On the streets of Lima, an abandoned baby struggles to survive. Desperate, alone, he first relies on the pity of those stronger than him. He never feels or even hopes for the sensation of love or compassion, he's not even aware that there are such things in the world. As he grows, he hardens in body and mind, he is given many names in his tortured life, but none fit him better than thief.
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Editorial Reviews
About the Author
Ben Jonjak was born in Wisconsin in 1975. After receiving a degree in English Literature in 2001, he embarked on a diligent quest to avoid any kind of real work. He currently lives in Lima, where things are inexpensive and writing in English is candy for the mind.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
adolescent ideas + poor writing = terrible book,
By
This review is from: Thief (Paperback)
If a book succeeds on its own terms, I generally consider it to be a success. I don't expect every book I read to be a literary masterpiece, nor do I expect every book I read to present new and original ideas. Thief, however, fails to live up to even its modest potential: it is terribly written, and it rather ineffectively veils a vitriolic and naive assumption that wealthy Americans are to blame for the world's problems behind its purported glimpse into the life of a criminal slum resident. On the first point, the chief fault is the author's complete lack of narrative consistency. Is this a detached description of a person's life? Fine, then why break into first person every fifth page to complain about how Americans are to blame for his plight? Is this a firsthand description of slum life in a third world country? Then pony up, and drop the half-baked character development and one dimensional supporting cast (complete with a pedophilic priest). Much more egregious an offense, however, is the author's clear intent to "expose" the complicity of America, and in particular its wealthy elite, in the miserable existence of the third world poor. Expose might be the wrong word, though, since there is nary a shred of evidence to support the author's frequent and increasingly bitter claims that America is much more responsible for his character's plights, than, say, the Peruvian government or the native middle class. No, they are, as the author explains at the end, a really friendly bunch, not like those Oprah fans in hollow, cosumerist America (and bewarned -- Oprah makes an uncredited and wincingly obvious cameo). If this was to be a anti-American diatribe, it would be much more palatable with even a modicum of evidence, the lack of which speaks volumes on the depth and maturity of the author's views. So, to summarize: this book fails at both its stated purpose as a work of fiction, and at its true intent, which is to rail against America as the source of suffering in the world. And it's rife with spelling errors, to boot. Just awful.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
What was he thinking?,
By kathryn marchese (lincroft, nj United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Thief (Paperback)
This was a great idea for a story. Great potential for theme and plot, etc. But the execution didn't even come close to living up to that potential. The author rambles on and on re-empasizing the same points over and over again, trying to show a theme. The plot is pretty good except that it trails off and the ending is very poor. It is very good about 2/3 through and then it becomes worthless. Now for the incredible "what was he thinking?" part: the lack of editing. I can't even beleive how sloppy this book is. There are misspelling and errors all over, and in a few parts there are crazy typos such as the letter "b" being in the middle of a sentence. What is up with that? If you're going to take the time to write and publish a book, edit it for god's sake! My guess is this thing took a couple dozen hours to write and wasn't even read though, let alone fully edited, after the writing process was done.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Like reading the novelization of an after-school special,
By A Customer
This review is from: Thief (Paperback)
This is a dreadful novel, taking a potentially intriguing situation and contorting it, through clumsy prose, inconsistent narration, and absurd melodrama, into a complete disaster.The narrative lacks any sort of authorial detachment, and we're thus bombarded with heavy-handed platitudes and insipid sermonizing--giving the characters all the depth and nuance of "good guys" and "bad guys" in an after-school special. There is a predictable reliance on cliches (the priest is a 'deranged sexual predator'; someone's head 'filled with rage'; a feeling 'swept over him'), and a discernible lack of copyediting, e.g., "You're very, very, dirty." In short, this is the sort of effort you might expect from an eager (if not particularly talented) freshman in a high school writing program. That it's a vanity title (published because the author paid to publish it) should surprise no one. One is well advised to look elsewhere for deft social commentary, three-dimensional characters, or engaging prose.
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