Author Description

<p>Exploring the paranoia and bravura of the modern American male, these powerful novellas depict a realm marked by faltering blunders, misguided intentions, and the fear of failure.</p> <p>At once comical and terrifying, "I Am Death, or Bartleby the Mobster" charts the slumped career of a muckraking journalist, Jack, who has managed to attract the attention of Frank Fini, one of Chicago's great mob bosses. Fini wants to hire Jack to ghostwrite his autobiography, A Boy's First Book of Mobsters, and so begins a journey through hell as Jack attempts to restore his career, revive his ex-wife's interest in him, and stay one step ahead of Fini and the mob.</p> <p>"Peasants," alternately satirical and tender, takes as its setting the modern corporate office, in this case a publisher of guides for users of geographic information systems. Walter Rasmussen has developed a few successful books and his future looks bright. But as a special project begins to falter and he finds his position in jeopardy, he begins to suspect his colleagues of sabotaging his career.</p> <p>As he did with Visigoth, Gary Amdahl demonstrates that he is our most adept and honest guide into the psyche of the modern American male.</p>