The Bookmakers [Hardcover]

Zev Chafets (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 7, 1995

Just when he finally comes up with a fabulous idea for a novel about a burnt-out writer who decides to commit suicide, Mack Green discovers that his publisher, who thinks that the book works better as nonfiction, has hired a hit man to insure that idea. 25,000 first printing. $25,000 ad/promo. Tour.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The title is the first sly joke in this wacky romp in which a has-been novelist gets entangled in deception and slapstick with his agent, his publisher and the mafia. Chafets (Inherit the Mob) maintains an arch tone throughout the shaggy-dog tale of ex-literary wunderkind Mack Green, who, on his 45th birthday, gets a plot idea that he thinks will revive his career: an aging former literary star who, like Mack, has done little but drink and chase women for years, writes a yearlong diary before returning to his midwestern hometown to kill himself. Mack's book shapes up nicely, but Mack, often a tad obtuse, doesn't know that Artie Wolfowitz, his publisher and ostensible friend, has been sabotaging Mack's sales for 15 years, ever since he found out that Mack had bedded his wife. Nor does he know that his agent, Tommy Russo, who's also an ordained priest, has given his 10% of the book to his bookie, to settle a debt. The bookie, Herman Reggie, engineers a secret movie deal and tries to make Mack's book even more of a roman a clef than Mack intends?by contracting with a 4'6", 200-plus-pound hit man called Afterbirth to complete the "suicide." And Wolfowitz, trying to concoct a plagiarism scandal that would seal Mack's literary doom, hires a hack to write another suicide diary. The plots and double crosses unfold with a mix of cheerfulness and suspense; the many colorful characters are great fun; and the schemings of Wolfowitz and Reggie are delicious. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

A formerly successful novelist, Mack Green, decides to write a novel as a suicide diary and commit suicide when it's finished. After getting wind of the project, agents and editors all want a piece of the action, especially if the work turns out to be nonfiction. Chafets (Inherit the Mob, LJ 8/91) has created a fascinating array of offbeat characters who include dwarves, priests, and pro-suicide scions, and the pace of his smoothly written book is as fast as a bullet. The publishing industry takes a bit of drubbing here, but it's well deserved. Recommended.?Robert H. Donahugh, formerly with Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 261 pages
• Publisher: Random House; 1st edition (March 7, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679414568
• ISBN-13: 978-0679414568
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,232,017 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Zev Chafets is the author of eleven books of fiction, media criticism, and social and political commentary. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times Magazine and a former columnist for the New York Daily News.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars He Did What??, May 31, 2005

By 

Mandi "Author, Reader and Writing Group Organ... (Music City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bookmakers (Hardcover)

This down-on-his-luck author gets mugged, and then decides to write a book about the last year of somebody's life. Except that his ex-priest manager owes a bookie and traes the rights to this book, and the publisher is screwing the author over because the author once slept with his wife. So is the book fiction or not? And what's the bookie plotting behind his back?

This book includes just about everything required to make a good story - lots of dynamic characters, plot twists, revenge, etc. The main character is just a normal guy trying to make it in the world where corporate America (in this case his publisher) is screwing with him. A definate must read.