Since the Layoffs, by Iain Levison

Since the Layoffs by Iain Levison


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This is the second Levison book I’ve read (this is his first novel). Another thoroughly enjoyable book with some themes that I recognize as ones that will be recurring (in “How to Rob an Armored Car.”). These themes are: marginalized characters working crap jobs in dead end towns, just trying to get by, who get enlisted into doing some completely outrageous criminal scheme that winds up being completely sensible within the context of the story. This one is aptly titled. Every action taken by its main character, and all the people who inhabit this story, is propelled by a huge factory downsizing, leading many who were once having comfortable middle class existences to try to make ends meet however they can. In the case of the narrator, the profession he falls into in this economy is as a hired assassin.

It’s a hoot. A brief hoot at 177 pages, but a hoot nonetheless. If you take it to jury duty or something, maybe take along another of Levison’s books, in case it’s a long day and you are spending a lot of time sitting. That way, you won’t worry about running out of reading material.
For me, it’s on to the next book by my current favorite author. This book is funny in a laugh-out-loud sort of way, absurd without being annoyingly so. It’s kind of like Clerks 2 meets Goodfellas (although I have to admit, I’ve never actually seen Goodfellas), as ultimately our hero just wants to get out of the killing business to open a convenience store.
Without spoiling the ending--let’s just say that the tone remains gleeful and fun, making light of the serious business of unemployment. Great fun!




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