Confessions of a Polish Used Car Salesman: A Novel

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PART 1

A HEMINGWAYESQUE TALE WITH A DOUBLE SHOT OF BUKOWSKI

Confession of a non-Polish used book salesgirl

Almost a Runner

Hilarious, entertaining, and realistic

Confessions of a Polish Used Car Salesman: A Novel
Mark Wisniewski
Manufacturer: Hi Jinx Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1576500691

Customer Reviews:

PART 1.......1999-06-03

In his book "Confession of Polish used car salesman", Mark Wisniewski points out many important moral issues and at the same time he makes the novel very entertaining. The author makes the story humorous by use of ironic and funny language as well as comical situations. However, under the mask of humor a reader sees greed and moral emptiness among the characters of the story. Mark Wisniewski blends these two aspects together. Claiborne K. H. Smith in his article "In person Mark Wisniewski" also proves that the story has two faces. He states that, "In short, the novel is humorous but troubling, enlightening but cautionary, a liminal, mercurial, but spare take on the scamming business as seen through Polish eyes." From the first sentences of the novel the author uses his sarcastic language to describe people and their behavior. Particularly, it is well seen when he writes about the boy's grandfather. He presents him as an old guy who is twitching all the time and says a few sentences per day. Wisniewski writes, "Six words, I thought. Including a question. The man is out of control" to make him comical character. Moreover, the author repeats constantly the sentence "My Grandfather twitched", which causes a break in the story and makes even tense situation less serious. He also uses the repetition in the scene where the boy kisses Pam. Each time the boy does it , Pam's eyes are fluttering. Kissing is an intimate and romantic thing, however, the author by the repetition of the words "Her eyes fluttered," makes the situation comical and silly. Mark Wisniewski also expresses his ironic language when he mentions the shortcut 3P, which stands for Polish Poor People. He uses this alternative to make the characters of the story seem odd. They are not usual people. They are 3P - people who are greedy, cheap, and strange. Whenever the author uses this shortcut to picture some new characters, we already know what kind of people to expect. A similar situation arises when author mentions the word "car." He never uses the word "car" by itself. Instead, he always writes "The good used car." This sentence is ironic because a used car can't be good by the fact that it is used. The sentence "good used cars" is paradoxical and makes the car sales men who say it seem ridicules and absurd. Mark Wisniewski has also a special way of calculating the time to amuse the novel. He does not just write time in years. To describe six years he writes 2066. He uses it in some situations when the time plays an important role, and does it to highlight a long period. For example, when the boy has to sleep with Fommy who pees at night. The author tries to point out how long and terrible these six years were for the boy. He changes it to 2066 mornings, which are like an enhancement to point out the irony of this situation. The same situation takes place when the boy has to work on the worm farm. The author writes "I jumped up and down 437 times: still no nightcrawlers. My feet hurt so I pounded 217 more times. The worms were not panicking, but I was." Jumping for over 600 times up and down seems like an awful thing. By writing the exact number of jumps the author enhances the situation to accentuate the boy's efforts. The reader feels sorry for a boy. However, these situations are funny because people like to laugh from other's little misfortunes. In order to make the story more amusing Mark Wisniewsk,i mentions some less important scenes only for the entertainment purposes. It is well seen when the boy escapes with Malcolm from the Indian lady's house. On this instance a dead man is involved. Although this fact makes the situation very serious and dramatic, the sentence "I'd never touched a black man before and now I was shaking one's hand and the rest of him was not attached"(97), makes the whole event peculiar. The author presents his black type of humor and even thrilling scenes he turns over into comical ones. We can also see his twisted humor when he writes about the boy's and Pam's honeymoon. The sentence, "Pam used roughly the same trees I'd thrown the burnt hotdogs in. The huisache trees were thick, but not so thick that I could not hear Pam using them. I though: The honeymoon is over?"(156) shows his unusual jocularity.

