Lifers is the story of three twentysomething guys who transitioned from collegiate underachieving to corporate bottom feeding and sketch out a plan to make a grab for some dignity. They will rob the publishing house that employs their only stable member and insults him on a daily basis. Being the bright, perceptive fellows that they are, they all quickly realize it isn’t about the money. For Phil "Dub" Dublen, it’s an angry statement against a dull, meaningless job. For self-styled poet Trim, it’s a chance to actually be as outrageous and anarchic as he needs to be. For Trim’s roommate Dan, it seems to be something he does for the same reason he does everything: to vent some anger, having nothing better to do. By the time their master plan is all said and done, nothing has been solved, nothing is better, and nothing, really, has changed. And, in the slightly fractured wisdom of the larcenous trio, this surprises none of them.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Booklist
Three twentysomethings searching for quality of life in the big city are failing miserably at finding it at local watering holes and devitalizing jobs. Phil "Dub" Dublen schlepps himself to his bottom-rung position at a publishing house, where he does as little as possible. Trim dresses in all black, bleaches his spiky hair, and writes and recites terrible poetry. Between his bouts of caustic sarcasm and demented smiles, a peculiar, calculated charm surfaces. Quiet but potentially violent, Dan is an alcoholic and an unemployed Irishman. All three slackers bemoan their lack of writing careers, financial success, and meaningful lives until the day they hatch a boozy plan to rob Dub's publishing house of its expensive office technology. Surprisingly enough, the heist succeeds, but nothing really changes. Somers' dialogue is funny, his characters oddly likable, and his plot pleasingly unlikely, adding up to a highly entertaining if chillingly accurate reflection of the apathetic work ethics and life disappointments of Gen X postcollegiate dreamers. Deborah Rysso
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Review
"Jeff Somers observes these amiable sociopaths with a funky wit that revs up nicely whenever the three friends are companionably abusing one another, but stalls whenever his novel's undernourished plot threatens to upstage the miscellaneous noodling."-- The New York Times
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More About the Author
Jeff Somers was born in Jersey City, New Jersey. As a child he imagined he would be a brain surgeon, until a spirit-crushing experience convinced him that in order to be a brain surgeon he would have to actually attend school, work hard, and master basic mathematics. After a severe head trauma, he chose instead to write stories and learn the high art of cocktail mixing, and spent the next twenty years in a pleasant haze of fiction and booze.
After graduating college, Jeff drove cross-country and wandered aimlessly for a while, but the peculiar siren call of New Jersey (a delicious mixture of chromium, cut grass, and indolence) brought him back to his homeland in, where he got a job as an Editorial Assistant at a medical/science publisher in New York City. Most experts agree that this is likely where the young man went insane.
In 1995 Jeff began publishing his own magazine, The Inner Swine (www.innerswine.com). His first novel "Lifers" was published in 2001, his second "The Electric Church" is coming in September 2007 from Orbit Books, and he's also had stories published in many magazines, most of which regret the connection. His story "Ringing the Changes" was chosen for "Best American Mystery Stories 2006".
He currently lives in Hoboken, NJ, with his lovely wife Danette and their plump, imperious cats Pierre, Guenther and Oliver. Jeff insists the cats would be delicious.
In-between all this and writing too, Jeff plays chess and staves off despair with cocktails.
After graduating college, Jeff drove cross-country and wandered aimlessly for a while, but the peculiar siren call of New Jersey (a delicious mixture of chromium, cut grass, and indolence) brought him back to his homeland in, where he got a job as an Editorial Assistant at a medical/science publisher in New York City. Most experts agree that this is likely where the young man went insane.
In 1995 Jeff began publishing his own magazine, The Inner Swine (www.innerswine.com). His first novel "Lifers" was published in 2001, his second "The Electric Church" is coming in September 2007 from Orbit Books, and he's also had stories published in many magazines, most of which regret the connection. His story "Ringing the Changes" was chosen for "Best American Mystery Stories 2006".
He currently lives in Hoboken, NJ, with his lovely wife Danette and their plump, imperious cats Pierre, Guenther and Oliver. Jeff insists the cats would be delicious.
In-between all this and writing too, Jeff plays chess and staves off despair with cocktails.
Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fun read!,
By Stephanie Brooks (Manhattan) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lifers (Paperback)
I read this book in a weekend, it was so fun to read. I felt like I'd met people just like the characters, and really appreciated the whole story. I've felt the same things these characters have felt. Mr. Somers has written an entertaining book that I'm loaning to a friend of mine, which I don't often do. I loved the narrator, Dub - his attitude was very funny! Definitely a recommended read.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
And in the end, nothing changes,
By Hactar (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Lifers (Paperback)
This book didn't so much wow me with it's plot as put me completely in the narrator's head. I usually don't like books that are more about the characters than the plot, but Somers was able to make me really care about the characters. The quiet desperation of three guys doing their one time crime and trying to redefine themselves in that act felt true. The characters are incredibly realistic, to the point that you can't completely like them, as their faults are too apparent, but instead simply empathize with them, as their actions and emotions are everyday ones.It's hard to believe that this is the same author who wrote The Electric Church. Just as good, but for very different reasons.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Novelized TV sitcom,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Lifers (Paperback)
Three of the most fortunate people the world has ever known - healthy young white American males with Manhattan jobs and apartments- who feel bored and discontented. This can certainly happen but needs more comment than the author gives it. The only reasons for their despair are that they don't like their jobs (one of them loses his job but finds temporary work) and would like more money and are frustrated writers. I wanted to understand more. They party and drink and plan a not-very-major crime (stealing some office furniture). There are some good confrontations (with the professional criminals they ask to help) and funny episodes. (For example: They realize that the truck they are going to use has a standard shift and none of them knows how to use it. They have ask a girl-friend to give them emergency driving instruction). The whole thing read like an amusing half hour television sitcom. Good entertainment but not much more than that. I felt there was more important novel in there trying to get out.
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