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Below is the complete
text of the review for Lost that appeared in the Philadelphia
Inquirer on February 8, 2001:
There are a million
laughs in the big city, as a sharp-eyed writer shows
Lost
By Scott Stein
Free Reign Press. 207 pp. $22.95
Reviewed by Robin Henry
Who’s
the man with the bushy mustache?
That’s
what Jeremy Keller wants to know.
The
reader wants to find out, too. But there’s more to Scott Stein’s Lost
than revealing the identity of the mystery man following Jeremy.
The
plot is nearly overshadowed by the wonderfully comic way Stein, who grew
up in Queens and now lives outside Philadelphia, depicts urban living and
modern culture.
Jeremy
Keller knows his life has a purpose. So what if he’s been working in a toy
company mailroom for seven years and has nothing to show for it but a
collection of 2,918 rubber bands? And so what if he’s in love with a woman
who barely knows he is alive?
He’s
being followed. That happens only to people who are special. And Jeremy
believes he’s special. He’s just been waiting for fate to step in and give
him a sign.
It
could be the man with the bushy mustache. Or it could be a mystery package
that suddenly disappears. Either way, Jeremy knows something big is about
to happen.
And so
the novel begins. The mystery man and the mystery package set off a chain
of incidents and misunderstandings reminiscent of 30-minute prime-time TV.
Just
like the man with the bushy mustache, the reader gets to follow Jeremy in
and around New York, from the top of the Empire State building to the
depths of the subway, as he tries to find a coworker he thinks may have
died, tries to woo the girl of his dreams, and is forced to wait for his
destiny
— and the man with the
bushy mustache
— to reveal
themselves.
Stein
has a keen eye for the details of our cultural landscape. And he sprinkles
his scenes with deadpan one-liners and cultural reference points. Theme
restaurants, bomb scares, video games, voice mail and even flesh-eating
viruses are stitched into amusing sitcom-style situations.
In one
instance, Jeremy is taken to the hospital after having an allergic
reaction to strawberries. When he is ready to be discharged, he learns his
clothes have been destroyed as a precaution. He could have had an
Ebola-style virus.
A nurse
suggests that Jeremy “borrow” the jumpsuit of an off-duty
— and a bit off-kilter
— janitor to get home.
But Jeremy quickly rejects the nurse’s plan:
“This
isn’t a sitcom you know. This is my life. I’m not going to get caught up
in wacky misadventures posing as a janitor and hiding from a
screwdriver-wielding maniac just to please you
— this isn’t
Three’s Company.”
Yet
Jeremy’s daily life is a set of wacky misadventures. He gets clobbered by
bureaucracy and basic technology and even has a few brushes with the law,
all with great comic effect.
Then
there’s the girl of his dreams. She works at a specialty shop that sells
only strawberry products
— the very food he is
allergic to. He doesn’t have the courage to ask her out, so he goes to the
shop every day and orders a basket of strawberries just to see her.
Instead
of throwing the berries away when he gets outside, he offers them to
people on the street
— or at least tries
to.
One
woman demands that he taste the fruit first and requires him to sign a
note and show his driver’s license before she’ll take a piece: “How did
she know he wasn’t some psycho handing out poisoned strawberries for
kicks? She wouldn’t fall for his ploy, refused to be the headline of
tomorrow’s New York Post: STRAWBURIED!”
Is
Jeremy naive in a savvy city? Maybe so. Throughout the book his
well-intentioned acts are turned upside down by others’ fear and cynicism.
But Stein takes care to keep the novel light. Even workplace violence
— or the perceived
threat of it
— makes a great punch
line.
So
who’s the man with the bushy mustache? The question does get answered. And
true to form, the answer has a comic twist. But it isn’t the revelation of
Jeremy’s destiny that makes Lost a page-turner. It’s Stein’s
insightful tweaking of city living and modern times.
Robin Henry is an Inquirer staff writer.
