- Hardcover: 320 pages
- Publisher: Penguin Press (HC); 1 edition (Feb 24 2009)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1594202117
- ISBN-13: 978-1594202117
- Product Dimensions: 23 x 16.3 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #292,752 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Berry's ambitious debut reverberates with echoes of Kafka and Paul Auster. Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )
Pete Larkin's (The Last Campaign) carefully fashioned portrayals of the stock characters worldly Dectective Sivert, innocent, clueless clerk Unwin, femme fatale Cleopatra Greenwood, folksy janitor Arthur, elderly Colonel Baker, and evil magician Enoch Hoffman help the listener keep track of who's who but never what's what! Fans of Jasper Fforde and Dashiell Hammett will appreciate. Library Journal (Library Journal )
Pete Larkin is perfectly suited for this whimsical, Kafkaesque noir; his smooth and sympathetic narration makes the bizarre twists perfectly logical and sensible. The strength of the story and the talent of the reader mesh beautifully. Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )
Larkin s deep, sonorous voice sets the perfect tone for this debut novel. Larkin s characterizations are dead-on. Booklist (Booklist )
Jedediah Berry knows magic. The Manual of Detection combines the intricacy and thoughtfulness of Borges and Kafka with the page-turning excitement of a detective thriller. . . . It made me laugh, thrill, think, and wonder. AudioFile (AudioFile )
Weaves the kind of mannered fantasy that might result if Wes Anderson were to adapt Kafka. . . . . The New Yorker (The New Yorker ) --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Pete Larkin's (The Last Campaign) carefully fashioned portrayals of the stock characters worldly Dectective Sivert, innocent, clueless clerk Unwin, femme fatale Cleopatra Greenwood, folksy janitor Arthur, elderly Colonel Baker, and evil magician Enoch Hoffman help the listener keep track of who's who but never what's what! Fans of Jasper Fforde and Dashiell Hammett will appreciate. Library Journal (Library Journal )
Pete Larkin is perfectly suited for this whimsical, Kafkaesque noir; his smooth and sympathetic narration makes the bizarre twists perfectly logical and sensible. The strength of the story and the talent of the reader mesh beautifully. Publishers Weekly (Publishers Weekly )
Larkin s deep, sonorous voice sets the perfect tone for this debut novel. Larkin s characterizations are dead-on. Booklist (Booklist )
Jedediah Berry knows magic. The Manual of Detection combines the intricacy and thoughtfulness of Borges and Kafka with the page-turning excitement of a detective thriller. . . . It made me laugh, thrill, think, and wonder. AudioFile (AudioFile )
Weaves the kind of mannered fantasy that might result if Wes Anderson were to adapt Kafka. . . . . The New Yorker (The New Yorker ) --This text refers to the Audio CD edition.
Book Description
In an unnamed city always slick with rain, Charles Unwin toils as a clerk at a huge, imperious detective agency. All he knows about solving mysteries comes from the reports he's filed for the illustrious detective Travis Sivart. When Sivart goes missing and his supervisor turns up murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. His only guidance comes from his new assistant, who would be perfect if she weren't so sleepy, and from the pithy yet profound Manual of Detection (think The Art of War as told to Damon Runyon).
Unwin mounts his search for Sivart, but is soon framed for murder, pursued by goons and gunmen, and confounded by the infamous femme fatale Cleo Greenwood. Meanwhile, strange and troubling questions proliferate: why does the mummy at the Municipal Museum have modern- day dental work? Where have all the city's alarm clocks gone? Why is Unwin's copy of the manual missing Chapter 18?
When he discovers that Sivart's greatest cases— including the Three Deaths of Colonel Baker and the Man Who Stole November 12th—were solved incorrectly, Unwin must enter the dreams of a murdered man and face a criminal mastermind bent on total control of a slumbering city.