A HEMINGWAYESQUE TALE WITH A DOUBLE SHOT OF BUKOWSKI.......1998-07-30

"Mark Wisniewski rips the guts from his youth on the south side of Milwaukee. An excellent par none journeyman word mechanic, he puts it all together in a Hemingwayesque tale with a double shot of Bukowski. CONFESSIONS OF A POLISH USED CAR SALESMAN is an adventure into ethnic Polish-American life. Wisniewski has a style and voice that draw the reader into his world. A kid growing up poor, with observations beyond his years. Every locale, genuine Brewski City. Sinister characters. Flim-flam car tricksters. Love. Vintage autos. All spun into a vortex metaphor of fantasma. A read that will stick to your ribs and heart, long after the last page is turned, long after the last bite of kielbasa is washed down with an icy Pabst Blue Ribbon." -- Catfish McDaris

Confession of a non-Polish used book salesgirl.......1998-06-18

As a resident of Milwaukee for four years, I first became acquainted with this book during a reading at the campus bookstore where I worked. From the moment Wasniewski opened his mouth to read, I knew that this novel captured the Milwaukee mentality better than the local "Journal-Sentinal" newspaper ever had. Even though the story takes place over thirty years in the past, the city remains much the same, a place full of earthy, often down-on-their-luck, at -hear-truly- decent people who enjoy their beer and their sausage products, nearly worship the Greenbay Packers, and are just trying to get by any way they can. This is not a wealthy city, but it is an interesting city, and Wisniewski embrases its excentricity with sharp, acurate dialogue, a sense of the ethnic pride that still flourishes in the neighborhoods today, and an understanding of people who are often too poor to live the good life and have a very modest opinion of what the good life is. Through great characters (particularly Norb Hike) and witty, observant dialogue, Wiesnewski crafts a picture of life among people attempting to score the one great scam that will make them rich. He also succeeds in conveying what makes parts of the city truly interesting, the people and the everyday absurdities that come with beeing a resident of a blue-color neighborhood in decline that still maintains an odd form of dignity in its impoverished residents .

Almost a Runner.......1998-06-07

I read this book after taking a writing seminar with the author. It's refreshing when a writing instructor actually publishes -- and Wisniewski practices what he preaches (forgive the cliche). The characters are original and the dialogue rings. However, I sense Wisniewski is holding back -- a little more and the story could explode into greatness. I'd buy the next book.

Hilarious, entertaining, and realistic.......1998-06-03

I actually read this book in a research paper class with Mark Wisniewski, I really enjoyed the book. It was very original and ralistic. Althought it was said to have dealt with serious issues, it was very entertaining. This book will have you laughing. The little boy, who is the narrator, truely brings out the plot of the entire story. Along with the high antics of Norb Hike, they gain a wonderful friendship and great used car SCAMS.

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Clarification for NLP readers
Brilliant look at loneliness
Startling and Atmospheric
A lovely, lyrical start which went downhill
Irish story-telling at its best!

The Salesman: A Novel
Joseph O'Connor
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0312204310

Amazon.com

"A Good Salesman can sell anything." So says the protagonist of Joseph O'Connor's remarkable third novel, who is selling nothing less than a justification to commit murder. A divorced, middle-aged recovering alcoholic, Billy Sweeney is in a world of trouble. His beloved younger daughter was brutally beaten during an attempted robbery and now lies comatose in a Dublin hospital; worse, Donal Quinn, the ringleader of the gang who put her there, has escaped from prison before his trial, and the police can't find him. Then one day, Sweeney spots a disguised Quinn in an electronics store. He considers calling the police--even goes so far as dialing the number--before "a thought occurred to me, as clear as the moment when a migraine lifts." The bereaved salesman decides to take justice into his own hands. What follows is a clever, at times terrifying game of cat and mouse as Sweeney first stalks Quinn and then catches him--with wildly unexpected results.

