SIGHT- What to read, The Delivery Man, by Joe McGinnis Jr

The Skinny- From Publishers Weekly
Sex, lies, crushed dreams and slot machines are paramount in McGinniss's flashy, fast-moving debut. Chase is a struggling artist who couldn't hack NYU and moves back to Vegas, where he is reunited with his adolescent flame, Michele. After being fired from his teaching job for beating up a student, Chase plans to hook up with his girlfriend, Julia, in California, but instead spends his summer as a chauffeur for Michele's call-girl business. Michele has plans for herself (buying a house, getting an advanced degree in women's studies), but for the time being is running the call-girl service out of a suite in the Versailles Palace Hotel and Casino with her boyfriend, Bailey. Girls too young for the job, readily available cocaine, untrustworthy business partners, memories of a family tragedy and glammed-out Vegas goons make Chase's summer more stressful than he had hoped for as he attempts to finish a few paintings for a group gallery show. McGinniss (son of another Joe McGinnis you may have heard of) successfully gambles with the notion that whatever happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, but what does that mean for Chase and his plans to escape?

The Verdict- In his first novel, McGinnis takes an interesting look at 20somethings wallowing in the depths of superficiality, chasing money and glamour at any cost. Las Vegas proves to be the ideal setting for this and McGinnis keeps our interest with salacious details and enough plot twists and turns before the story comes to its turbulent end. While I enjoyed the novel and think of it as a great first outing for McGinnis, I found the ending to be somewhat anticlimactic. Still definitely worth the read.


Three and a half stars out of five ***1/2