The Manual of Detection will draw comparison to every work of imaginative fiction that ever blew a reader's mind—from Carlos Ruiz Zafón to Jorge Luis Borges, from The Big Sleep to The Yiddish Policeman's Union. But, ultimately, it defies comparison; it is a brilliantly conceived, meticulously realized novel that will change what you think about how you think.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Imagine the Possibilities of the Literal Being True,
By Donald Mitchell "Jesus Loves You!" (Thanks for Providing My Reviews over 112,000 Helpful Votes Globally) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (#1 HALL OF FAME)
This review is from: The Manual Of Detection (Hardcover)
The Manual of Detection takes us into a realm of imagination, fantasy, and nightmares not unlike what Franz Kafka unlocked in The Trial, as updated by talented writers such as Michael Chabon in The Yiddish Policemen's Union. It's an impressive first novel, and I look forward to reading Mr. Berry's future novels.In the modern world, our work is often so compartmentalized that we fail to see the rest of the object we work out, much less the rest of the picture. As a result, a service designed to promote peace may appear to be nothing more than creating a deniable paper trail. Mr. Berry is clearly amused by that thought and takes us beyond the paper trail into the "real" world, a most distressing place for those who have been locked up in their watertight compartments. At the same time, he is aware that there may be a legitimate reason to keep pieces of secrets locked away in separate compartments. It's a nice balance that brings much food for thought to the reader during and after enjoying the story. Charles Unwin (you have to love that last name) has developed an odd habit of going to the train station each morning before work. It's quite an unusual thing to do because it's out of the way and he starts work early. He's sensitive enough about it to have an alibi ready . . . even though it isn't a very good one. Caught in the middle of his obsession, Unwin finds himself launched into a new role, as a detective, rather than as a clerk writing up a detective's notes, at the gigantic detective agency that employs him. He's told to rely on The Manual of Detection to tell him what to do. Feeling sure that some huge mistake has been made, Unwin sets out to remedy the error . . . and finds himself in the middle of a murder mystery where he's the most likely suspect. If that opening doesn't grab you, this book isn't for you. Much like Alice in Wonderland, things are strange in this world of Unwin's. And the more time you spend in the book, the stranger it becomes. But behind the scenes, there's a simple method to the seeming madness that will bring you back into a more normal frame of perspective. It's quite nicely done. I would liken the experience to taking a ride where you gradually spin up to such a speed that you are totally disoriented before the ride slows down and deposits you gently and safely at the exit. Afterward, you feel awe and joy in the experience. During the ride, you can feel a little overwhelmed. Ah, what fun!
3.0 out of 5 stars
Fun but flawed,
This review is from: The Manual Of Detection (Hardcover)
I'm a fan of both mystery stories and science fiction/fantasy. To give you some perspective on my tastes, I enjoy (among many others) Chandler, Hammett & Conan Doyle; and Asimov, Aldiss & Pratchett. The Manual of Detection has elements of both mystery & fantasy, so I expected to really enjoy it.The novel starts in a noirish way, and the story line initially proceeds in that mode. Most people aren't what they seem, there's a femme fatale, the corpses pile up in a very satisfactory way. There's a detective (think Philip Marlowe) who is currently missing, and his amanuensis (think Dr. Watson in the wrong century) who is promoted to fill the detective's shoes. There are some fantastic elements, but the story proceeds at a fast enough pace that they don't really jar. What is a modern novel without self-reference, so one of the key elements in the novel is a detective manual called The Manual of Detection, epigraphs from which appear at the head of each chapter in the novel. The epigraphs are both apposite and witty in their own right, so this adds greatly to the enjoyment. However, the self-reference promotes a certain amount of distancing from the book. So when, about a third of the way through, the author called on me to believe yet another fantastic thing, I rebelled. I just couldn't accept what was written on the page, even within the context of a somewhat fantastic story. It didn't stop me continuing to read, because it is a page-turner and I did want to find out what happened in the end, but it did reduce the enjoyment I got out of it.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.1 out of 5 stars (42 customer reviews) 23 of 23 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Surreal and Brilliantly Written Debut Novel,
By Mira Bartok "author/artist" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Manual Of Detection (Hardcover)