Though The Salesman has elements of a noir-ish thriller, it is, first and foremost, an examination of love. Written in the form of a journal from Sweeney to his comatose daughter, the book leapfrogs back and forth in time, chronicling Sweeney's courtship and troubled marriage to Grace Lawrence, his alcoholism, and his eventual divorce--even as it describes his hunt for Quinn. The love between friends, between a man and a woman, and between a father and a child are all poignantly limned here; what sets The Salesman apart, however, is the relationship that develops between Sweeney and his nemesis. O'Connor has written a novel that brims with emotion while avoiding sentimentality. Moving, disturbing, at times grimly humorous, this is Irish fiction at its best. --Alix Wilber

Book Description

This "gripping and moving" novel, as The Guardian has noted, offers "a taut, expertly crafted plot" while it likewise "captures brilliantly changes of mood and unexpected quirks of behavior." As The Salesman opens, it is the hottest summer in Dublin's history, and Billy Sweeney has more than the weather on his mind. His daughter lies in a coma in the hospital, the result of a mysterious attack at the petrol station where she worked. Devastated by the unfolding consequences of that terrible night, frustrated by officialdom, and failed by the system, Billy finally tires of seeking legal justice. He decides to take the law into his own hands, but when his plans go spectacularly wrong, the results are terrifying, often hilarious, and in the end, unforgettable.

Customer Reviews:

Clarification for NLP readers.......2007-04-29

This Joseph O'Connor is an Irish novelist, NOT the NLP trainer and author of the same name.

Brilliant look at loneliness.......2004-05-18

There's a fine line between love and hate. There's also a fine line between friend and enemy in this book.
The author does a great job of conveying the emotions of his characters, from the anguish of a middle aged man who finds himself without his family to the rage of a young man who never really had a family at all.The evolving relationship between the two men forms the heart of the story but it is not like any relationship you've ever experienced before.The book explores the loneliness of all the characters but mainly the 2 men. The irony of these people befriending each other shows how deep the need for companionship can be.
Even so. I doubt I would have the change of heart that comes over Sweeney given his situation. Then again sometimes we find friendship and redemption where we least expect to. That's what maks this such a moving book

Startling and Atmospheric.......2000-07-26

Tautly written, with the kind of wry, dark humor that brings you just to edge of acceptance and never lets you go. This is a smashing work, and one of the best "Irish novels" I've read in awhile. Highly recommended. (By the way, does everyone know that the author, Joseph O'Connor, is none other than the brother of the famous Sinead O'Connor Herself! )

A lovely, lyrical start which went downhill.......2000-02-19

After capturing relationships in a truly beautiful way, O'Connor had to go and spoil everything by going all Tarantino. What could have been a truly great book sacrificied to fashion.

Irish story-telling at its best!.......2000-01-26

This author is new for me. I found it to be a marvelous tale, keeping the people interesting, the places fascinating and the intrigue excellent.

One of the few Irish tellings not wallowing in self-pity, the "salesman" regales us with his life, his loves, and his hates (which turn out to not be so far from his loves). I enjoyed the meter of past memories and current events as they unfold, twisting in and around the central desire on the part of the "salesman" for retribution against one of the perpetrators who hospitalized his youngest daughter. Even that turns out differently than he plans.

Truly a great story!

The Adventures of a Bed Salesman: A Novel

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The Adventures of a Bed Salesman: A Novel
Michael Kumpfmuller
Manufacturer: Picador
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312423365

Book Description

This picaresque tale of a sexually voracious bed salesman whose life is dominated by his adventures with women opens in l962 as thirty-year-old Heinrich Hampel crosses the Berlin Wall leaving the West for East. This is not a political gesture but a desperate attempt to escape debt and the sexual mayhem caused by his bold selling techniques. Charming his way into the hearts, and beds of his female customers in Bavaria in the l950s Heinrich's turnover doubles. But when an expensive mistress appears, his long suffering wife Rosa has cause to worry. Despite the post-war economic miracle, Heinrich's debts build until he is forced to flee across the border and take up his old ways in the East. From this audacious and outlandish opening the novel builds up a mosaic of Hampel's life. As fresh as it is provocative, Michael Kumpfmüller's first novel was a bestselling literary sensation in Germany.

