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Glitch in the Machine

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Swamp’s (The Gyre Mission: Journey to the *sshole of the World, 2012) comic and obscene cautionary tale pits the haves against the have-nots in a remarkably unpleasant future.
Having escaped the poverty of his childhood, claims adjuster Floyd Jasper is now gainfully employed by a large health insurance company. In a nightmarish near-future America suffering the ill effects of post–Citizens United election-buying, he has, because of his profession, become a supremely unpopular man. Just as 99 percent of the U.S. is poor, 99 percent of the insurance company’s claims are denied. The sick have three choices: pay in full, start a payment plan with 75 percent interest, or be executed. Floyd delights in the gruesome nature of the job: though he was born poor, he nevertheless considers these unfortunate souls to be nothing but vermin. Few things weigh heavily on his conscience as he murders, rapes women, and shoots annoying kids in the street. Nevertheless, he is a scathing and wry critic of the oppressive government, the delusional media, and the rich. His intense love for his brother is often on his mind, and a torrid affair with co-worker Gloria Estrella opens up a new dimension in his career and personal life. The mysterious death of his colleague Carl Winters as well as a fateful encounter with a 700-pound woman lead Floyd to believe he’s being stalked, so he goes on the run with Gloria. As he grows into an impromptu inspirational leader, the resulting battles make him question the motives of everyone around him. Swamp’s rollicking and witty prose makes the stomach-turning events somewhat easier to swallow. The narrative is solid, if wordy and long, casting Floyd as a deadpan antihero. Zany though informed, disgusting but relevant, the story offers insight into American class divisions and the general public’s feeling of powerlessness toward the government machine. Think American Psycho if it were written by Carl Hiaasen, plus characters from The Handmaid’s Tale on a lot of hard drugs. If Swamp had been more concise, his book could have taken flight a bit more easily.
Overlong but astonishing social commentary.

Pub Date: April 20, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-692-31601-6

Page Count: 446

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: June 18, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.

"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

Pub Date: June 15, 1951

ISBN: 0316769177

Page Count: -

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951

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MAGIC HOUR

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

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