Knifeboy

By Tod Harrison Williams

Book Overview

Friends. Family. Housekeepers.
All's Fair in Love, War, and Knife Selling.

Check your dignity at the door as you stride across the welcome mat with Jay Hauser in this insightful and strangely touching story about young love, fear, manipulation, and the lengths we go to to succeed in a world that values charisma, competition, and acceptance above all else. Set on the elite campus of Dartmouth College and in the well-heeled reaches of the Detroit suburbs, this twisted and affecting coming-of-age novel provides a startlingly authentic and often hilarious glimpse of life through the eyes of an indulged and misguided young hustler.

Jay Hauser is wrapping up his first year at Dartmouth when he takes a summer job selling knives door-to-door to prove to Isabelle, the great love of his life, that he is charming enough to pull it off. His quest quickly becomes a dark obsession as he works his way up the knife-selling ladder trying to win the summer sales competition and lands neck-deep in an absurd subculture that is harder to break away from than he could ever have imagined. As sophomore year looms on the horizon, Jay's summer "break" has evolved into a hazy bender spent lying and scamming his way through all the places -- and people -- he once called home.
Knifeboy marks the arresting debut of a fine young writer who reveals the unnerving reality of a ravenous generation in a lavish and unforgiving world.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1416538216
• ISBN13: 9781416538219
• Release Date: August 2007
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.6" x 9.1"

Customer Reviews

sardonicaly irreverant coming of age tale

In the debut novel by Author Tod Harrison Williams we catch a glimpse into the bizarre subculture of knife selling. The often hilarious and surprisingly deep novel reveals a talented and humorous first time offering from a young auteur on his way up the writing food chain. The book is strangely touching, as the lead character reveals himself to be a person of dynamic emotions and fierce drive, more than just a superficial frat boy at an elite university playing football and pong trying to impress a girl. Highly recommended to all as an entertaining and exciting read. The book moves quickly and flows well, the first 40 pages are a bit slow and then it takes off like a rocket! Well worth the read! As a side note the author is also a screenwriter and director with a film coming out soon titled "Trainwreck, my life and idoit" starring Sean William Scott and Gretchen Mol.