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (Monarch Literature Note)

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A Modern Tragedy
Take a Second Look
Questions for life's inventory
I read this play last year for my high school ap english II class.
Death of a Salesman

Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman (Monarch Literature Note)
Joan Thellusson Nourse
Manufacturer: Monarch Notes
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0671006886

Amazon.com

Arthur Miller's 1949 Death of a Salesman has sold 11 million copies, and Willy Loman didn't make all those sales on a smile and a shoeshine. This play is the genuine article--it's got the goods on the human condition, all packed into a day in the life of one self-deluded, self-promoting, self-defeating soul. It's a sturdy bridge between kitchen-sink realism and spectral abstraction, the facts of particular hard times and universal themes. As Christopher Bigsby's mildly interesting afterword in this 50th-anniversary edition points out (as does Miller in his memoir, Timebends), Willy is closely based on the playwright's sad, absurd salesman uncle, Manny. But of course Miller made Manny into Everyman, and gave him the name of the crime commissioner Lohmann in Fritz Lang's angst-ridden 1932 Nazi parable, The Testament of Dr. Mabuse.

The tragedy of Loman the all-American dreamer and loser works eternally, on the page as on the stage. A lot of plays made history around 1949, but none have stepped out of history into the classic canon as Salesman has. Great as it was, Tennessee Williams's work can't be revived as vividly as this play still is, all over the world. (This edition has edifying pictures of Lee J. Cobb's 1949 and Brian Dennehy's 1999 performances.) It connects Aristotle, The Great Gatsby, On the Waterfront, David Mamet, and the archetypal American movie antihero. It even transcends its author's tragic flaw of pious preachiness (which undoes his snoozy The Crucible, unfortunately his most-produced play).

No doubt you've seen Willy Loman's story at least once. It's still worth reading. --Tim Appelo

Book Description

Arthur Miller seemed to capture the sometimes tragic plight of the common man with his Death of a Salesman. Bloom suggests the strength of the play is puzzling but beyond dispute, lying more in its presentation on stage than its written form. The play's continued vitality is unquestioned.

The title, Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman, part of Chelsea House Publishers' Modern Critical Interpretations series, presents the most important 20th-century criticism on Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman through extracts of critical essays by well-known literary critics. This collection of criticism also features a short biography on Arthur Miller, a chronology of the author's life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University.

Download Description

Miller's most famous play, it is the story of the American Dream gone awry when a small man is destroyed by society's false values.

Death of a Salesman won the Pulitzer Prize in 1949 and continues to shine on stages throughout the world even today.

This concise supplement to Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman helps students understand the overall structure of the play, actions and motivations of the characters, and the social and cultural perspectives of the author.

Customer Reviews:

A Modern Tragedy.......2007-09-20

"Death of a Salesman" is a modern American tragedy. Yet, it can apply equally to any society where individuals become self-obsessed, lose touch with the bigger picture and allow themselves to be deluded by dreams of riches whilst ignoring the beauty of the day to day world.

Poor Willy Loman is a very sad figure. He wallows in the past. He has grandiose dreams about himself and his two adult sons, Happy and Biff. But these dreams are not rooted in any reality. Quite simply, Willy is lost and lonely.

Arthur Miller's play is a masterpiece. Few other 20th century playwrights have been able to surgically dissect society so well. Miller's work is not for those seeking a happy ending where everything is resolved and the characters happily fade away. No, this work is brutal in comparison. Willy Loman is an anti-hero. He is hard to like. He is, however, worthy of our pity. His life, at least through his own eyes, is one of failure. But, in reality, Willy is no failure. He is simply deluded. He has swallowed the American dream to the point where its goals merely impoverish him. The dream, any dream, is what you make of it and should not be imposed upon the individual. Willy allows the dream to ruin his life. Willy is the ultimate tragic.

Many deem "Death of a Salesman" to be a critique of American society. This is unfair. Miller's work is the précis of a tragic life. Willy is that tragedy. To dream is magnificent. To allow a dream to dominate your very existence is a disaster.

Take a Second Look.......2007-09-19

I wasn't terribly impressed with "Death of a Salesman" while I read it. The play simply didn't live up to its acclaim, its noble status in American literature. I've heard Salesman referenced countless times over my life, all 22 years of it. Salesman was written in 1949, a post-war era that supported the belief that starting anew was possible and wishes do come true. My first impression of the play was that it attempted to shatter the ubiquitous belief of an American dream, making it merely a quixotic fantasy. But after rereading certain passages and thinking about it for this review, I saw how very human its message is and how it is actually an incredibly despairing masterpiece that throws a new light at the idea behind the American dream. Through the utterly destroyed and distraught protagonist, Willy Loman, Miller represents the demise of the American dream and suggests the need to reassess such a unrealistic dream.

