Reception

In a 1994 review Ben Yagoda of The New York Times said that "the novel is by no means a failure" and that it "flirts too recklessly with the outlandish and the hackneyed to be counted a success." The Fort Worth Star Telegram placed the book in "Best Books of 1994" list. Carl Sessions Stepp, the senior editor of American Journalism Review, described Third and Indiana as "touching, even haunting" and approved of the "balancing vision of human triumph." Brian O'Neill of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette said that the central characters "redeemed" the novel, which had some cliche minor characters; O'Neill said that Third and Indiana is "worth reading."

Toby Zinman of the City Paper liked the book version; in regards of the play version, which she reviewed, she said she felt like she "watched an afterschool special with bad language."