The Car Thief

by Theodore Weesner

Book Overview

Hailed by The Boston Globe as so poignant and beautifully written, so true and painful, that one can't read it without feeling the knife's cruel blade in the heart, The Car Thief was first published to enormous popularity, and sold over half a million copies. Alex Housman is a kid who at the age of sixteen has had fourteen cars, harbors many hurts, and seems to fade into his environment while raging inside. His father is an alcoholic, losing his grip...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802137636
• ISBN13: 9780802137630
• Release Date: April 2001
• Publisher: Grove Press
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 0.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.5" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

This is a truly great novel!

I read this novel in my high school lit. class and liked it, but it wasn't until I read it again just recently that I really came to appreciate this excellent piece of fiction. It is moving, and heartbreaking, and I couldn't put it down. I also feel a kind of connection to this book because it is set in my home town of Flint Michigan. If you like stories about teengae angst, and the classic anti-hero then this is the book for you.I do however, have to disagree with another reviewer who said the appeal of this book is limited to men only. It appealed to me, and I felt a real empathy for the main character. Trust me, there are plenty of girls who go through these kinds of situations, and feelings.

A Remarkable Novel

The only thing preventing me from rating "The Car Thief" with five stars is its limited appeal. In my opinion, this book should appeal to all men who have passed through (or are passing through) adolesence.At first I felt the novel to be slow, and quite boring, but I realized that the more I read it seemed the author was doing something abstract to me, as the reader. The structure and pacing of the novel completely pulls you into a world of frustration and depression. More than most characters in literature, I found myself deeply identifying with the novel's main character, Alex Housman. His struggles depict the aimless melancholony one feels as a teenager. Having gone through the transition from child to adult, I found myself fully understanding (if not always agreeing with) Alex's actions.Theodore Weesner should be commended for his portrayal of the father/son relationship, between Alex and his father, which is really the heart of the novel. Through deceptively simple actions and dialogue, Weesner brings to life a terribly complex relationship that, in the hands of another author, might be difficult to understand.One reviewer said it best that the true meaning of this novel seeps up between the words. Weesner has placed something special into his work that is impossible to pinpoint, but communicates perfectly the intention of this story.An excellent novel that might not speak to everyone, "The Car Thief" certainly has a lot to say to those willing to listen.

MODERN CLASSIC

THE CAR THIEF is a book so poignant, so well written and articulate that you'd have to have a heart of stone not to feel the weight of it's sorrow. I taught this book to all my Modern Lit classes and every student found it tremendously moving--and a great example of modern prose style. Ted Weesner is a fine writer, and I recommend his other titles as well.