Loman is a revised, twentieth-century version of the classic tragic character. He does not display the typical chivalrous characteristics that many literary tragic characters do, such as Beowulf and Oedipus Rex. Loman, in fact, is pathetic and repugnant. As an older aged, crazy, and impoverished character, Loman isn't close to the traditional heroic figure. He cheats on his wife; builds up impratical hopes for his two sons; and makes imprudent business and life decisions. Such characteristics are sinful and generally not seen in the traditional tragic literary figure. But these traits are also very real and humanistic. Miller deftly jumps from the present to the past and back again, slowly "peeling the onion" (as Grass would call it) of the true Loman. This peeling process reveals what went wrong and what should've been avoided to prevent this most tragic ending. It appears that Miller is suggesting that seemingly innocuous decisions can--and do--destroy the American dream.

Such a bleak perspective on the American dream shouldn't come as a surprise to the reader/viewer. The late 1940s was a period of transition: America was forced to adjust from the war-driven, ration crazed society to a very corporate-driven, forced-fed consumer culture. Post-war America was full of tenuous hopes to climb the corporate ladder and to acclimate to a life of plenty, i.e. family members and money. For an ordinary, hard-working American, like Loman, this proved to be too much. Despite the play having a backdrop in the 1920s and '30s, it takes place in the late '40s, in the very much consumer focused society. It is fitting that the land of plenty left Loman and his family with nothing.

The play is very much alive today as it was nearly sixty years ago. Do read it. I'm going to try to see the play the next time it comes to town.

Questions for life's inventory.......2007-07-30

Poor Willie; he's just as much a victim of capitalism as the people he's screwed in business all those years. Long before American business became the global conspiracy of recent years (Enron, Haliburton,), business rested on the efforts of the little guy who thought big. Willy Loman is just such a man: in fact, he's the poster boy for the dark side of the corporate psyche in America, from 1949 (when the play had its first production) right up to today. Loathed by his colleagues, avoided by his family (Biff and Happy, his sons, leave him hallucinating in a public toilet), and haunted by his life (which is portrayed in flashback episodes generated within his own troubled mind)--
willy finds himself asking, "Why?" Trying to answer this question leads him through psychosis to eventual suicide . Only Linda, his long-suffering wife, pays him homage: "Willy Loman was a Good Man...," she says over his grave near the end of the play. I can only imagine that universities across the country began developing classes in business ethics soon after this play hit Broadway. ( Ken Lay and Dennis Kozlowsi, for, example, must have missed the play altogether, and it's obvious they cut their ethics class). But, you DO get the feeling that Willy started out as Linda sees him, a good and honorable man. His slide through capitalism has left him critically wounded. When I first saw this play performed on television, Lee J. Cobb played Willy like a wounded bear; he reminded me of some of the business people I knew, both friends and family; so, when I read the play later, I was blown away by it again, amazed that Miller could get it so right. This play should be required reading in all ethics classes. Anyone who reads the play will never feel the same about American business again. It begs the big question: When it comes time to take our own life's inventory, as Willy has, will we look back with pride and a sense of accomplishment? Or will we find ourselves sidestepped and alone, lost to despair? Arthur Miller poses some of life's key questions in this wrenchingly powerful play. It's up to each of us to answer them for ourselves.

I read this play last year for my high school ap english II class........2007-06-25

It was a very well written play. It's major theme is the American dream. The main character Willy Loman is a very depressed man with a wife and two sons.
Loman doesn't like how his life has turned out which is what makes him depressed. When reading a play in class it is best to go and get a chance to see the play live or see the movie of it. The movie with Dustin Hoffman as Willy really does justice to the play. Plays aren't intended to be read like a book. They are intended to be performed and watched by everyone.

