The Beggars' Shore (Paperback)

~ Zak Mucha (Author) "Joseph sat in Preacher Madison's office and listened to the final decision, not questioning or protesting when he was told what would happen..." (more)
Key Phrases: whiskey caps, Preacher Madison, Old John, Salvation Army (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

"Growing up where I did, I learned one lesson fast: if you like something--a racehorse, a prize fighter, the chances of the guy kneeling on a blanket in the alley making a hard eight--you back it with more than your opinion. You ante up.

Chicago's notorious Uptown neighborhood is the last stop on the down elevator, a dumping ground for people who have run out of road and choices. Joseph Askew, raised in a rigid and insular religious commune, walks out one day, searching. He starts his journey where the world's failures end theirs.

The "Word" on which Joseph was raised plays differently on the streets. The teenager learns a new set of rules from his teachers: transvestite prostitutes, small-change thieves, ex-pimps, and other denizens of a bleak shadowland where every occupant is constantly shape-shifting between predator and prey. The only exit sign is double-arrow neon: the jailhouse or the graveyard.

The Beggars' Shore is a story of pilgrimage, a journey where the destination is only "not here." Joseph tries to carve out a place for himself while working at a liquor store and squatting in a dilapidated flat with his girlfriend and her drug habit. Waiting for his big payday from the man known only as "the Printer," he dreams of building a future of his own. As the boy seeking manhood tries to gather the pieces of his life, he learns how much of the world can fall away from him. Evocative, powerful, and compelling, The Beggars' Shore is a masterful debut.

Product Details

• Paperback: 309 pages
• Publisher: Red 71 Pr (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966947606
• ISBN-13: 978-0966947601
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #2,089,914 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Completely engrossing, heart breaking, and brutal, August 11, 1999

By A Customer

I stumbled across this book at a friends house and just started leafing through it but pretty soon had to stop everything and read it cover to cover. It's the story of a runaway kid escaped from religious cult. He falls in with Uptown Chicago disenfranchised types; hookers, con men, and other lost souls and unblinkingly sees the underbelly of the world. The writing is clean and cuts right through, like a surgical knife. This is the kind of book that becomes part of your personal emotional repertoire.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Uncompromised excellence, January 15, 2000

By A Customer

Zak Mucha fills a gap in American (and even moreso, Chicago)literature. His starkly poetic realism forces the reader is feel the dismal urban world of his characters through their skin. We smell what they smell, plot what they plot, and recoil from the pain they feel. All this, and not a drop of sentimentality. It's the kind of approach one usually only is exposed to through certain foreign films, directed by mavericks not yet corrupted by the mandatory safeness of contemporary art. An excellent book, written by an exciting new author.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars BEGGAR'S SHORE: A VERY SPECIAL ACHIEVEMENT, August 19, 1999

By A Customer

BEGGAR'S SHORE is not just a remarkable first novel it's a remarkable novel period. Reminescent of James T. Farrell and Nelson Algren, Mr. Mucha has captured the emotional vacancy and the desperation of Chicago's lesser known environs and their inhabitants. A very special achievment. Buy it. Read it. You won't be dissapointed.