The Most Amazing Thing (Hardcover)

by Robert Grudin (Author) "This isn't happening..." (more)
Key Phrases: white wolf, Our Beloved, Lomo Morado, Desmond Ruck (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Grudin is a modern Emerson." -- John H. Finley, Jr

Grudin "blends biting social commentary with a fantastic adventure for an unruly, often hilarious romp through American culture." -- Eugene Register-Guard, 12/9/01

Product Description
The Most Amazing Thing, is the extravagant narrative of Desmond Ruck, a midlife down-and-outer who stumbles into a big-crime shootout, escapes in a van filled with billions, and journeys across America in a series of bizarre encounters and close escapes. Safe at last, Ruck embarks on a number of outsized philanthropic ventures. But his largesse and compassion get him into really big trouble.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 386 pages
• Publisher: knowhere Press (December 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0965899519
• ISBN-13: 978-0965899512
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #933,326 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Amazing Adventure, November 23, 2003

By	"anabellabella" (Duluth, MN USA) - See all my reviews

This is a wonderful book. The most amazing thing about it is the author's imagination. It concerns the adventures of one Desmond Ruck, a man bigger than most physically and larger than most morally. He stumbles upon a Bill-Gates-size fortune in negotiable bonds and a beautiful South American bookkeeper somehow connected to it, who keeps disappearing into the clutches of assorted nefarious groups from whom he keeps trying to rescue her. If I found a trillion dollars, I don't know what I'd do with it. But Desmond Ruck knows what to do with it. No futile attempts to reform campaign finance or to enjoy himself kicking up his heels in Cannes. He is a rescuer. At the same time, he is a practical man (actually a carpenter), so, once he gets past some pretty awful situations and figures out how to cash in some of those bonds, he goes in for practical rescues. He rescues people. First, a paraplegic old geezer, then a pair of brutally isolated and abused teenagers, and then -- working his way up -- the inhabitants of a bawdy house (he provides them with college scholarships) and an orphanage (he provides it with a luxurious boarding-school ranch in the Southwest), and so on. At the end, after putting Desmond through an incredible series of misadventures, the author manages to wrap up every single solitary detail, every surreptitious subtext and sidelong glance, into a smashing conclusion that kept me smiling optimistically for days.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Pleasing and fast read, December 8, 2001

By	"shempenman" (Portland, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews

(...). Imagine a combination of Candide and "Forrest Gump" except with a lucid and intelligent narrator/protagonist and you'll be close. Add in an author inspired by Rabelais and possessing a strong humanist spine and you can start to smack the taste in your mouth. Combine these with a lean over to one side and slightly to the back at the strained pop and contemporary culture references and you'll get its overall sense. The main nuisance was the faintly antiseptic feeling of one who wants to write about being in the mud, but hasn't ever quite dipped in. Many will find it a riot, others who have led a riotous life will find it charming, but not ever quite "there". It's provocative and fantastic as it aspires to much while never standing still, like many ambitious books, waving its hands in your face demanding: "I am an important book!" This novel wants to entertain, and does copiously, but may evoke chuckles and smirks when it aspires for comedic gasps and release.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A truly amazing book, December 8, 2001

By	DD of NYC (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This book immediately captures your attention and makes you smile. The hero is just so darned likable. I thought it was going to be the story of how the initial grabber resolves itself, but no such predictability here. It soon becomes clear that this is as much saga as story, as much fable as fiction, and the odyssey just won't stop. It's a ripping good yarn that works on myriad levels. I recommend it with enthusiasm to anyone needing an escape, an excuse, a hero, a redemption, a purpose, or a good laugh.