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107th out of 109 books
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18 voters
My rating:
add to my books
The Delivery Man
The Delivery Man is an exhilarating debut—a fast, frightening, and eye-opening portrait of today’s lost generation. It is a love story set against the surreal excess of Las Vegas—and the artificial suburbs, gated communities, and freeways that surround it—where broken lives come to seek new beginnings and casinos feed the lust of tourists and residents alike. Ultrasophisti...more
Paperback, 278 pages
Published
January 15th 2008
by Grove/Atlantic, Black Cat
(first published January 15th 2007)
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great story. it made me really nervous to read but wanted to keep turning the pages. thank God I grew up when I did. best last line of a book ever.
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love getting to read advance reader copies. And even better when a book turns out to be really great - and this one is really great. It's a very interesting take on teens/20'somethings and experiences growing up in Las Vegas. There is some really powerful imagery in this book.
I've been reading a lot of "darker" fiction lately, the kind that is meant to really get you (just read Fight Club for the first time recently even though had seen the movie...) and this book really f...more
I've been reading a lot of "darker" fiction lately, the kind that is meant to really get you (just read Fight Club for the first time recently even though had seen the movie...) and this book really f...more
love, love, love this book. "Find yourself here" great first sentence. Great ending all the way to the last sentence but won't post that :) Need to put a review here but in the meantime I agree with this guy:
--At first glance, this debut novel looks like a good, short read for the next time you're waiting at the airport. It's an insider's guide to the dark underbelly of twenty-first-century Las Vegas, brimming with brand names, hard bodies, hard drugs, and heavy doses of se...more
--At first glance, this debut novel looks like a good, short read for the next time you're waiting at the airport. It's an insider's guide to the dark underbelly of twenty-first-century Las Vegas, brimming with brand names, hard bodies, hard drugs, and heavy doses of se...more
Excellent. The main characters are all childhood friends that were raised - with little or negative parental supervision – on the edge of the main strip in Las Vegas. Now in their mid-twenties, the story focuses on their lifestyle, illegal professions and their caustic influence on the generation right behind. A solid read that shows teenage self-perceived invincibility, MySpace and love of cash can bottom out anyone's morals.
Gosh, hard book to rate. Unbelievably depressing, but very engrossing and haunting. I'm not sure I'd say I enjoyed the reading process, but I did think the book was well done.
Jason
added it
First novel, not bad, good sickening stuff.
Anyone who thinks this is "the real Las Vegas" doesn't actually live here. It's /a/ Las Vegas. (Except for when McGinniss gets some directions wrong; despite help from locals, a few typos seem to have wedged in. That, or else no one has ever pointed me to the secret tunnel making it so easy to flit back and forth from the Summerlin Parkway to Green Valley. And I *really* don't recommend trying to take Maryland down to Boulder Hwy from Flamingo. As for those "west side ghettos"...more
There were a lot of "oh my god" moments in this one. Page after page you follow Chase (the names of the male characters I'm convinced are symbolic -- Chase, Hunter -- they're chasing/hunting, what? money? sex? meaning in their lives?) as he makes decision after decision that he shouldn't -- all the while telling himself it's just a detour from the path he knows he should be on. He's an aspiring artist who, after losing his art teaching job the way many teachers only wish they could -- ...more
Charlaralotte
rated it
Recommends it for:
idiots
Recommended to Charlaralotte by:
desperate purchase at bookstore
Shelves:
read-in-2007
This book was so bad, I put it in the recycling bin. I'm embarrassed to have it in the house.
Though it is an excellent example of how first novels don't have to be masterpieces, or even decently written. They just have to be first novels. You can only get better, one hopes.
Also, the front cover picture pisses me off. Did the designer READ the book, or get told what the main female character LOOKED like, because that is a far cry from anywhere near being her. Yeah, yeah, i...more
Though it is an excellent example of how first novels don't have to be masterpieces, or even decently written. They just have to be first novels. You can only get better, one hopes.
Also, the front cover picture pisses me off. Did the designer READ the book, or get told what the main female character LOOKED like, because that is a far cry from anywhere near being her. Yeah, yeah, i...more
This was one of my favorite books of 2008, which is pretty impressive given it is the author's first novel. The story is centered around Chase, a 25 year-old who went to art school in NYC but finds himself working as a high school teacher in Las Vegas (his hometown) with hopes of meeting up with his girlfriend Julia who is working on her MBA in California. Of course his plans never truly materialize as he is hung up with childhood crush Michele. Michele and her boyfriend Bailey (Chase's other ch...more
stong debut novel. Definitely not a pretentious book - very readable, very gritty. I think we'll look back on this book in 10 years and think something was really captured. Kind of like the first Dre CD The Chronic - it upset everyone at the time as being too angry--well, there really was something to be angry about. This book is like that. definitely some distubing parts. Also, liked the range of characters in this modern Las Vegas tale-the beautiful Michele is Salvadoran (and definitely a twis...more
In a word: bleak. It is a fairly well written novel. The characters warn each other, and you the reader, about the dangerous ease of slipping into the quicksand of life. "The Delivery Man" touched my own fears and despair. It made grateful for what I am and what I am not. And it made me sad for everyone.
If you enjoyed Less Than Zero, then you'll probably like this novel.
If you didn't enjoy Less That Zero, then still might like this novel.
It's essentially Bret Easton Ellis lite -- all the misanthropic twentysomething nihilism, but not as many hard drugs. One or two characters in this novel do coke...that's about it.
But then again, the plot centers around a teenage prostitution ring, which is something Mr. Ellis never really touched on. (True, Julian turned to hustling in ...more
If you didn't enjoy Less That Zero, then still might like this novel.
It's essentially Bret Easton Ellis lite -- all the misanthropic twentysomething nihilism, but not as many hard drugs. One or two characters in this novel do coke...that's about it.
But then again, the plot centers around a teenage prostitution ring, which is something Mr. Ellis never really touched on. (True, Julian turned to hustling in ...more
Chase asks her what time the appointment is booked for. Rachel says, "It's at 11:30 or midnight. He's supposed to call to confirm." She checks her cell. "But I want to be there early." she says.
"Why?"
"Just to be on the safe side."
"There isn't one, Rachel."
And so goes the story of Chase, The Delivery Man. If you've looked at my reading list, you'll see a lot of Vegas related crime fiction. This is another strong entry...more
"Why?"
"Just to be on the safe side."
"There isn't one, Rachel."
And so goes the story of Chase, The Delivery Man. If you've looked at my reading list, you'll see a lot of Vegas related crime fiction. This is another strong entry...more
It took me almost three months to read this book. It was just completely disengaging. The author seems to have no actual talent for writing a decent sentence. He has no sense of imagery whatsoever and would it kill for a little symbolism or SOMETHING interesting? The lack thereof was slightly insulting to the reader's intelligence.
The end came abruptly with no kind of resolution or explanation for the characters' behaviors. Which only hurt the story more by reducing every one to a s...more
The end came abruptly with no kind of resolution or explanation for the characters' behaviors. Which only hurt the story more by reducing every one to a s...more
Alyssa
rated it
Recommends it for:
those who enjoy thrillers and dark stories; people who don't mind an unresolved ending.
As many others have said, this is a really good debut novel.
For this first book, McGinniss takes us for a ride alongside Chase, a mid-twenties uninspired artist who becomes a teacher while stuck in his hometown of Las Vegas.
Throughout the novel we see the terrible choices Chase makes in the relationships between himself and the two people he actually cares about. The first is his current girlfriend, Julia, whom he met during a short stint in a NY art school. Julia is the woma...more
For this first book, McGinniss takes us for a ride alongside Chase, a mid-twenties uninspired artist who becomes a teacher while stuck in his hometown of Las Vegas.
Throughout the novel we see the terrible choices Chase makes in the relationships between himself and the two people he actually cares about. The first is his current girlfriend, Julia, whom he met during a short stint in a NY art school. Julia is the woma...more
Why did I read this entire book? I knew, within five pages, that it was poorly written and sloppily constructed. I also knew, since my roommate already read it, that it wasn't going to improve (and it really didn't--it got steadily worse). But I had had this book on my shelf for months and I'd wanted to read it for a year, so I felt obligated to see it through. Next time I pick up something this bad, I'm making myself put it down.
