From Publishers Weekly
Zafris, the fiction editor of the Kenyon Review and the author of the short story collection The People I Know, dissects the decidedly strange subculture of scrap metal workers in her quirky debut novel, delving into the dissolution of an Ohio family's scrap metal operation when 30-ish John Bonner finally takes the reins from his domineering father. Bonner has the knowledge and savvy to handle the job, but he finds himself distracted by a difficult divorce and apprehensive about the prospect of managing his father's ragtag workers. He turns to his older sister, Octavia, for help, but she, too, is coming off a bad relationship and is equally dismayed at the prospect of following in their father's footsteps. A larger issue surfaces when one of the older workers finds $5,000 in the upholstery of a car used to ferry two murder victims, and John's "finder's keepers" decision regarding the money quickly produces problems when the cash disappears. John's search leads him to the worker's daughter, but her questionable decisions generate a series of fiascoes that brings the media in when the money finally reappears. Injury follows insult when another worker loses his life in a grisly accident, leading John to try to unload the business in a desperate effort to salvage his career. Zafris creates a demented and somewhat lovable cast of oddballs and misfits, although she gets a bit carried away with a libidinous saleswoman who has the hots for both John and Octavia. She does a better job of capturing the wacky world of the scrap metal industry. While the occasional lack of continuity between bizarre incidents reveals the typical struggles of a writer going from short stories to her first novel, the combination of Zafris's solid writing and unique subject matter bodes well for her future as a novelist.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
-- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
From Library Journal
Zafris, author of the award-winning The People I Know and fiction editor of the Kenyon Review, engagingly chronicles a year in the lives of siblings John and Octavia Bonner. The book opens with the funeral of their grandfather, the original owner of the family scrap metal business, introducing one of the predominant themes of the novel: the search for identity and its relation to family. While John and Octavia try to rebuild their personal lives (both have lost their respective significant others) and buff the family name, some factory workers find thousands of dollars in a car trunk. This nicely complicates the story line. Throughout, the dialog holds up well, with only the occasional stilted line, and the action moves steadily enough to keep the reader turning pages. Recommended for all libraries. Lyle D. Rosdahl, San Antonio P.L., TX
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
-- Dieser Text bezieht sich auf eine vergriffene oder nicht verfügbare Ausgabe dieses Titels.
