Underdog

by Michael Z. Lewin

Book Overview

After a chance encounter with a seven-toed stranger, Jan Moro, a down-on-his-luck businessman, finds that his life is in danger, and when the cops become involved, they only make things worse for... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0892964405
• ISBN13: 9780892964406
• Release Date: January 1993
• Publisher: Mysterious Press
• Length: 260 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The invisible society around us.

I came to this book with no expectations and it turned out to be a wonderful gem. It is a different book, the language and the writing style are lean and pacy, just like the central character Jan Moro. You can't call him a hero. He reminds me of a healthier version of Ratzo Rizzo from the Movie Midnight Cowboy, as played by Dustin Hoffman. He is to all intents and purposes a little weasel, a man who exists upon the fringes of society. He is an idealist, a dreamer and represents the underculture of the homeless society around us. There is a pathetic sub-theme to this character, that of someone with no resources, not even a home. He has no friends, only underworld aquaintences who are entirely untrustworthy. Moro has no access into our world and this struck me with a cold and frightening realization of the impotence of people like him.However, this is not a book trying to make us examine our conciences. It is a fast and very funny read. There is something of the style of the gangster novel about it, the sparse and punchy wit (a car pulled up with a jerk. The jerk got out). Hard to get your hands on this book now, but well worth a read. Not great literature and it will never win a nobel prize, but then what would Jan Moro do with a nobel prize? Pawn it probably, for his next grand scheme.