thank you for your time,
Loran

Death of a Salesman.......2007-06-12

Death of a Salesman slaps me back to reality, as it includes realistic suppositions about a family's and society's expectations. As the father won't settle for anything else but success, his family falls apart, reminding me of the potential result of any family.
Attempting to effect change in the new American society, brainwashed in an even newer American Dream, Arthur Miller hopes to vanquish the false illusion of that fact that everyone and anyone can succeed in America with wealth and fame. Miller argues that American society puts so much emphasis on financial success that it actually drives people the other way, into insanity. Because everyone thinks he or she can succeed, people begin to unrealistically face an overly ambitious approach towards making a fortune. In the end, when only a few can actually succeed, the rest fail in misery. In order to battle this false notion in American society, Arthur Miller writes of this fact and warn people not to submit to the American Dream and create one, in which everyone can succeed without monetary domination.
Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman argues that even if an individual is determined enough to chase a dream to the ends of the earth by any means necessary, his social status would remain the unchanged and perhaps even diminished. Left with no choice, Willy Loman is forced to dream big in order to gain monetary success. Because of societal pressures, he is coerced to think of a way to succeed, and the best way is gain a financial fortune to gain respect. However, the fact that he thinks of himself as a self-important individual really causes him to feed on his ego. His confidence grows increasingly grander, until it becomes overwhelming for both his family and himself. As he becomes more greedier, his dreams become more grandiose. This false illusion he creates of his world actually set himself up for a disastrous collapse. Eventually, he admits that he has never achieved anything at all in his life. Consequently, he notices he has nothing left to do but to give up, when he has actually wasted his whole life chasing after an unrealistic goal. Ultimately, he ends up in a suicide. Because of this tragic ending, Arthur Miller argues that a society with this kind of emphasis on materialistic success sets people up for a catastrophic downfall. Subsequently, Miller contends that America should rebuild society's foundation, and create a country, in which wealth does not entail success.
Because the book does appeal to me, I recommend this book only if you're into themes about the pressures from society - applauding those who succeed materialistic.

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The salesman,: A novel
John Herrmann
Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B000868CXI

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The Silent Salesman a Novel of Suspense
Michael Z. Lewin
Manufacturer: Knopf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000K0AM8K

The young salesman (The Boy's home weekly)

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Typical Alger

The young salesman (The Boy's home weekly)
Horatio Alger
Manufacturer: A. Westbrook
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Book Description

1896. Alger is the original rags-to-riches guy, often credited with inventing the strive-and-succeed spirit that inspired boys to work hard and advance themselves in order to achieve the American Dream. This theme resonates throughout his numerous writings. When Scott Walton's father dies, he leaves him with the names of two relatives in America. Penniless, Scott must travel to New York City to meet his uncle, Ezra Little. Mr. Little grudgingly hires Scott, paying him only room and board. While he is staying with his uncle, he meets an older relative of the family, the kind Seth Lawton, who comes to visit. When Mr. Little's son, a spoiled young boy, steals his mother's pocketbook and implicates Scott. Anxious to be rid of Scott, Mr. Little fires him and asks him to leave his house. Luckily, Scott is soon able to get a job as a traveling salesman. When Scott is sent to Buffalo on business he is able to buy a bankrupt wholesale firm's goods for his company at a discount. For this, the company gives him a commission and a promotion. Now able to support himself, Scott is even more ecstatic when he learns Lawton's secret that cements his future. See other titles by this author available from Kessinger Publishing.

Customer Reviews:

Typical Alger.......2000-08-14

Another typical installment in Alger's rags to riches theme. Alger writes the story of Scott Walton and his father, who are coming to America from England. While traveling, his father dies unexpectedly, leaving Scott an orphan. However, Scott does have the advantage of having an established distant cousin in New York. His father recommends he look the Littles up for help.

Scott does as his father bids him to do. Mr. Little is tight-fisted and treats Scott shabbily. He underpays Scott while Scott works in his dry-goods store. Scott also has trouble with Little's son -- Loammi, who is a snob and implicates Scott in a robbery that Loammi committed. Luckily, Scott is a good-natured boy and he makes many friends who come to his rescue. He is industrious and through his natural selling ability, is able to rise from a poor boy to one of some affluence.

