The Keepers of Truth

by Michael Collins

Book Overview

The last of a manufacturing dynasty in a dying industrial town, Bill lives alone in the family mansion and works for the "Truth," the moribund local paper. He yearns to write long philosophical pieces... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743218035
• ISBN13: 9780743218030
• Release Date: September 2001
• Publisher: Scribner Book Company
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A Revealing Dark Vision of America by an Irish Writer

Bill, a law school dropout, is living in his home town because his cryogenically preserved grandfather has made it a condition of his will. Bill's father killed himself shortly before the he came home and he had a breakdown because of it and is slowly rebuilding his life, despite the break with his girl friend Diane. He gets a job working for the dying town's dying newspaper, "The Daily Truth," which is run by two old men, Sam, the owner, and Ed, the paper's photographer. Sam and Ed believe Bill, who is somewhat of a wordsmith and given to fanciful prose, will someday turn out to be a good journalist. Salvation for the newspaper comes when Ronny Lawton's father disappears. Lawton is a tattooed burger flipper at Denny's, who despite having reported his father's absence, becomes a suspect for the presumed murder. The case re-energizes the "Truth's" disillusioned staff, but the initial promise of a scoop for Bill gradually translates into an obsession with Lawton and his estranged wife. As the crime casts its shadow on the lives of his newspaper colleagues and on the nightmarish reverberations of his own father's suicide, it also begins to take on symbolic dimensions as many people in the town try to take advantage of the murder. Michael Collins won the Irish Book of the Year Award for this book and it's easy to see why. It deserves the high esteem it has won in Ireland and I highly recommend it.

A Revealing Dark Vision of America by an Irish Writer

Bill, a law school dropout, is living in his home town because his cryogenically preserved grandfather has made it a condition of his will. Bill's father killed himself shortly before the he came home and he had a breakdown because of it and is slowly rebuilding his life, despite the break with his girl friend Diane.He gets a job working for the dying town's dying newspaper, "The Daily Truth," which is run by two old men, Sam, the owner, and Ed, the paper's photographer. Sam and Ed believe Bill, who is somewhat of a wordsmith and given to fanciful prose, will someday turn out to be a good journalist.Salvation for the newspaper comes when Ronny Lawton's father disappears. Lawton is a tattooed burger flipper at Denny's, who despite having reported his father's absence, becomes a suspect for the presumed murder. The case re-energizes the "Truth's" disillusioned staff, but the initial promise of a scoop for Bill gradually translates into an obsession with Lawton and his estranged wife. As the crime casts its shadow on the lives of his newspaper colleagues and on the nightmarish reverberations of his own father's suicide, it also begins to take on symbolic dimensions as many people in the town try to take advantage of the murder.Michael Collins won the Irish Book of the Year Award for this book and it's easy to see why. It deserves the high esteem it has won in Ireland and I highly recommend it.Karen Holtz, New Jersey Book Girl

On the Outside Looking In...

A voice both within and outside America narrates this surreal elegy to the death of American Industrialism and the passing of a certain blue collar security and life. The voice within is the voice of the American people, and Collins (an immigrant) has such an ear for our language its uncanny that we wholly feel that we are reading an author who is one of us. The banter, the pace, the descriptions are all quintessentially American, but lurking throughout the book is this outside voice, a voice that cleaves apart the political and social matrix of who and what we are. We see ourselves again for the first time through this voice. Our America is presented in all its familiarity, but somehow there is a spin on this vision. It's hard really to describe this book more than to speak of its mood, of its profound ability to get at your psyche, but it does and for the few friends I've lent the book, they also feel its resonance, that it has a life after you finish it.I think this book is destined to be read for years. It rings with such authenticity and raises so many questions on the predicament of humanity in the late and early 21st century, that it serves the launching pad for understanding where we are at this time in history. It does not provide the answers, but sometimes the questions need to be asked first...

Amazing Read

This Irish book of the year, and Booker Shortlist is nothing short of brilliant and deserves the praise it has already earned. It is in some respects the most unlikely of novels to win such major distinctions, and was the first ever murder mystery to earn a Booker nomination. But of course this is no mere pot boiler.The Keepers of Truth is a murder mystery and political novel rolled into one, a novel that achieves a unique balance of entertainment and political insight without ever becoming pedantic. The novel captures the late seventies, that pivotal flux in American history, when we went from an industrial nation to a post-industrial nation. Centered on a small town's implosion following the closure of numerous factories, the novel follows the thread of a dismemberment murder that mirrors the dismantling of the nation. In balancing the political and the murder mystery aspect, Collins creates memorable characters that give us a glimpse into the chaos of change, and how people struggle to survive and adapt.I cannot recommend this book highly enough. There is nothing like it. Collins has invented a sub genre of his own.

A book that hit home

I got this book from my wife who said she wanted to broaden my horizons. Our styles differ greatly. I read mostly hardboiled murder mysteries for the sheer entertainment value. When I want to learn something, I read non-fiction. I have a problem with preachy books.But I have to say despite my reservations, this book blew me away. It was like the best blend of both non-fiction and fiction I've ever read. I lived through the late seventies in the midwest, and my father lost his job due to the economic downturn. I like to put that period of my family life out of my mind, but this book brought that time and feeling back to me. Maybe it was personal impact that made this book have its effect on me, but I found myself re-reading parts of it to my wife. I even called my father just to talk, just to ask him about what he felt back then. I didn't tell him why I was calling, though I've sent him the book. I know this isn't probably a review, but it's what I felt, it's how this book affected me.