The Contortionist's Handbook [Hardcover]

Craig Clevenger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2002

The Contortionist's Handbook is the story of John Dolan Vincent, an abnromally gifted child with a prclivity for mathematics beyond his years. However, he also bears a rare deformity—polydactylism—and his genius is counterbalanced by a near absence of social skills and episodes of severe migraines.

As an adult his migraines occur with alarming regularity, and his repeated attempts at self-medication send him over and over to the emergency room. He knows that to visit twice is to risk being institutionalized as a suicide risk. So, following each trip to the hospital, he draws upon his skill as a petty forger, and reinvents a new identity for himself.

The Contortionist's Handbook is about the lengths people will go to in order to protect themselves from others and ultimately from themselves.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Clevenger's debut novel is a well-crafted but underplotted character study of a brilliant, damaged man who struggles with mental illness and substance abuse as he bounces in and out of prison and a series of hospitals around Los Angeles. Most of the novel takes place in the latter setting; some tense early scenes pit protagonist John Dolan Vincent against a psychiatrist known as "The Evaluator," who probes Vincent's psyche to see if his recent overdose of muscle relaxants was really a botched attempt to cure his migraine, as Vincent claims, or a suicide attempt. The twist is that Vincent has checked into the hospital under an assumed name; after each of his previous overdoses he has changed his identity to avoid being placed in a mental hospital. The psychiatric interview provides a decent vehicle for telling the story of Vincent's difficult family life and his decision to use his mathematical talent to assist a murky criminal network. The trouble is that Clevenger has little to offer to push his story forward besides Vincent's efforts to protect Keadra, the woman he falls in love with during a hospital stint, from the thugs who are trying to track him down. Clevenger is a solid writer who does some good work when it comes to creating a noirish atmosphere and smart, compelling characters, but the pace is uneven at best. The quality of the writing warrants a follow-up effort; hopefully, Clevenger will know what to do with his characters the next time around.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

John Vincent was born with an extra ring finger on one hand. To his constantly broke, jail-bound father, this was just something John had to live with. After years of ridicule by other children, his father gave him a magic book through which he learned some slight-of-hand tricks that helped him conceal his disfigurement from others. That, together with a sharp mind and a knack for replicating signatures and official documents, started John on a path of petty crime. Then he started getting inexplicable and untreatable migraines, which led to a history of drug abuse. As John started going in and out of hospitals for drug overdoses, he deftly learned how to change identities. This life of identity theft, drugs, and crime continues in a downward spiral, until he falls in love and meets his match. He starts to question his own identity, after rejecting it for so long, which eventually leads to some redemption. Clevenger cleverly creates a modern-day Mr. Ripley. Michael Spinella
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 199 pages
• Publisher: MacAdam/Cage; First Edition edition (September 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 193156115X
• ISBN-13: 978-1931561150
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Born in Texas and grew up in Southern California. After years of dead-end jobs and publishers' rejections, I stumbled into the pre-dot.com tech world where I spent the next decade paying my rent on time, eating regularly and not putting pen to paper for anything creative. In 2000, I pulled the plug on my techno-rat race to resume writing. Currently living in San Francisco, at work on a third novel.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Clevenger Twists a Winner - but not for grandma, September 12, 2002

By 

Marty in Southern California - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contortionist's Handbook (Hardcover)

The title and cover art grabbed my attention over the numerous new releases on the front table. Picked it up, read only half of the first page before I closed the book - and walked to counter to slap down the cash (...).

Hooked via our main man and leading character "Johnny"- a brilliant bit of work by the author, I sprinted through this one in two sittings. That's fast for me and my A.D.D. Granted, the plot deserved a bit more attention but The Contortionist is really about the maneuverings of character. And the ways in which Johnny twists, and manipulates and suffers in his longing for love and connection will not be forgotten.

Buy it or borrow it, but definitely read it.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars On my top 5 list now, September 26, 2003

By 

Geoffrey Golliher (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contortionist's Handbook (Paperback)

This is a read! If you like to think and immerse yourself in a character and great story then this is your book. The dialogue is compelling and moves the story forward without turgid details. The monologues are honest, moving and interesting albeit dark in some sections. The characters are well developed, introduced well and true to their nature.

I'm not an avid reader of modern fiction ... find the stories to be the same old regurgitated soup with the same old bread and stale crackers ... THIS BOOK IS GOOD. If you've come this far, don't cheat yourself, buy the damn thing. You will not be disappointed.

Fantastic book Craig ... I can't wait for the next installment!!

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars whoa! great first novel., September 12, 2002

By 

"jetcityorange" (Seattle, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contortionist's Handbook (Hardcover)

Great read. Had the pleasure of doing it in 3 sessions. A well constructed and suspense-filled plot. Hangs together while challenging you to pay attention. (And yes, you have to; it's worth it!)

Without giving away the plot or the ending, think "Memento" or "The Usual Suspects". No thow-away trash novel, this is a thinking person's book. It tends to stick with you after you put it down.

The detail adds dimension. The main character is a trip. (note to self: never hire him as a babysitter.) Layers of stuff going on throughout.

What's amazing is that this is Clevenger's first novel. Notes say he's working on second and I for one can't wait. When's the movie coming out?