Customer Reviews:

Super Reader.......2007-08-26

It is definitely a good book. They should let Ms Grayson do some more hero novels, no doubt about it. I even laughed out loud at some bits. She went over some backstory I didn't know about, which was interesting Batman is on the cover, and appears, but it is not a Batman story, so to speak, basically more like this :-

Nightwing-Arsenal-Green Arrow-Aqualand

with appearances by Batman and Aquaman that are more cameos, or referenced, rarely from a protagonist point of view.

Humor, action, psychology, the occasional fan reference like a Suicide Squad line.

She clearly has a Nightwing thing, unsurprisingly, using Green Arrow as a sly hot boy joke reference, at times, which is quite amusing.

Good Story Info... Poor Wrap-up.......2007-01-29

For those looking for background stories on superheroes this has some great info. Most depth was put into Arsenal (Speedy), and of the flashbacks his was the most complete. The story revolves around an investigation in Gotham with the odd grouping of Aquaman, Batman, and Green Arrow along with their once-sidekicks. The 'meat' of the history (as well as the text) involves the flashbacks to how the sidekicks came to be sidekicks, as well as the conflict that has left them all a little jaded.

The disappointing aspect was that Nightwing's flashback to his days as Robin is not completed, or wrapped-up well. His point of conflict peaks with Batman, and then the flashback ends, never to be revisited. The flashback for Tempest's time as Aqualad seems even more half done; almost like the author realized he was about to fill is quota on how many pages the book could be, so jammed the story in.

Another aspect that could leave a bad taste in some reader's mouths is the political and religious information. With the prejudice and conflict surrounding the middle east and the Islam religion it seems like some of the "fictional facts" may not have been represented well, or been in the best taste.

Great for character history information, not that great of a book overall.

Want to know more about the 'Sidekicks"?.......2006-10-23

If the answer to that question is 'yes', then this book is for you. Though from the front cover art and back cover 'blurb', this looks like more of a a "Batman" book, it comes off as more of a "Green Arrow/Arsenal(Speedy)" story. The action does take place on in Batman's town(Gotham of course!) and his presence is felt through out the story. But Green Arrow is the one who brings everyone together, much to Batman's chagrin.
The basic plot:
While Green Arrow, Aquaman, and Batman are working together on a current case with their former sidekicks,(Arsenal:Speedy, Aqualad:Tempest, and Nightwing:Robin)we learn the back story of each sidekick. It seemed that Arsenal has the most ink, (which was a good thing for me, having never read the classic comics from the 70's written by Deeny O'Neal and drawn by Neal Adams)But Nightwing and Tempest are not short changed in any way.
Even if you do know the back stories, this book should be a fun read!

Sins of the fathers..........2006-09-09

"DC Universe: Inheritance" has Batman trying to solve the attempted murder of a visting diplomat's son in Gotham City. The whimsical Green Arrow decides to join in, having nothing better to do, and somehow manages to enlist the aid of Aquaman, Tempest, Arsenal, and Nightwing. While the frame of the book has to do with the murder, the real subjest is the effects of having superheros as adoptive parents. All of the sidekicks ended up with severe psychological scares. Arsenal turned to drugs because of Green Arrow had left him too many times alson. Tempest never forgave Aquaman for abanding him for the sake of Aquaman's son. And Nightwing (Dick Greyson, formally Robin) had to deal with Bruce Wayne/Batman being so emotionally distant. This was a good book for seeing what makes the heros tick. The trwo I thought came off especially well was Oliver Queen/Green Arrow and Tempest relationship. It was as dark a story I have seen, involving drugs, lust, and resent for the absentee father. While this is a good book with deep characters, there were a few minor problems. The book seems aimed at kids, but with the sex and pretty adult subject (and graphic portreyal of) doing drugs. I also thought it was pretty short on action. Still a great book, I highly recomend it.

Enjoyable........2006-08-29

I got this book because I enjoy reading books about Batman. I enjoyed how descriptive this book was and going into some background about characters I had little or no knowledge of prior to reading it. There wasn't enough Batman in it, and I was slightly annoyed to have to wait to the last third of the book before I got the background stuff on Nightwing. All in all, it was very good with good descriptions of the characters and their backgrounds.

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Inheritance :DC Universe
Devin Grayson
Manufacturer: UNSPECIFIED VENDOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UPAHRG

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