The Contortionist's Handbook Author:Craig Clevenger A stunningly intense debut novel about a talented young forger who continually reinvents himself to escape the authorities. 'I swear to God this is the best book I have read in easily five years. Easily. Maybe ten years.' Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club Following a near fatal overdose of painkillers, Daniel Fletcher is resuscitated in a Lo... more »s Angeles emergency room and detained for psychiatric evaluation. Through a series of questions and tests, the psychiatrist must ascertain whether the patient intended to kill himself, or whether he can walk free. What the psychiatrist doesn't know is that 'Daniel Fletcher' is actually John - Johnny - Dolan Vincent, a brilliant young forger who continually changes his identity to save himself from a lifetime of incarceration. Johnny has done such assessments before - many, many times. As he creates an elaborate bluff for the evaluator, Johnny reveals the true story of his traumatic past - a broken family, descent into the sinister world of forgers and criminals, and his one chance of salvation in the beautiful and elusive Molly. But time is running out; as his underworld clients lose patience and the psychiatrist's net closes around him, Johnny has to negotiate the escape act of his life. Evoking the boulevards and strip bars of 1980s LA with cinematic intensity, The Contortionist's Handbook is a darkly hypnotic and stunningly original debut.« less
If you really enjoy books like Choke or Fight Club,or even Catch Me If You Can, this would be a great choice.Story about a man, his searing migraines and his life of crime.
This book had a similar narration to Fight Club and maybe I drew that conclusion because of Chuck Palahniuk's sparkling review on the cover of this book. If you've ever felt the desire to be invisible, then maybe you could relate to this book. It was a quick read that left me wanting more, but I couldn't have seen it end any other way. For fans of Chuck Palahniuk, William S. Burroughs, Irvine Welsh and so on.