See the hero hung over and grossly inept, too overwhelmed by an endless flow of absurd and punishing days to ever find a purpose. Riddled with Catholic guilt and an inability to find any real virtue in his world, he seeks oblivion at the corner bar. This nameless character, while able to provide sharp, cutting, complicated, and hilarious analyses of the people around him, seems completely unable to transform this keen understanding into a solid world view, a solid point of view. He is immersed in loss and a sense of otherness that binds. Admittedly, he has graduated from law school and accepted a high paying job with a prominent Manhattan firm while having absolutely no idea what any of it is about. He’s just floating along unaware of the machine that is going to grind him into pieces. The dawn of his destruction comes in an instant--one comment, badly timed, and an outburst of laughter from a bystanding secretary incurs the wrath of a powerful attorney in the firm. Michael Hogan’s MAN OUT OF TIME is a beautiful, dark, funny, savage satire that is both emotionally gripping and entertaining. Hogan’s writing is smart, original, and accessible, without pretensions, yet artful. Don’t overlook this amazing debut. (JN)
