Citizen Vince: A Novel (Paperback)

~ (Author) "One day you know more dead people than live ones..." (more)
Key Phrases: maple bars, many dead people, donut shop, Vince Camden, New York, Johnny Boy (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Bookmarks Magazine

Jess Walter, who steps back in history for his third novel, brings back an "utterly inventive" tale of crime and politics (Washington Post). Walter, whose previous books include Land of the Blind and a non-fiction account of the Ruby Ridge massacre, Every Knee Shall Bow, seems to have found his stride as a novelist. Critics praise the author’s ability to straddle—or shatter—the conceits of the mystery novel, while offering a sincere, at times hilarious, rumination on the challenges of citizenship and the price of freedom. Except for the Seattle Times’s vote against the stream of consciousness chapters that delve into Reagan and Carter’s minds, the pundits all agree: Citizen Vince is the real deal.

Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

It's October 1980, and laid-back loner Vince Camden never misses a morning making maple bars at the doughnut shop he manages in Spokane, Washington. And he rarely misses a night relieving locals of their bankrolls at an after-hours poker game, selling his hooker pals pot at cost, and running a lucrative credit-card theft ring. Vince has landed in eastern Washington via the witness-protection plan, and he is starting to like the simple pleasures, including receiving his first voter-registration card. So even when a hit man, a local cop, and Mob-boss-in-waiting John Gotti get Vince in their crosshairs, he keeps trying to figure out if he should pull the lever for Reagan or Carter. This tale of unlikely redemption works because of Walter's virtuoso command of character and dialogue--along with a wicked second-act twist. The novel is also a gritty love letter to Spokane and all the other second-tier cities where residents don't realize how good they've got it, and with its Capara-like spirit, it serves as a surprisingly satisfying antidote to the avalanche of cynical chatter emanating from this year's political campaigns and commentators. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 293 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial (August 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060989297
• ISBN-13: 978-0060989293
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #513,884 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Walter Aims High and Almost Succeeds, August 15, 2005

By	A. Ross (Washington, DC) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Citizen Vince: A Novel (Hardcover)

Redemption is one of the big themes in fiction and narrative film. Alas, the sheer pervasiveness of redemption stories means that they really have to sparkle to stand out. Here, Walter flirts with greatness but never quite achieves it with a semi-crime story set in the days leading up to the 1980 presidential election. Vince Camden is a donut-maker in Spokane, Washington, living a fairly quiet routine of work, sleep, and late nights of cards at Sam's Pit -- a place kind of like Cheers, but with cops, crooks, and hookers as patrons. (This was a real place at 528 E. 2nd St. that shut down in the early '90s after several police raids.) The reader quickly learns that Vince is in the FBI's witness-protection program, having given evidence in a small-time New York mob case after getting stuck with a loan he couldn't repay to people that really don't like it when you don't repay loans. In addition to his donut gig, Vince is building up a little nest egg by running the same credit card number scam he ran in New York and dealing a little pot. He's even got a little romantic interest, with a crush on legal secretary who comes in for donuts every day, plus the hooker with a heart of gold he met at Sam's Pit. With his new identity, he's even eligible to vote for the first time, a symbol of his "rebirth" that becomes a totem of his new life.

However, as in all the great noir films, the past comes a-knockin'. First, his partners in the credit card scam start getting all squirrelly on him, and then a face from "the world' shows up. "The World" is, of course, the East Coast mob scene he ran away from. And like all good heroes from Mythology 101, Vince realizes he must journey to the underworld to face his demons in order to actualize his redemption. In his case, it means a harrowing journey back to New York to face up to the mobsters he wronged--including a dangerously capricious young John Gotti. Meanwhile, in Spokane, sharp rookie Detective Dupree realizes Vince is at the center of the bodies that are starting to pile up, and is hot on his trail.

