Misdemeanor Man: A Novel [Paperback]

Dylan Schaffer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 14, 2005

Gordon Seegerman is a reluctant public defender by day and the Barry-obsessed singer in a Manilow cover band by night. When a routine misdemeanor case exposes corruption among his city's most prominent citizens, Seegerman finds himself having to act like a real lawyer for the first time in his life. Irresistible and irreverent, Misdemeanor Man will have you on the edge of your seat, rooting for the underdog and believing in the magic of Manilow.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gordon Seegerman is a public defender whose somewhat lackadaisacal attitude toward his job is understandable--misdemeanors don't have the inherent drama of big-time felonies, and the arena in which Seegerman plies his trade is the criminal equivalent of small claims court--jaywalkers, graffiti artists, sidewalk spitters and willy wankers. It's one of the latter--Harold Dunn, arrested for exposing himself to an eight-year-old girl in the women's dressing room of a local department store--whose refusal to cop a plea comes at a very inconvenient time for our hero, conflicting as it does with his real career opportunity--performing with his Barry Manilow tribute band, the Mandys, in front of the Great Man himself.

There's more to Dunn than a dirty raincoat--he's an accountant with a charity called G.O.D., an ex-alcoholic who owes his second chance to the group, especially its founder, a saintly woman whose son, Dunn implies, has set him up as a patsy to cover his own sins, which run to embezzlement, shady real estate deals, and money laundering. That may explain why Dunn's being held in a high security area of the local jail, and why the prosecuting attorney--who happens to be Gordon's former girlfriend--stubbornly refuses a deal of any kind. Then a wealthy stranger bails Dunn out of jail, a witness in his case turns up dead, murder charges are filed against him, and Gordon suddenly has to act like a real lawyer. Schaffer tosses in a few subplots in case this one doesn't catch the reader's interest, but they don't do anything to pick up the pace. --Jane Adams --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

In criminal defense lawyer Schaffer's first novel, a disappointing attempt at a comic legal thriller, a California public defender is shouldered with a routine flasher case that quickly complicates his life. "Misdo-man" Gordon Seegerman is overworked but unambitious; his passions lie with Barry X and the Mandys, his Barry Manilow cover band, and he worries that the case will interfere with the biggest gig of his musical career. Seegerman loses hope for a speedy disposal of the case when he faces his formidable ex-girlfriend, Sylvie, the ADA prosecuting the "willy wanker," Harold Dunn. She discovers Dunn's history of lewd behavior and presses for extended prison time, but Dunn refuses a plea and claims he was set up. Then the accused is bailed out by a mysterious friend, and one of the chief witnesses winds up dead. In the meantime, Seegerman stumbles onto a shady charitable organization named G-O-Dan that may connect everyone, and uncovers property investment shenanigans. Schaffer peoples the novel with an oddball but stereotypical cast: Seegerman's band, a standard array of socially disenfranchised, talented musicians who help him solve the case; the suspect local legal establishment; and Seegerman's Alzheimer's-addled father, a former police detective. Schaffer aims for comedy throughout (e.g., Seegerman's near-pathological devotion to Barry Manilow), but the book's illogical plot turns and awkward structure make for a wearying read that devolves into a contrived narrative of a misdemeanor trial.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (April 14, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582345694
• ISBN-13: 978-1582345697
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.5 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,939,087 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I don't think it's possible to sum up a life as fascinating, dramatic, and exotic as mine in a few paragraphs. This is why I've written an entire book about myself (and my dramatic, fascinating, and exotic, although now deceased father) which will arrive in September 2006. The book is called Life, Death & Bialys: A Father/Son Baking Story, and because it's more than 200 pages long, it will give you a much better sense of me than anything I can do online. I strongly recommend that you buy it. If you still have questions about who I am or what I stand for after you read it (more than once, if possible), then send me an e-mail and I'll answer all your questions.

Still, I have to say something, right? All right, fine. I was born in East Lansing, Michigan. I had no choice in the matter. That is where my parents lived at the time. Had I been asked, I would have preferred Paris, or perhaps Buenos Aires.

My mother wanted to do her psychiatry thing in the New York area, so we left Michigan in the late sixties and went to New Rochelle, a suburb half an hour north of the city, which was a fine place to grow up. Now, more than three decades later, I live in Oakland, California. A very strange and interesting circumstance is that three of my best childhood friends from the close-knit neighborhood where I grew up now live within a few miles of me in California. What does this say about New Rochelle? What does it say about California? I wouldn't dare to opine. I will say that I do not have fond memories of scraping the ice from the windshield of my mother's stationwagon at 7 a.m.