For Charles Unwin, the reluctant hero in Jedediah Berry's eloquent and surreal first novel, The Manual of Detection, time is curiously stretched beyond recognition and dreams are labyrinthine and vulnerable to devious invasion. Mysterious femme fatales, surly criminals and singing somnambulants lurk around every corner, each offering more bizarre clues for Unwin who is trying to solve the murder of a famous detective so he can clear his own name and get his job back as a lowly and fastidious clerk at The Agency, a Kafka-esque organization that tracks down villains and protects the city's nocturnal secrets, for better or for worse.This is a detective story that defies genre. Many of the crimes committed in this tale happen inside people's dreams, which brings to mind a couple films, such as Brazil, The City of Lost Children, and Delicatessen. The book also resonates a little like Borges but in a much more welcoming, ironic and darkly humorous way. It is part film noir, part fabulist-fairy tale, and part page-turner mystery, written in an elegant and restrained style. I loved the world that Berry created for his readers: a mythic, rainy sleep-deprived metropolis populated by a cast of brilliantly conceived characters. I just didn't want it to end. Read the book and pass it on. And look for the secret bonus---there's a palindrome inside and who doesn't love palindromes? 40 of 45 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Clever but tedious,
By D.E. - Published on Amazon.com
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This review is from: The Manual Of Detection (Hardcover)
Other reviewers have dealt well with the plot so I will deal more with my criticism of the story development itself. The novel starts out well, with the author creating a slightly surreal but believable book-noir world in a mysterious yet some how familiar city.(Think Bladerunner crossed with Something Wicked This Way Comes for the atmosphere.)The characters are interesting and their lives are developed enough to hold interest yet not so developed that there is no mystery. Sadly, somewhere about halfway to two thirds of the way through, the story descends into a seemingly never ending sequence of nested dream worlds and the associated plot twists were less surprising than ultimately annoying. For me, this just became very tedious and exasperating and resulted in a very slow read. By the last 30-40 pages I simply didn't care how the story would ultimately be resolved. The author definitely has talent as a writer of fiction but I think he needs to be reigned in by a good editor who would have trimmed some of the more outlandish elements from this novel.
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Dashiell Hammett meets Terry Gilliam,
By Blake Fraina - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The Manual Of Detection (Hardcover)
The Manual of Detection reads like the love-child of Dashiell Hammett and Terry Gilliam. First time novelist Jedediah Berry stirs all the tropes of a hard-boiled detective story with surrealistic fantasy elements to create a delightfully eccentric concoction that goes down easy despite the serious message at its core.Anyone familiar with the famous quote attributed to Benjamin Franklin,"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety," will probably appreciate the story of Charles Unwin, a fastidious and rule-abiding office clerk, who is unwittingly thrust into a web of intrigue when the celebrated detective he works for goes missing. While investigating the sudden disappearance, Unwin stumbles on a nefarious plot to gain control over the minds of the citizens by infiltrating their dreams. It's the ultimate invasion of privacy and its origins are as surprising as they are sinister. I can't help but wonder if the Patriot Act was high on Berry's mind when the idea for this book was conceived. But despite how dire that sounds, this is hardly a heavy, preachy affair. It's full of quirky humour and unexpected twists, not to mention a host of oddball characters. Along the way, we meet the cigar-chomping detective Sivart, a pair of [formerly] conjoined twin thugs, an addled museum guard, some very sorry looking elephants, a psychic giantess, an army of sleepwalkers, a villainous ventriloquist, plus three ladies straight out of a classic noir - Emily, the plucky, can-do assistant, Cleo Greenwood, the honey-voiced femme fatale, and the mysterious "woman in the plaid coat." Throw in about ten thousand purloined alarm clocks and a "Travels-no-More" carnival and you've got a story with some seriously weird atmospherics, a unique cast, a bit of mystery and a lot of fun. This novel is a delight from start to finish. I should mention that I didn't actually read this one, but listened to the unabridged edition audio book. This was my first experience with an audio book and what a wonderful surprise! Pete Larkin did a terrific job creating voices for each of the characters - he even had me laughing out loud at some points. Plus it was broken up into short enough sections that stopping it and coming back to it later was never a problem. I enjoyed it so much in fact, that I've visited the Highbridge Audio website several times to shop their catalogue and can report that they have a varied and excellent selection. |
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