The Contortionist's Handbook
"A stunningly intense debut novel about a talented young forger who continually reinvents himself to escape the authorities. 'I swear to God this is the best book I have read in easily five years. Easily. Maybe ten years." - Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club.
Following a near fatal overdose of painkillers, Daniel Fletcher is resuscitated in a Los Angeles emergency room and detained for psychiatric evaluation. Through a series of questions and tests, the psychiatrist must ascertain whether the patient intended to kill himself, or whether he can walk free. What the psychiatrist doesn't know is that 'Daniel Fletcher' is actually John - Johnny - Dolan Vincent, a brilliant young forger who continually changes his identity to save himself from a lifetime of incarceration. Johnny has done such assessments before - many, many times. As he creates an elaborate bluff for the evaluator, Johnny reveals the true story of his traumatic past - a broken family, descent into the sinister world of forgers and criminals, and his one chance of salvation in the beautiful and elusive Molly. But time is running out; as his underworld clients lose patience and the psychiatrist's net closes around him, Johnny has to negotiate the escape act of his life. Evoking the boulevards and strip bars of 1980s LA with cinematic intensity, The Contortionist's Handbook is a darkly hypnotic and stunningly original debut.
Comments
Does anyone know why The Contortionist's Handbook is unavailable new anywhere? It appears that Amazon and Borders don't stock it, selling only 3rd party copies at over $40!
Foo
last i heard (from clevenger himself) is that it's not currently being printed. in fact, i remember when i first bought it years ago, the bookstore had to order it for me.
there's one on amazon for $25 plus shipping. also look at this copy:
really? and it's not even a special edition, as far as i can tell.
That book was published by MacAdam/Cage, who fell upon hard times the last couple years. True, it wasn't the easiest book to get even back in the day, but I assume the out-of-print-ness was due to publisher financials. I heard a few months ago that they had a new investor with some cash flow, but they've been silent ever since then.
I should list my copy for 899.00 and see if anyone bites. It's like new!
I got a paperback on ebay for $20 last week. I bought it to give to someone, but yeah, it took a while to find one that reasonably priced. It's a damn shame that it's out of print.
Damn. I should definitely sell mine. I bought if from amazon last year for like, $3.
read this book
read dermaphoria too.
I got a copy off of Amazon for $9.99 a couple of weeks ago in new condition. I've been getting a bunch of great recommendations from this site and will be putting a lot of them on ebay after I read them.
Mine was $24. Hardcover.
Why no Contortionist's Handbook t shirts? hmmmm
The Book is available and a great read. Loved every word.
Stuart
Go to a small Bookstore that will find it for you, thats what I did. Great Debut.
Excellent book, by the way. I finished the first page and knew I was in love with the way Craig writes.
Yeah, that first page/chapter really makes you fall in love with his voice, his style right from the get-go.
A very clever opening chapter, too.
"I can count my overdoses on one hand."
yep, fantastic opening for a remarkable book..