{"id":9412,"date":"2022-12-05T20:16:32","date_gmt":"2022-12-06T00:16:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/?p=9412"},"modified":"2022-12-05T20:16:32","modified_gmt":"2022-12-06T00:16:32","slug":"book-review-a-man-in-pieces-an-american-nightmare-by-henry-corrigan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/book-review-a-man-in-pieces-an-american-nightmare-by-henry-corrigan\/","title":{"rendered":"Book Review: A Man in Pieces: An American Nightmare by Henry Corrigan"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cover<\/a><\/p>\n

A Man In Pieces An American Nightmare\u00a0<\/em>by Henry Corrigan<\/p>\n

Darkstroke Books, 2022<\/p>\n

ISBN: 9798848967593<\/p>\n

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition<\/p>\n

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Renowned book reviewer and armchair philosopher Murray Samuelson was famously quoted as saying \u201cthat which is interesting in life resides in the domain of mundania.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, sometimes the basic, everyday stuff can make for a good book, if written well.\u00a0 That’s exactly what you get with A Man In Pieces.<\/em>.\u00a0 There is no big action, no big gore, no big excitement\u2026 instead, it is a subtle, well–written portrait of what happens when everyday stress finally pushes a person off the edge of sanity.<\/p>\n

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The precise stress on the characters in this story is the\u2018 big possibility of losing their jobs in a tight job market, when living paycheck to paycheck (one many people can probably relate to)\u00a0 Mike and Tom are the two main characters, a couple of drones in an office cubicle farm.\u00a0 They are diametrically opposite in character, competing for the same job, and dislike each other immensely.\u00a0 The story encompasses just one five-day workweek.\u00a0 They both find out on Monday about the coming layoffs, but of course WHO is going to get tossed won\u2019t be decided till Friday.\u00a0 How they deal with the specter of looming unemployment and possible bankruptcy over the week is what makes up the story.<\/p>\n

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Based on the above, the book probably doesn\u2019t sound that interesting\u2026but somehow, it is.\u00a0 Just chalk it up to good writing.\u00a0 This is more of a psychological story, focused on\u00a0 the thoughts and feelings of the characters, rather than their outward actions, and their inner thoughts are of paramount importance in this story.\u00a0 The pacing is measured and methodical as the deadline approaches for the characters, each of them struggling to keep going, knowing their lives might take a crashing turn for the worse.\u00a0 One of them tries to hide it away and put on a happy face, while the other becomes rude and antagonistic, but cracks start showing in the frame of their sanity over the week.\u00a0 That’s the fun part of the book: the slow build, it leaves you anticipating more to come\u2026and it does.\u00a0 Friday arrives, someone (or both someones) is about to have their life change for the worse, and then\u2026why, you\u2019ll have to read the book to find out, of course!<\/p>\n

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Unusual in its style and plot choice but satisfying nevertheless, A Man In Pieces<\/em> is a stylish character study that will impress readers looking for something out of the ordinary.\u00a0 Recommended.<\/p>\n

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Reviewed by Murray Samuelson<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Man In Pieces An American Nightmare\u00a0by Henry Corrigan Darkstroke Books, 2022 ISBN: 9798848967593 Available: Paperback, Kindle edition     Renowned book reviewer and armchair philosopher Murray Samuelson was famously quoted as saying \u201cthat which is interesting in life resides in the domain of mundania.\u201d\u00a0 In other words, sometimes the basic, everyday stuff can make<\/p>\n

Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[5241,5240,4851,749,83,2737,4762,5239],"class_list":["post-9412","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a-man-in-pieces","tag-henry-corrigan","tag-horror-book-review","tag-horror-books","tag-horror-fiction","tag-psychological-horror","tag-psychological-thriller","tag-workplace-horror"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9412","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9412"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9412\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9449,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9412\/revisions\/9449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9412"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9412"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monsterlibrarian.com\/TheCirculationDesk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9412"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}