Synopses & Reviews
Living on a diet of fried Spam, vodka, sardines, cupcakes, and Southern Comfort, Andrew Whittaker is slowly being sucked into the morass of middle age. A negligent landlord, small-time literary journal editor, and aspiring novelist, he is — quite literally — authoring his own downfall. From his letters, diary entries, and fragments of fiction, to grocery lists and posted signs, this novel is a collection of everything Whittaker commits to paper over the course of four critical months.
Beginning in July, during the economic hardships of the Nixon era, we witness our hero hounded by tenants and creditors, harassed by a loathsome local arts group, and tormented by his ex-wife. Determined to redeem his failures and eviscerate his enemies, Whittaker hatches a grand plan. But as winter nears, his difficulties accumulate, and the disorder of his life threatens to overwhelm him. As his hold on reality weakens and his schemes grow wilder, his self-image as a placid and slow-moving sloth evolves into that of a bizarre and frantic creature driven mad by solitude.
In this tragicomic portrait of a literary life, Sam Savage proves that all the evidence is in the writing, that all the world is, indeed, a stage, and that escape from the mind's prison requires a command performance.
Review
"Out of this world funny and heartbreaking." Bluestalking Reader
Review
"[A] fascinating, tragicomic portrait of isolation and personal failure, in the tradition of Gogol and Kafka." Lacunae Musing
Review
"The Cry of the Sloth promises to repeat Firmin's success." Library Journal (starred review)
Review
"If you're ever looking to scare someone out of pursuing a career in literature — and you just might want to do that, if you're either a realist or a complete dick — all you have to do is give them a copy of The Cry of the Sloth, Sam Savage's bitter, brilliant, and devastatingly hilarious second novel." Michael Schaub, Bookslut (read the entire Bookslut review)
Synopsis
From letters and diary entries to grocery lists, this novel comprises a collection of everything Andrew Whittaker commits to paper over the course of four critical months. This tragicomic portrait of a literary life chronicles an aspiring novelist who is — quite literally — authoring his own downfall.
Synopsis
Fiction. Chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the Best Books of 2009. Living on a diet of fried Spam, vodka, sardines, cupcakes, and Southern Comfort, Andrew Whittaker is slowly being sucked into the morass of middle age. A negligent landlord, small-time literary journal editor, and aspiring novelist, he is--quite literally--authoring his own downfall. From his letters, diary entries, and fragments of fiction, to grocery lists and posted signs, this novel is a collection of everything Whittaker commits to paper over the course of four critical months. Beginning in July, during the economic hardships of the Nixon era, we witness our hero hounded by tenants and creditors, harassed by a loathsome local arts group, and tormented by his ex-wife. In this tragicomic portrait of a literary life, Sam Savage proves that all the evidence is in the writing, that all the world is, indeed, a stage, and that escape from the mind's prison requires a command performance.
Synopsis
The four-month odyssey of a literary lowlife.
About the Author
Sam Savage is the best-selling author of Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife, a debut novel selected as an American Library Association Notable Book and a Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Award finalist. A native of South Carolina, he now lives in Madison, Wisconsin.