This is all pretty normal crime genre stuff, but Walter makes it sparkle and sizzle with vivid scene-setting and crisp dialogue. Some of the scenes, such as Vince's epic poker game back in New York are simply scream to be filmed. Many of the characters are larger than life, but they never really get over the top. It's quality stuff that brings to mind another young American writer, David Benioff (The 25th Hour). It's not perfect though -- Walter gets a little ambitious and tries to weave in a whole parallel thing about the Reagan/Carter election and the zeitgeist of the country, and it doesn't really work. Two portions which imagine the inner thoughts of the presidential hopefuls are too precious and self-concious, although I did like how he worked an Anderson volunteer and a local Republican candidate into the action. But Vince's agonizing over who to vote for and his insistence on casting his ballot end up feeling rather forced by the end. Still, it's a good read and one that will have me checking out more of Walter's writing in the future.

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A vote for Vince, July 14, 2005

By	Jim Kershner (Spokane, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Citizen Vince: A Novel (Hardcover)

As wise-guy stories go, this one is uncommonly thoughtful. Walter's sardonic and suspenseful story -- about a small-time crook trying to go straight -- is populated with a cast of vividly drawn, constantly unpredictable characters. Wait until you meet the off-kilter Det. Charles, to name just one. Yet Walter adds another, deeper layer. He infuses the story with a running meditation on the importance of one vote in a democracy. Vince Camden had his voting rights taken away as a felon, but now he has a new identity in the witness protection program and he's free to vote in the 1980 election. But why should he bother? And who should he bother to vote for, Reagan or Carter? Walter smoothly turns these election-year questions into metaphors for the issues in Vince's life. Crooked or straight? Petty selfishness or civic responsibility? Mobbed up in New York or mowing the lawn in Spokane? As it turns out, one vote doesn't affect the outcome, but it sure has an impact on the guy casting the vote.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From first page to last, Walter's novel never disappoints, April 16, 2005

By	Bookreporter.com (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Citizen Vince: A Novel (Hardcover)

Jess Walter never stops surprising. He followed two excellent nonfiction works --- EVERY KNEE SHALL BOW and IN CONTEMPT --- with OVER TUMBLED GRAVES and LAND OF THE BLIND. CITIZEN VINCE, his latest novel, mixes a strong, present tense narrative with historical events to present a dark, restless study of lives gone awry.

CITIZEN VINCE isn't a novel that readily fits into a particular genre classification. There are elements that certainly will appeal to readers of crime fiction, but it's also a character study, one that explores the concepts of second chances, redemption, and even penance against the backdrop of the week leading up to the 1980 Presidential election between incumbent Jimmy Carter and former California Governor Ronald Reagan.

The storyline is fairly straightforward. Vince Camden is a two-bit thief from New York who has been witness-relocated to Spokane, Washington, where he works a "public job," if you will, running a donut shop. Camden is supplementing his income playing poker in the early morning hours and being the conduit for a credit card scam. He has settled into a reasonably quiet, secure life that includes --- for the first time in his adult life --- the chance to vote for president.

Camden has no idea how fragile his situation is until a mysterious killer appears in Spokane, looking to take over his credit card operation and wipe him out permanently. As if this wasn't enough, Camden finds himself embroiled in the life of a local politician and emotionally torn between a prostitute and a legal secretary. Camden believes that the source behind his imminent demise is back in what he refers to as "The World" --- New York. He hopes that by returning to New York he can square the reasons that caused him to leave there to begin with and hopefully call off the hit. A fateful high stakes poker game gives him the opportunity to obtain forgiveness --- and destruction, depending on how things fall.

Walter's prior forays into documentary works hold him in good stead here, as he uses a real-world dilemma --- Camden spends a lot of time agonizing over whether to vote for Carter or Reagan --- to provide a backdrop to the narrative. Toss a couple of real-world figures as brief but necessary participants into the story, infuse a street-level view of the action into the mix, and you have a novel that is impossible to put down even as you sense that the only way it can end is badly. Whether that is true or not, however, may depend on your point of view.

Jess Walter has developed a reputation for delivering quality fiction that is unpredictable but riveting. CITIZEN VINCE, from first page to last, lives up to that high standard and never disappoints.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub