- Paperback: 190 pages
- Publisher: Bitter Lemon Press (Feb 1 2005)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1904738052
- ISBN-13: 978-1904738053
- Product Dimensions: 20.1 x 13.1 x 1.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 240 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #645,237 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Fauser, a heroin addict until he kicked the habit at 30, pulls no punches in his lean, darkly comic debut crime thriller, first published in 1981 in his native Germany, where it sold more than 200,000 copies and was made into a film. German porn merchant Blum is having a tough time pushing his dated Danish skin magazines in Malta. ("Afghanis might get some satisfaction from these products, but in my view they have no artistic merit," a Pakistani porn dealer tells him.) With the Maltese police breathing down his neck, Blum seizes the chance to transport five pounds of Peruvian flake to Ostend, but he soon discovers the job is more trouble—and indeed far more dangerous—than it's worth. Part of the pleasure of following Blum's low-life adventures is the sense that they're closely based on the author's own. Bitter Lemon deserves kudos for introducing this fine German noir to an American audience. >
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Product Description
“Prose that penetrates the reader’s mind like speed, fast paced, without an ounce of fat.”—Weltwoche
He’s found five pounds of top--quality Peruvian cocaine in a suit-case. Pur-sued by the police and drug traffickers the luckless Blum falls prey to the frenzied paranoia of the cocaine addict and dealer. This is a fast-paced thriller written with acerbic humour, a hardboiled evocation of drug-fuelled existence and a penetrating observation of those at the edge of German society.
Having broken his addiction to on heroin at the age of thirty, Jörg Fauser spent much of the rest of his life dependent on alcohol. He died aged forty-three in 1987, run over by a truck at four am on a German highway.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
4.3 out of 5 stars (3 customer reviews)
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent wild crime thriller, Nov 8 2004
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Snowman (Paperback)
Malta Police Inspector Cassar takes Mr. Blum in for questioning because the "tourist" has quite a record according to Interpol. Blum hides his tourist vacation of not finding a buyer for his illegally obtained collection of Danish pornography. Though his one month visa expires in three days, Cassar informs Blum to leave before the expiration for one hour past will lead to his becoming a guest of the island's civil prison Kordin.
Through an Aussie friend, Blum meets fellow illegal dealer Rossi, who likes his women more girly that adult. Blum offers his classic collection from the late 1960s for sale, but soon after attending a party on Rossi's boat, Blum ends up with a train station luggage ticket that leads him to five pounds of Peruvian cocaine inside the suitcase he picks up. However, instead of easily selling the flakes, Blum's luck remains bad as the German police, drug traffickers, and cocaine users want what he possesses gratis. If killing him is needed so be it.
THE SNOWMAN is an excellent wild crime thriller starring an unlikable hardboiled anti-heroic con artist who lands in one increasingly more difficult scenario after another. The police procedural story line is told mostly from the perspective of the pursued making for an intriguing upside down twist to they sub-genre. Fans will appreciate this terrific action-packed look at those beneath the German societal food chain by a talented deceased author who apparently observed much of his cast first hand as THE SNOWMAN feels in some ways autobiographic fiction.
Harriet Klausner
3.0 out of 5 stars
Pretty Good - But It Had So Much More Potential, Aug 14 2011
By stoic - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Snowman (Paperback)
Jorg Fauser's The Snowman offers the reader an irresistible plot; a German lowlife named Blum finds himself marooned on the island of Malta while trying to unload a dated set of Danish girlie magazines. (One potential customer rejects them because they "have no artistic merit"). Though things are bleak for Blum, events lead him back to Germany where he discovers five pounds of cocaine hidden at the Munich rail station.
Of course, Blum immediately begins trying to sell the cocaine. The novel leads him through the gutters of Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium. Among others, he meets Cora, a sensuous blonde who offers to help him sell the cocaine to one of her friends. All along the way, Blum worries that the mafiosi from whom he has stolen the cocaine will catch up to him.
Based on the plot, The Snowman seems as though it cannot miss. Sadly, while the book is good, it does not live up to its potential. Blum becomes increasingly paranoid as he tries to unload the drugs and the book runs in circles while describing his mental state. More seriously, Fauser did not know how to end the book and the ending is unbelievable and unsatisfying.
The Snowman is worth a look, but I had my hopes too high.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Weirdly beautiful, Mar 14 2006
By Miran Ali "I don't like anonymous reviewers" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Snowman (Paperback)
This was quite a strange book with an ending that leaves you surprised. I've never actually read about aloser so enthralled.
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