false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1223630064m/1207688.jpg 1207688 5 "A Good Salesman can sell anything." So says the protagonist of Joseph O'Connor's remarkable third novel, who is selling nothing less than a justification to commit murder. A divorced, middle-aged recovering alcoholic, Billy Sweeney is in a world of trouble. His beloved younger daughter was brutally beaten during an attempted robbery and now lies comatose in a Dublin hospital; worse, Donal Quinn, the ringleader of the gang who put her there, has escaped from prison before his trial, and the police can't find him. Then one day, Sweeney spots a disguised Quinn in an electronics store. He considers calling the police--even goes so far as dialing the number--before "a thought occurred to me, as clear as the moment when a migraine lifts." The bereaved salesman decides to take justice into his own hands. What follows is a clever, at times terrifying game of cat and mouse as Sweeney first stalks Quinn and then catches him--with wildly unexpected results. <p> Though <I>The Salesman</I> has elements of a <I>noir</I>-ish thriller, it is, first and foremost, an examination of love. Written in the form of a journal from Sweeney to his comatose daughter, the book leapfrogs back and forth in time, chronicling Sweeney's courtship and troubled marriage to Grace Lawrence, his alcoholism, and his eventual divorce--even as it describes his hunt for Quinn. The love between friends, between a man and a woman, and between a father and a child are all poignantly limned here; what sets <I>The Salesman</I> apart, however, is the relationship that develops between Sweeney and his nemesis. O'Connor has written a novel that brims with emotion while avoiding sentimentality. Moving, disturbing, at times grimly humorous, this is Irish fiction at its best. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 1077941 1998 The Salesman total:49|5:18|4:16|3:13|2:2| 49 197 72 5 5 0 false false Mon Feb 16 12:44:59 -0800 2009 Mon Feb 16 12:51:55 -0800 2009 This is a great story. It's about a man in Dublin who suffers a shocking loss and in an effort to deal with it he starts to keep a journal, his journal is the book. The story's so well told you'll be laughing out loud at some of the characters and their carrying on and their expressions but ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Oct 02 03:39:07 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 02 03:43:39 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1997 Tue Apr 07 22:15:33 -0700 2009 Tue Apr 07 22:15:51 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue May 20 06:07:10 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 28 05:54:55 -0700 2008 Tue May 20 06:07:10 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Dec 10 11:29:49 -0800 2008 Fri Feb 20 19:15:19 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Nov 22 18:35:30 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 18:35:32 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Tue Nov 17 07:19:45 -0800 2009 Tue Nov 17 07:19:45 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Wed Oct 28 10:02:52 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 10:02:58 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Fri Oct 16 05:53:54 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 05:53:54 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Mon Sep 28 14:37:35 -0700 2009 Mon Sep 28 14:37:35 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Fri Sep 18 16:28:11 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 16:28:11 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Sep 13 04:12:54 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 13 04:12:54 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Sep 12 23:35:07 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 23:35:07 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Tue Sep 08 05:30:53 -0700 2009 Tue Sep 08 05:30:53 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Sat Sep 05 09:14:51 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 09:14:51 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Wed Aug 12 04:37:21 -0700 2009 Wed Aug 12 04:37:21 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Sun Aug 02 12:16:17 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 02 12:16:25 -0700 2009 3 0 false false Thu Jul 09 07:31:30 -0700 2009 Thu Jul 09 07:31:30 -0700 2009 2 0 false false Fri Jun 19 06:04:11 -0700 2009 Fri Jun 19 06:04:11 -0700 2009 5 0 false false Tue Jun 09 00:08:35 -0700 2009 Tue Jun 09 00:08:35 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1207688