The Rat Race (Sara Logan)



From the print edition:
“Follow a contemporary anti-hero struggling through the day-to-day of making ends meet to pay the cell phone bills!”
From the Kindle edition:
“Danny had the perfect life… until he lost his wife, his house, and his job. He buckles down to keep enough cash to pay his cell phone bill, though. Strap on your running shoes and join him as he makes the daily dash through The Rat Race.”
I don’t particularly like either of these descriptions of Sara Logan’s THE RAT RACE. They are both lacking. They do not do the book justice and really do not lend a reader enough info to determine if it is up their alley. But I am an opinionated ass, so bear with me.
What it could say:
“The Rat Race is no less pitiful for one than another. We all share the same finish line. The only difference is if we are whores or beggars, champions or frightened babies, quitters or people who stick it out till the end.
Danny has a great job, a wife, a home, a kick ass car… He is a confused mess of complacency and personal-professional drive. Shortly after page one of this novel his wife will leave him. He will be sh!t canned from his job. His house will begin to fall apart. The only thing good that he will have left is his precious BMW, flaunting his lost status and guzzling up his spare cash. All things prideful are removed, leaving him bare.
TRR is the portrayal of a man’s spine being destroyed. TRR is the tale of a man attempting to recover.
Giving up the office zombie dream and turning to pizza delivery takes a special kind of desperation; as does being a club bouncer or working as a clerk at a thinly veiled Wal-mart clone. This is a man’s life, mid-flush as he watches everything he loves slowly circle the bowl, provided the toilet still works.”
Now…
I am sorry but I have to con-volute this further.
I disagree that this is Danny’s story. He may be speaking, narrating, and living out the horror show of joblessness, but I don’t believe it is his tale that matters.
The novel opens and closes with an editor at a publishing house. He is burnt out and feeling hopeless towards his given profession. He reads a hand written copy of Danny’s current life. His reaction was the point, not the end of Danny’s story or any potential sequel. His was the story that resonated with me once I finished the novel.
I see this novel more as the one thing that keeps a specific man from giving up. The editor hasn’t confirmed if what is being read is legitimate or fiction, but he comes away feeling refreshed and over the hump.. Thankful.
Danny is living an unrequested hyper degeneration. The editor, myself, and millions of others are taking the slower route, decaying behind stacks of paper and glowing radiation spewing screens. I am waiting for my looming carpel-tunnel. I answer calls, I troubleshoot client concerns, I buzz-speak the synergy co-existing sea-change/wellness analytic something or other.
Yet.. Reading this, I was thankful for my job, for my life, and for my lack of complexity.
Good read- Pick up a copy
I am tired, please ignore any errors or oversights in this review..

    Comments

    1. russell1200May 8, 2012 at 6:20 PM

      I take it then that he has no children to support. His would be the classic case of child support set at past wages, and vindictive ex- sending him to the slammer when his Wal-Mart wages won't suffice.

      He doesn't sound like a particularly sympathetic character.

      ReplyDelete
    2. erisianMay 9, 2012 at 1:46 AM

      nope, no children, though that would certainly change the dynamic of the story.

      he actually isn't very sympathetic, he is a very "poor me" kinda guy, but i know 30 people like him so it still touches home. At some points you want to strangle the man, at others you wonder if you can make money how he is, no matter how embarrassing, the cash is good :)

      ReplyDelete
    3. befrilMay 20, 2012 at 2:52 PM

      I to read the book. All in all I thought it was a good story. My only problem was sometimes getting things explained to me that I didn't feel were relevant to the story (IE guided tours) . That being said, I hope that miss Logan will give us another story to read and enjoy.

      ReplyDelete
    4. erisianMay 21, 2012 at 4:52 AM

      i remember reading that and found it interesting, but out of place.
      I can see where you thought that.

      ReplyDelete

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