After a mutant offshoot of AIDS virtually destroys human life across the United States, a multi-racial group of ravaged survivors in lower Manhattan joins forces to face the grave new world that awaits them. Reprint.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The author of The Warlord seems likely to have another bestseller on his hands with this sweeping novel, a sort of postapocalyptic Canterbury Tales . A viral disease, V-70, has decimated the population of the earth, leaving only a handful of survivors, many of them with failing eyesight and feeble lungs. In New York a group of survivors--many of them poor blacks and Latinos, but also a smattering of white middle-class--has banded together, calling themselves the Skulls, under the leadership of a blind former Wall Street wheeler-dealer, Mister Touch. Skull rules are simple: no drugs, weapons only for self-defense against the roaming packs of savage dogs--and no memories: everyone is named anew, with the kinds of jazzy sobriquets once written as subway graffiti: Fierce Rabbit, Cola Face, Boo Bang, Queen Sexy, Adidas. The Skulls survive a raid by a rival gang seeking their only medical person (professional expertise is at a premium), but Mister Touch decides that life in the city is impossible and leads his raggle-taggle army in a caravan of cars and trucks to Arizona, where they can breathe better and, perhaps, settle down and start over. The epic journey, full of adventures and encounters in a superbly imagined country given over to the dead, eventually succeeds, but at enormous cost. Bosse's skill in keeping his huge cast in action (there are more than 120 characters, many of them prominently featured, most of them deftly sketched) is extraordinary. The novel, though it focuses on Touch, his leadership anxieties and his moving love affair with Spirit of the Dark, is full of stories: ribald, exciting, touching, absurd. And the jive dialogue of many of the Skulls seems note-perfect. There are lapses: the assassination attempt, in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, by a spurned lover of Touch, is somewhat overdone, and there is some graphic violence. But overall Mister Touch is a big, supremely vital and exhilarating vision of human endurance.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Mister Touch is blind, white, a former Wall Street crook, and the leader of the Skulls , the New York survivors of an apocalyptic virus that has killed most of the human race. The Skulls are trying to maintain a semblance of civilization, but there are a few other survivors, too--drug-crazed sex fiends, wild dogs. Breathing and sight problems afflict the Skulls, and Mister Touch decides they should migrate to a better climate--Arizona. Each of the Skulls has been given a new name to forget the past. (Over 120 names and descriptions are listed in an appendix; and except for five or six main characters, referral is necessary.) The escape from New York, the journey across America, and the climax in Arizona are filled with adventure, pop dialog, and philosophical speculations on life, race, religion, law, and survival. Echoes of The Road Warrior , mentioned in the text, are here, but this is a richer work. Complex, sometimes funny, always human, this novel by the author of the best-selling The Warlord deserves a wide readership. It might become a cult favorite. Recommended.
- Robert H. Donahugh, formerly with Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
- Robert H. Donahugh, formerly with Youngstown & Mahoning Cty. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent apocalyptic virus storline, similar to The Stand.,
By A Customer
This review is from: Mister Touch
AIDS related virulent strain is released upon the world. The story centers around a group of survivors from NYC. The survivors eventually decide to look for greener grass after rival groups attack. The story chronicles their crosscountry journey battling effects of the disease, jealousy, greed, bandits, etc. The storyline will remind you of The Stand, but without the mystical leader
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Psychadelic decimation,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Mister Touch (Paperback)
This was a very different tale of a pandemic that destroys most of humankind. The novel starts in New York City with a band of survivors that have holed up in a hotel. And they are a much different group than you read about in most post-apocalyptic novels. I'm not going into detail - guess you'll have to take my word for it or read "Mister Touch" yourself.
The group finally decides, after a few not-so-great happenings in NYC, to head cross-country to a drier climate in the hopes of improving their health. The rest of the book details their many adventures as they find their way to Arizona. Totally different but strangely very compelling.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Has Haunted Me for Years,
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This review is from: Mister Touch (Paperback)
I read this book years ago and it continues to haunt me. I recommend it highly.
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