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A review by rosseroo
Shining City by Seth Greenland
3.0
I'm always in the market for a funny book, simply because there aren't that many good ones. So, after hearing lots of buzz about how hilarious this book was, I took it along on vacation. The story revolves around an mild-mannered Los Angeles factory manager in his late 30s named Marcus. When his childhood friend and current employer pulls the rug out from under Marcus's middle-class lifestyle by relocating his job to China, Marcus is left twisting in the wind as the family's debts start to pile up. Fortunately, his brother dies.
It seems that this brother was the polar opposite of Marcus -- a hellraiser with outsize appetites and a penchant for shady shenanigans. As a final dark joke from beyond the grave, the brother has left Marcus the titular dry cleaning company -- which is a front for his prostitution ring. Desperate to save his family from financial and social ruin, it doesn't take Marcus long to rationalize himself into the pimpin' game. The rest of the book plays out somewhat predictably, as Marcus struggles to keep his new job a secret from his wife and son, all while learning the tricks of his new trade. There are the inevitable over-the-top characters, some menace from a competitor, and several reversals of fortune.
Greenland writes well, with very funny lines scattered throughout, and story is well-paced, but it lacks a certain edge. Even when the story is supposed to turn dark, it never quite manages to move beyond light gray. There's a device throughout whereby Marcus tries to contextualize his situation by drawing on snippets from his undergraduate philosophy studies, but these fall kind of flat. Finally, it's hard to imagine any reader failing to figure out well in advance just how Marcus is going to be able to turn it all into a Hollywood ending -- the clues are too obvious. Don't get me wrong, it's all perfectly entertaining fluff -- but nothing that amazing.
Note: Readers of a certain age may recall another mild-mannered fictional character who is forced by circumstances into the pimping life -- Doctor Detroit.
It seems that this brother was the polar opposite of Marcus -- a hellraiser with outsize appetites and a penchant for shady shenanigans. As a final dark joke from beyond the grave, the brother has left Marcus the titular dry cleaning company -- which is a front for his prostitution ring. Desperate to save his family from financial and social ruin, it doesn't take Marcus long to rationalize himself into the pimpin' game. The rest of the book plays out somewhat predictably, as Marcus struggles to keep his new job a secret from his wife and son, all while learning the tricks of his new trade. There are the inevitable over-the-top characters, some menace from a competitor, and several reversals of fortune.
Greenland writes well, with very funny lines scattered throughout, and story is well-paced, but it lacks a certain edge. Even when the story is supposed to turn dark, it never quite manages to move beyond light gray. There's a device throughout whereby Marcus tries to contextualize his situation by drawing on snippets from his undergraduate philosophy studies, but these fall kind of flat. Finally, it's hard to imagine any reader failing to figure out well in advance just how Marcus is going to be able to turn it all into a Hollywood ending -- the clues are too obvious. Don't get me wrong, it's all perfectly entertaining fluff -- but nothing that amazing.
Note: Readers of a certain age may recall another mild-mannered fictional character who is forced by circumstances into the pimping life -- Doctor Detroit.