—end
of Philadelphia Inquirer review—
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Below is the review of Lost when it was a Daily Pick
on BookSense.com:
“New York City at the end of the 20th
century, and Jeremy, the protagonist of this witty, deadpan debut novel,
is being followed, though he doesn’t
mind. He is, after all, destined for great things, in which case, being
followed is to be expected. And yes, he doesn’t
know why he is being followed. And his job is nothing to brag about
either. And a certain police detective has it in for him. And the love of
his life doesn’t know he exists. And he
thinks he’s responsible for the death of
an innocent man. And his rent is late. And he lost the mysterious envelope
that just might have the answers he’s
looking for. And New York can’t seem to
leave him in peace. But at least he is being followed. Not everyone can
say that. And so with hilarious and winning effect, Stein captures an
ordinary guy’s life as it descends into
an existential car chase through the twisty turns of New York City
— getting lost has
never been so enjoyable.”
—end
of BookSense.com review—
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Below is an advance
praise blurb for Lost, from Lester Goran,
author of the New York Times Notable Book Tales from the Irish
Club and numerous other books:
“In the seemingly impossible, Scott Stein has
brought to the urban comic novel fresh perspectives and variations on the
by now venerable form of the wandering naif in the big city, pursued by
the antic perils that constitute life where skyscrapers block the sun.
Jeremy, Stein’s picaresque hero, wanders the streets, subways, and office
buildings of New York in pursuit of his dreams of glory and at every turn
finds himself not the searcher but somebody’s victim. It is American
conspiracy theory run riot in hilarious premises that no sitcom can match.
This is a funny man, and Lost is a funny book, turning sacred cows
upside down, sometimes more than one to a page, explosive, insightful, and
with language that’s sharp and crackles like the twists of Stein’s plot.
It’s a furious and often dead serious romp until the very last page.”
—end
of Lester Goran blurb—
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Valerie Block,
author of Was It Something I Said? and None of Your Business,
wrote this advance praise blurb for Lost:
“With a lightness of touch,
Scott Stein takes on the inanities, barbarities, and pretensions of modern
urban life in this winning first novel. Lost is what happens to an
ordinary guy when an ordinary day turns into an existential car chase
through the subways of New York City. The book is packed with hilarious,
deadpan descriptions of brushes with bureaucracy, technology, insanity.
Stein’s keen appreciation for the absurd (talking car alarms, vertical
food, specialty retail outlets selling strawberry-related products only)
makes this novel fun. Get
Lost.”
—end
of Valerie Block blurb—
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In a review
of Lost, the Queens Courier said:
“This urban comic novel is an entertaining
view of a lost soul in the big city ... it’s a furious romp well worth
reading.”
—end
of Queens Courier review excerpt—
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In a listing of
a bookstore reading of Lost, the Bucks County Courier Times
said:
“A
humorous look at the human condition as it exists in today’s cities.”
—end
of
Bucks County Courier Times
mention—
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Washington Square News, the student newspaper of New York
University, said this about Lost:
“His descriptions of [Washington Square
Park] are exquisitely accurate, from performers showcasing unusual talents
to not-so-furtive marijuana dealers.”
—end
of Washington Square News review excerpt—
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Below is an
excerpt from the review of Lost that
appeared in Drexel University’s student
newspaper, the Triangle:
“... never fails to elicit a grin ...
Emphasis should be placed on the entertainment value of the novel ... most
certainly a worthwhile read.”
—end
of Triangle review excerpt—
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Plot summary from inside dust jacket flap:
“It was the truth and there
was no denying it. Jeremy Keller was being followed. At
first he didn’t quite believe it. Who gets followed in
real life?”
Welcome to Jeremy’s world: New York City at
the end of the 20th century. Yes, Jeremy is
being followed, but he doesn’t mind. He is, after all,
destined for great things. A little being followed is to
be expected.
And yes, he doesn’t know
why he is being followed. And his job is nothing to brag
about either. And a certain police detective has it in for
him. And the love of his life doesn’t know he exists. And
he thinks he’s responsible for the death of an innocent
man. And his rent is late. And he lost the mysterious
envelope that just might have the answers he’s looking
for. And New York can’t seem to leave him in peace.
But at least he is being followed. Not
everyone can say that. But then, not everyone is destined
for great things.
—end
of inside flap text—
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About the author
Read Scott Stein’s
bio on his home page.
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