I once wrote a pretty good novel about growing up in New Rochelle, but I couldn't sell it. If you'd like to read it, send me a request at [e-mail] and I'll reply with the file. It's called The Kickball War, and if it had been published, I imagine at least one review would have called it A hilarious and touching portrait of seventies suburbia through the eyes of a kid on the verge of becoming a neurotic mess. Not that the book has anything to do with me, of course.

For most of the past 15 years I've been practicing criminal appellate law in the Bay Area. I've represented hundreds of defendants in all manner of post-trial proceedings, from drunk driving cases to multiple murders. I have never tried a case. I represent the convicted'in other words, everyone who calls my office has been found guilty by a jury and sentenced, usually for long periods, to state or federal prison.

(For a sampling of the cases I've worked on, go to http://dylanschaffer.com/legal_work.htm )

Now, along with my day job, I write books, as well as notes to my wife explaining why my income has dropped so drastically in the past few years. My first, book, which I still think was a masterpiece, was Dog Stories (Chronicle Books, 1997), in which dogs declaimed about the foibles of their masters; the text accompanies terrific photographs by the genius graphics man, Jon Weber.

Then I wrote a couple novels, including the aforementioned Kickball War, and my agent said, "I can't sell these; please get me something I can sell." So I wrote the first of the Misdemeanor Man book, and the very good folks at Bloomsbury bought it, as well as the sequel.

And then I decided to take a break and write about a subject upon which I am the world's expert, that is, Dylan Schaffer. Which brings me back to my new book--Life, Death & Bialys: A Father/Son Baking Story. You can find much more information about the new book in my blog, which I call my GLOB at www.dylanschaffer.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Now what am I going to read on vacation?, June 11, 2004

By 

JohnHeeHaw "johnheehaw" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Misdemeanor Man (Paperback)

I bought this book to read on vacation but made the mistake of picking it up the other evening. I'm now about 90% of the way done with it and if it wasn't for my dang job I'd be finishing it right now. But while I'm seated at my PC anyhow... I'll review! Now I've got to find something ELSE to read on vacay (feel sorry for me yet?). Think of this book as a combination of adultish Scooby Doo hijinx and a Perry Mason legal thriller except Shaggy/Perry is obsessed with Barry Manilow. So you don't like Manilow? That's okay... I was a little put off by the Manilow connection at first since I'm not a big fan but I can relate to the obsessive nature of the characters (Am I running out to buy an album though? Hmm... I'm at least tempted to borrow one and give Mr. Manilow another chance). The characters are well written and likeable... and the book gets the legal thing in a way that's compelling and funny. As a resident of the SF Bay Area it's also amusing to read about "Santa Rita", a city that's so obviously Oakland yet differs in interesting ways. It keeps you turning the pages, chuckling, guessing, second-guessing and will keep me on the lookout for further adventures!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Misdemeanor Man, A very clever and delightful novel, July 16, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Misdemeanor Man (Paperback)

A very clever and delightful book, just when I thought I knew what the outcome would be, Schaffer threw a curve. I related to the story on two levels, one as a Maryland State District Court employee which handles the misdemeanors as well as traffic and civil cases. I always knew that the situations that we encountered on a daily basis would make a good storyline. Schaffer's use of analogies and explanations of the legal process are very insightful and at times very witty. The lead character, Seegerman's relationships with his family, friends and associates was written realistically. I was especially touched by the letter his mother wrote and the acknowledgement his father gave in reference to "I'm Your Child". I also related to the story as a fan of Barry Manilow. I really loved the way MBM was interspersed throughout the story in a very plausible manner. Schaffer includes quite a few misconceptions of the superstar and in his own words pays homage to the man and his illustrious career. Misdemeanor Man has action, mystery, humor, love, heartache, family illness, murder and all the fun things in life. I can hardly wait to read his next novel.
Ann Marsh

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars i hate legal stories and barry manilow, but...., June 18, 2004

By A Customer

This review is from: Misdemeanor Man (Paperback)

i am female and therefore have zero, zilch, nada interest in the picayune details of boring grishamania...and yet...i have not put this book down since picking it up this morning. oh, and by the way, i also hate barry manilow, but i am hoping that barry shows up to hear the mandys play!
and i want to know if gordon is going to get the girl in the end. screw the legal plot, this is a novel with fun characters and a setting i recognize as real and not "invented" by a writer who glanced out the window of a car one night and made a mental sketch. i live in the city and know the kind of places schaffer is decribing and they ring true.
i am a total skeptic and always looking to find fault with everything, and i find only enjoyment here. i really am routing for gordon and i think you will, too.