CUT NUMBERS

by Nick Tosches ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 1988

For his first novel, America's premier rock 'n' roll biographer (Hellfire, 1982; Country, 1977; Unsung Heroes of Rock 'n' Roll, 1984) weaves a savory but arhythmic and overblown tale of a low-level hood on the make in N.Y.C.'s mob underworld. At age 35, small-change loan shark Louis Brunellesches finds himself staring down the well of failure: his clients welch on debts, and his longtime love affair with sexy Donna Louise is on the rocks. Trouble is, Louis is just too softhearted to get respect--even his legendary mobster Uncle John, now retired, treats him like a greenhorn. Louis' luck rises a bit when he squeezes a deadbeat client into making him part-owner of a lucrative basement porno factory; but when Louis' old boss, Giacomo, patron of a Greenwich Village mob hangout, asks him to tend bar for four days, Louis agrees. Meanwhile, behind Louis' back, Uncle John--in tandem with a vicious contract killer--plots to sting his old enemy, mob boss II Capraio, by faking a fix of the N.Y. State lottery. As Uncle John schemes and his killer-partner rampages through a series of brutal robberies and slayings, Louis tumbles into a weeklong, sex-drenched drunk. Sobering up, he heals his life, reuniting with Donna Louise, turning to more legit scams--i.e., on the commodities market--to turn a buck, and watching in glee as Uncle John rips off II Capraio and bumps off that psycho killer as well. If Tosches had stuck to a lean account of Louis' fall and rise, he might have penned a minor classic: his settings, dialogue, and supporting characters are picture-perfect. But here--unlike in his nonfiction--his penchant for flamboyant, would-be poetic writing, stuffing up Louis' internal world, undercuts the realism (does a hood really think that ""The human voice, with its thunder and crying and endless weaving of truths and lies spun from the same frail fiber--the human voice was something he had all but had enough of""?); and the fairy-tale-ish ending defies belief. A flashy but strained fiction debut by a talented writer who should have done better.

Pub Date: July 1, 1988

ISBN: 0316896586

Page Count: -

Publisher: Harmony/Crown

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1988

Categories: FICTION