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Acceptable Losses Irwin Shaw 9780877954378 Books

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Acceptable Losses Irwin Shaw 9780877954378 Books

Although the story kept my interest, it ultimately went nowhere and suffered from a bizarre plot twist that just felt like a wrong turn. At the book's end, I was left with the thought, "what was the purpose of that tale???"


Tags : Acceptable Losses [Irwin Shaw] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Roger Damon, a good and decent man, receives a telephone call from an unidentified caller who calls him a bad boy and pulls Damon into a nightmare race against time and a struggle against irrational evil,Irwin Shaw,Acceptable Losses,Arbor House Pub Co,0877954372,General,FICTION General,Fiction

Acceptable Losses Irwin Shaw 9780877954378 Books Reviews

303 pages that lead nowhere. The first 270 pages are not only written with some excellence, they lead the reader to be concerned about the story. The last 30 pages or so are little more than unintelligent garbage, hardly attached to the story at all. WORSE, the book ends with no conclusion leaving the reader, at least this one, angry enough to want to be the person who threatened the main character, except I want the author to suffer as he made me suffer writing a book without an ending. A novel is no place for a shaggy dog story.
My husband and I were recently having a conversation and one of us used the term "acceptable loss" which inspired a discussion about this book. He read it years ago and still had it and could still find it. He remembered liking it so I decided to read it as well.

The main character, Roger Damon, is a fairly successful literary agent living in New York in the late 70's or early '80's. One night, he gets a nebulous threatening phone call telling him he has been a bad boy and he will have to pay. The first three-fourths of the book is about Damon examining his life and people that might consider him an enemy. I couldn't put it down. The last part of the book seemed implausible compared to the first, almost like he couldn't find an appropriate ending. I felt a little unsatisfied with the ending but it didn't ruin the book for me. I felt Shaw really developed the characters, they didn't seem hollow at all. I think I want to read Rich Man Poor Man next.
Shaw's later work dealt quite a bit with what I guess I would call the randomness of death. The protagonist, Roger Damon, an aging literary agent, is woken up in the middle of the night by a stranger who identifies himself as "Zalovsky" who threatens, "you've been a bad boy and you're going to have to pay." The rest of the novel centers on Damon's attempts to figure out the identity of the caller and who or what in his past he must pay for. I always have enjoyed Irwin Shaw's works and this one, while not quite up to par with Rich Man Poor Man or Nightwork, is a bracing read.
I hadn't read anything by Shaw for decades, and I'd forgotten what a good writer he is. Since reading this, I've read two others. If you're looking for excellent writing, great stories, and memorable characters, pick up any of his books.
Super
Irwin Shaw was a talented American writer who went into self-imposed exile in Europe after being targeted in Senator Joseph McCarthy’s communist witch hunts of the 1950s. From Europe, Shaw continued to write critically acclaimed works until his death in 1984, works that are now being reissued in e-book format.
Acceptable Losses was Shaw’s final book. It is the story of Roger Damon, a literary agent, who gets a strange phone call. The caller demands that they meet or else sins of Damon’s past will be exposed. He doesn’t take it seriously at first, but as the caller persists, Damon begins to reflect upon his past in an effort to identify his telephonic extortionist.
This story, like most of Shaw’s work, defies characterization. Filled with social commentary and mental journeys, it is also a mystery, as Damon’s caller continues to stalk him, But, typical of Shaw, we never know who or why. The stalker serves merely as a backdrop to Shaw’s views on the culture and social mores of the time.
If you like your fiction formulaic, you might not warm to this book, but if you like a good story that will suck you in and hold your interest for several hundred pages, get this book.
After reading - no, skimming - multiple pages of self-doubt, psychological b.s., too convenient memory tweaks and boring introspection, I finally quit over 1/3 of the way through the book. I just didn't care about the central persona or what happened to him.
Although the story kept my interest, it ultimately went nowhere and suffered from a bizarre plot twist that just felt like a wrong turn. At the book's end, I was left with the thought, "what was the purpose of that tale???"