Rag Man : A Novel [Hardcover]

Pete Hautman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 25, 2001

Suppose you quit your job, took out a second mortgage, and borrowed every penny of your in-laws' nest egg to start up a surefire new business. What if your partner ran off with all your money? What if you caught up with him? These are the questions Pete Hautman's hero faces in "Rag Man, a wryly funny, Faustian tale of a good man going bad.

Mack MacWray's new clothing manufacturing company was wildly successful -- until the day his charming, street-savvy partner, Lars Larson, disappeared with all the assets, leaving Mack stuck with nothing but debts and shattered dreams. Devastated, Mack thinks he has nothing left to live for until, at the edge of a cliff on the idyllic Mexican resort of Isla Mujeres, he comes face-to-face with his former partner. Mack discovers something about himself that fateful afternoon -- that maybe he's not such a nice guy after all. After push comes to shove, Mack must live with what he has become. Mack returns to the U.S. with his moral compass demagnetized and discovers a world of opportunity. Without the ball and chain of guilt and accountability, making money is all but guaranteed. He transforms himself from bankrupt loser to hard-nosed success story -- but at what cost? His wife wants the old Mack back; her best friend wants Mack in bed; Lars's widow wants money (or revenge); and Detective Jerry Pleasant wants answers -- or maybe more.

As the pace quickens and tensions rise, these characters begin to surprise even themselves. Pete Hautman treads the line between psychological darkness and laugh-out-loud funny as he asks tough questions about the nature of good and evil -- and offers some unexpected answers.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Can a man who has existed for years as a passive, unassuming plodder undergo a midlife epiphany and turn into a hard-charging, winner-take-all executive who no longer feels bound by the rules? Mack MacWray, a clothier from Minneapolis and the protagonist of Hautman's snappy new crime comedy, finds such a transition possible, but at a high cost. Mack's business has just gone belly up. Its downfall was Lars Larson, the velvet-tongued partner who absconded with all the company's cash, leaving Mack with debts, lawsuits and shattered confidence. He finds Larson in Mexico and watches, without lending any aid, as his former partner falls off a cliff and dies. The incident chills Mack, yet it also fills him with a strange sense of power: he no longer feels the need to meet any of his responsibilities or obligations. Mack emerges as a shark, pulling his company out of bankruptcy through a rough mix of selfishness, force and charm. He also cheats on his wife, steals when the opportunity arises and resorts to violence when necessary. When he finally realizes what he has become, it's too late for redemption. Enlivening his tale with deadpan humor and crisp dialogue, Hautman (Mr. Was; Drawing Dead) keeps things witty and light, but ultimately confronts the darkness that the plot promises. He draws on his talent for creating characters with quick strokes and scenes that move with lightning (if at times predictable) efficiency, and gives voice to a desire the ability to cast aside societal conventions that many of us secretly harbor, but few have the nerve to fulfill. Agent, Jonathon Lazear, the Lazear Agency.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Charismatic Lars Larson has talked nice-guy Mack MacWray into going into the garment business together. Lars will take care of sales and marketing; Mack's job is production. The orders start pouring in, and Mack thinks he's finally hit the big time. Then Lars disappears, and Mack is left holding the bank note. His wife talks him into going to a Mexican resort for a few days to escape the stress of dealing with creditors. There he comes face to face with Lars. A few minutes later, Lars is dead. Forced to seriously reassess his self-image, Mack undergoes a dramatic change. He talks the bank into refinancing his business, ruthlessly rides his suppliers, and begins an extramarital affair with his wife's best friend. When Lars' grieving widow and partner-in-crime materializes with talk of blackmail, Mack shifts into high gear. Hautman, veteran writer of the comic caper (Ring Game, 1997), turns much darker here with a riveting thriller about stepping over the thin line separating an average citizen from a stone-cold criminal. Joanne Wilkinson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition first Printing edition (September 25, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743205596
• ISBN-13: 978-0743205597
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,461,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Okay, here's some miscellaneous personal info. I'll try to be as brief as possible. I was born in 1952 in Berkeley, California, or so I am told (I don't really remember). At age five I moved to St. Louis Park, Minnesota where I went to Cedar Manor Elementary School (also the alma mater of Al Franken and the Coen brothers, and no, they are not close personal friends of mine) and eventually graduated honor-free from St. Louis Park High School. This is so tedious. Why do you keep reading? For the next seven years I attended the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and the University of Minnesota. Contrary to recent news reports, I did not graduate from either institution. After college I worked various jobs for which I was ill-suited, including sign painter, graphic artist, marketing executive, pineapple slicer, etc. Eventually, having exhausted other options, I decided to write. My first novel, Drawing Dead, was published in 1993. Today, I live with mystery writer and poet Mary Logue in Golden Valley, Minnesota and Stockholm, Wisconsin. We have two small dogs (are you still reading?) named Rene and Jacques. There you have it. Fifty-plus years compressed into a few short paragraphs. Feel free to copy and paste for your book report, but don't tell anybody I suggested it. Need to know more? Check out the FAQs page on my website at http://www.petehautman.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ragman - A great look at people and what they are capable of, October 1, 2001

