Apathy and Other Small Victories (Hardcover)

by Paul Neilan (Author) "I was stealing saltshakers again..." (more)
Key Phrases: General Lee, Marlene Burton, Panopticon Insurance (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Like many a hip young literary antihero these days, the protagonist of this hilarious if aimless debut is sunk in slacker anomie. Shane has a monotonous temp job at an insurance agency, where he is supposed to alphabetize paperwork but instead spends his time sleeping on the toilet. After work, he is besieged by a gallery of grotesques: a vapid girlfriend who sexually brutalizes him; an absurdly macho neighbor with a leather-clad guinea pig for a sex slave; and his dentist's deaf assistant, who sings atonal karaoke, teaches him to sign obscenities and furnishes a wispy narrative thread by getting murdered. In a world both banal and assaultive, Shane can only drink, steal salt shakers and cultivate his sense of irony; "[t]here's only so much you can do," he shrugs, "and even that's not worth the trouble." Shane's malaise doesn't feel earned; job aside, there are just too many gonzo goings-on—the landlord, for instance, is paying him to have sex with his wife—for him to feel so listless. There's not much to Shane besides a defiant dejectedness, but from that Neilan spins many sparkling comic riffs on the tawdriness and sterility of American life. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Shane's a numb loser in a city full of freaks. He learned to swear in sign language so he could converse with his dentist's deaf hygienist, but now she's dead, and the police want answers and fluid samples. When it's not sending up crime novels, the narrative satirizes soulless corporate life, but Shane is hard to take either way. In a rare moment of honest assessment, he notes, "I have always thought of people as punch lines." And that's what this book is: an onrushing series of twisted gags, some of them hilarious, others not so much. (Neilan would be funnier if he wasn't so smugly sure of how funny he is.) A highlight: "And then there was some sex . . . We were like two dead fish being slapped together by an off-duty clown." Remember those "Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey" throwaways that used to run between sketches on Saturday Night Live? This is a (barely) novel-length version of that kind of humor. In other words, juvenile fun for undiscerning lads with two hours to kill. A mystery for the Maxim generation. Frank Sennett
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press (May 2, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312351747
• ISBN-13: 978-0312351748
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.3 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (63 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #501,445 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars more fun than getting drunk before work and sleeping on the toilet, May 15, 2006

By	MJQ (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews

I can't express how funny this book is. It satirizes that 95% of the world that makes your life more miserable with each passing minute. The breakup scene beginning on page 172 makes me so happy that I want to hang it on my wall. His ex-girlfriend tries to hurt him with shallow pop psychology insults and he mocks her so slyly and satisfyingly that I cheered. Every page contains multiple out loud laughs.

It's a difficult book to describe but an easy one to read and enjoy.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Debut, May 15, 2006

By	J. Arredondo (So Cal, USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I thought this book was ridiculously funny. Originally, I only bought this because Max Barry said to (I'm a sucker for a great marketing scheme), but I have been euphoric to find that this was a smart and funny story that had me crying from laughing so hard. Quite possibly one of the funniest books I have read today.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I am not funny. But this book makes me feel funny..., May 15, 2006

By	T. Ross "TSR" (UWS, NYC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

... in the best way possible.

I compulsively read sections of it out loud to anyone who will listen.

I also highly encouraged a crowded room of librarians to buy it and read it out loud to their patrons.