A former co-worker of mine (who works in publishing),...more
A former co-worker of mine (who works in publishing),...more
initially attracted to the delivery man by its cover (featuring a thin girl wearing red wayfarers and looking quite indifferent), i picked it up at barnes & noble and read the fold-out jacket. it promised to be reminiscent of bret easton ellis's style and subject matter, so i thought, "why not?" and bought it. a couple of days later, i learned that ellis endorsed the work and is a fan of the author, joe mcginniss jr.
i, however, was not that impressed.
i really ...more
i, however, was not that impressed.
i really ...more
Hilary
marked it as to-read
Marie Claire: The Delivery Man
by Joe McGinniss Jr. (Grove/Black Cat) It's sex, drugs, and a slew of lost souls in this engrossing story of a 25-year-old known only as Chase. An out-of-luck wannabe artist, he retreats to his hometown—that being Vegas, a downward spiral ensues, thanks to madams and more. Since no less a connoisseur of depraved excess than Bret Easton Ellis helped McGinniss Jr. score a publisher, could The Delivery Man be this decade's Less Than Zero?
by Joe McGinniss Jr. (Grove/Black Cat) It's sex, drugs, and a slew of lost souls in this engrossing story of a 25-year-old known only as Chase. An out-of-luck wannabe artist, he retreats to his hometown—that being Vegas, a downward spiral ensues, thanks to madams and more. Since no less a connoisseur of depraved excess than Bret Easton Ellis helped McGinniss Jr. score a publisher, could The Delivery Man be this decade's Less Than Zero?
Joe McGinnis Jr.'s debut novel, "The Delivery Man", is a work that is quite puzzling to me: not in terms of its plot or its structure, but, rather, in terms of what my opinion on it is. Focusing on a group twenty-somethings born and bred under the hot Las Vegas sun, the novel offers a bleak look at what happens when people cannot move on from both their issues and their hometowns (which actually tend to coincide rather nicely in most literary works) and enter a form of stasis where dr...more
One of my selections for the Pop Matters Best of Fiction '08 list, a harrowing exploration of lost, soulless, and self-defeating contemporary youth in the suburbs and exurbs of Las Vegas.
I guess Las Vegas is the last remaining city in the US with enough distinction to sustain multiple, credible sleazy characters at once. Or maybe it's because it's the intersection between traditional seedy/glam and modern McMansion, false boom, Bush-era low-life. Either way, it lends itself to a pretty fesh and believable take on a failing artist trying to sort it all out and his methed-up-hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold.
All told, a very nice, modern novel.
All told, a very nice, modern novel.
I couldn't put this book down and read a majority of it in one sitting. It's gritty and even though the circumstances are kind of crazy, I could see people that I know in the characters and this made it real. In a more general sense, I know a lot of people who are like Chase, stuck and drifting. I also just love anything that is set in Vegas, even the slummy side of the city. The ending was perfect. I can't wait for McGinniss to write a new book.
sorry but i did not love this book. it's full of tortured, pitiful characters whom i mostly hated. i also felt like i was reading the same twenty pages over and over....the characters are stuck in their own muck but did i have to be too? yes, it reminds me of early brett easton ellis but in this case, that's not a good thing. the characters are souless and so is the story....
A novel set in Vegas, centered around high-school and college-age kids, all of whom are involved in drugs and prostitution: not something I would have picked up on my own. It definitely sucked me in though, and I was pulling for Chase to escape the whole way through. The writing is understated and clean.
I saw this in a Urban Outfitters, which possibly should ahve been my clue not to read it. It's gritty for the sake of being gritty and not that interesting. Boobs and a fight only keep the attention of certain demographics. (There's glowing reviews by Chuck Palahniuk all over the cover.)
SF Chronicle said: McGinniss has a natural storyteller's conviction..."The Delivery Man" is about Las Vegas as a stand-in for America's dark side: the stifling hot suburbs, the hum of electricity, the kids who sneak into strip shows and the grandmas who leave poker chips as inheritance.
I received a free autographed copy of this novel as a prize from www.hipsterbookclub.com this Christmas. It's not normally the kind of book I'd choose on my own, but I found it to be an engaging read. It's the story of Chase, a washed up artist with a bunch of criminal friends, becoming more involved in the seedy underbelly of Vegas gambling, prostitution, and drugs. The whole story is sort of like a car accident -- awful things are happening but you can't help rubbernecking. McGinniss's prose i...more
To be honest, not much greatness of plot occurs in this book, but there is something mystifying about the style of writing. Great complexities are found in the super-simple english used.
very quick read, liked it through to the end.
very quick read, liked it through to the end.
Here's the thing: It's my kind of book: prostitution, violence, drugs...and maybe that's why I couldn't put it down. But something about this book is off. The main character is a white male (and very unlikable) and the author is a white male. This book seems to be the author's fantasy: Salvadoran prostitute friend he is in love with and who happens to be drop dead FINE; Black girlfriend who is getting her MBA and deals with his crap, despite the fact that he has NOTHING going for him (not a care...more
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Joe McGinniss Jr. was born in 1970. He graduated from Swarthmore College and lives in Washington, DC with his wife and son.
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