Kockroach by Tyler Knox, was an unusual book for me to choose. Although lured by several glowing reviews, including a starred review from Publishers Weekly, I anticipated that it just might be one of those books that I'd return to the library after the first chapter or two. But I was surprised to find a book so clever, so well-constructed and so funny that I'm now waiting for other family members to read it so just so that I'll have someone to discuss it with!
Here's a quote from the Publisher's Weekly review:
"Kafka's Metamorphosis is turned on its antennae in this roaringly entertaining noir novel. Knox's debut begins with a cockroach waking up to find he has been transformed into a man. Kockroach, however, doesn't lapse into despair, but instead demonstrates the relentless survival instinct of his species by learning how to get by in the human world. Helping him is pint-size Times Square hustler Mickey "Mite" Pimelia, who sees in Kockroach (or, as he's known to humans, Jerry Blatta) his ticket to the top. Sex, organized crime, violence, betrayal and success follow for Kockroach, whose insect's sense of amorality aids his ascent. Knox's inhuman antihero's tale is told in flawless noir style—Kockroach's coldness juxtaposed against Mite's bitter self-recrimination in a seedy, smoky 1950s New York—and Kockroach's insights into that New York are perversely delightful. The book's conceptual cleverness is ultimately eclipsed by the epic story line, making for a compelling story of greed and power that is more Chandler than Kafka. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