By 

J. Jordan "Editor of Crimespree Magazine" (milwaukee, wi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rag Man : A Novel (Hardcover)

Mack MacWray is a typical guy. He lives in a average house, has an average wife, and an average job. He's not
aggressive, goes with the flow. The kind of guy most people don't notice. He works as a "ragman". He's the guy in a
clothing factory that keeps the machinery working, the cloth flowing. And in this position for a large manufacturer
he
meets Lars Larson. Lars is smooth. Everybody like Lars. He's the people guy. A great salesman.

And Lars talks Mack into starting his own company. Together they form Mac-Lar. Mack handling the floor and the
running
of the business. Lars, the people guy takes care of sales. And together with a beautiful bookkeeper he handles the
money.

And then one morning Lars is gone. And Mack discovers that the money is too. And at this point the story really
begins.
Mack starts to change. And we get to watch as Mack goes from a mild mannered, timid, nice guy to a ruthless
businessman.
It's a fun thing to watch as Mack starts to surprise himself. And it's scary to see at the same time. As he is
juggling
more and more things in the air, you know eventually something will fall. And you want to see what goes first, hoping
it
won't, but knowing it has to. Or does it? How well has Mack learned his new art?

This book is engrossing. I was afraid to put it down for fear I would miss something, as if Mack would make a move
with
out waiting for me to be there to read it. I try to make good books last, reading a bit at a time. But I couldn't
with
this book. The only reason I stopped was to sleep. And I picked it up as soon as I woke up and finished it. I forgot
to
eat. This is one of the best books I've read in years. I highly recommend picking up a copy.

Jon Jordan

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional tale, October 1, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Rag Man : A Novel (Hardcover)

Mack MacWray ran the sewing operation of Linkway Sportswear when the firm hired Lars Larson as national sales manager. Gradually, the two men bond and become friends so when Lars decides to open up his own company to compete with Linkway, Mack joins him, forming a partnership, Mac Lar Manufacturing. Mack owns sixty percent and is president.

Mack believes everything is going perfect as demand is way ahead of supply and credit is readily available if needed. However, everything abruptly collapses when Lars vanishes, taking all the liquid assets with him. Some time later by either a cosmic thirst for revenge or just a colossal coincidence, Mack meets Lars in Mexico, an unexpected rendezvous that changes the ethical man forever.

Pete Hautman has written an exceptional tale centering on the impact of a con artist misjudging his mark. The story line is fast paced with plenty of action and credible characters especially the lead duo though the transformation of Mack from a caring brilliant individual into a cold clone of Lars seems abrupt. Still RAG MAN is a pleasant reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Maybe credible, perhaps not. Would make a good movie., March 3, 2002

By 

Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Rag Man : A Novel (Hardcover)

The RAG MAN is Mack, partner with Lars in a small garment manufacturing enterprise. Mack keeps the machinery running, while Lars is "the people guy" - the salesman. Lars is also the one who's just absconded to Mexico with the firm's funds and the statuesque blond bookkeeper, Rita. Left to deal with an empty payroll account, unfilled orders and snarling creditors, Mack is like a deer caught in the high beams. To Mack's wife, Paula, he's safe, honest, kind and utterly predictable. As she wistfully muses, why can't he stand up for himself, maybe "scare her a little"? As they say, one should be careful what is wished for.

Mack shortly returns from a visit to Mexico a radically changed man. As he aggressively retakes control of his tottering business from the bank, his complete personality about-face alters the lives of those most closely associated with him and the Lars fiasco: Paula, Rita, and the local gumshoe assigned to the criminal investigation of the embezzlement, Detective Pleasant.

The principal characters, even the top-heavy Rita, are ones we might meet in real life. (Well, eye-popping bimbos like Rita are regrettably missing from the social circles I inhabit.) Their problems could just as well be ours, and you'd think that would cause the reader to extend sympathy. But, as darker sides surface, maybe not. And is Mack's transformation by serendipitous events in Cancún believable? Perhaps not. (Personally, I didn't think it was.) What I can say is that RAG MAN is an adequately entertaining work of dark humor that explores the repercussions and just desserts of actions taken (or not) without being particularly profound. With the proper casting and screen adaptation, it would make a wonderful, low budget film reminiscent of FARGO or A SIMPLE PLAN.

RAG MAN is a short tale that can be finished in a day, or 15 minutes if you're a speed-reader. Thus, if it falls short in your opinion, then little time has been invested. Then again, you may consider it a 5-star morality play.