The Delivery Man: A Novel

I literally had to force myself to finish The Delivery Man by Joe McGinniss Jr.. This is a bleak, dark novel filled with loser characters who survive in the underbelly of Las Vegas and are on a one way path to nowhere. One character spends most of the book declaring that he is leaving Vegas but neither the readers or any one else actually believes that he will go.

Chase is a 25 year old wannabe artist who has returned home to Las Vegas. He originally took a job as an art teacher but after being fired spends his time as a driver, delivering the local prostitutes to their appointments. Michelle, a prostitute dreams of making big money and buying herself the security and safety that she dreams of, but most of her money is spend on drugs and show more booze. She also begins recruiting and training teenage girls for the trade, including one of Chase’s former students, Rachel. Meanwhile Rachel’s teenage boyfriend, is not happy with her choices and he blames Chase for her bad decisions.

I did not enjoy this seedy story, in fact, it made me want to wash my hands every time I picked it up. The Delivery Man wasn’t particularly well written and the characters seemed flat and one dimensional. I was disappointed as I had higher expectations than this poorly written story. I probably wouldn’t have finished this book except that I was reading it for an alphabet challenge but the time spent reading this book was truly wasted. show less

Anyone who thinks this is "the real Las Vegas" doesn't actually live here. It's /a/ Las Vegas. (Except for when McGinniss gets some directions wrong; despite help from locals, a few typos seem to have wedged in. That, or else no one has ever pointed me to the secret tunnel making it so easy to flit back and forth from the Summerlin Parkway to Green Valley. And I *really* don't recommend trying to take Maryland down to Boulder Hwy from Flamingo. As for those "west side ghettos" - his characters are far too young to use that term of yesteryear. Nowadays the "west side" is areas like "The Lakes" - a swanky place, as featured in the book.)

Like the main character, I'm a high school teacher in LV, and yes, in my school I have taught at least show more one student who (I knew) was a prostitute and yes, many kids see summer school as almost inevitable. It's not a great place for teens if you don't choose your schools carefully. So, I won't pretend our town doesn't have a gritty side, and it was interesting (albeit unoriginal) to see someone tackle it in fiction. But, every city with this kind of population and population growth has a gritty side, so it's hardly worthy of the "OMG Kids in Las Vegas live like this!!?!!" hype that some would bestow on this novel that, street names and temperature aside, could have been set in Chicago or Baltimore. Kids who don't get their emotional needs met sometimes do stupid or dangerous things. It probably even happens in Iowa.

If I were going to be really nit-picky, I'd ask why a book published in 2008 goes on (and on) about Wet 'n Wild (but never mentions that it's been closed for several years now - which may have been significant to Chase) and also names the Stardust as the only casino for which Chase has chips that hasn't been imploded, when at time of publication it had been almost 18 months since we all said good-bye to that property. For that matter, why does Chase "discover" that his inherited chips are (almost) all for demolished casinos? Why didn't he or his mother cash in those chips before the casinos went out of business? They're locals; they would've had months of warning to do so. It's not like we Las Vegans are going to wake up, grab the newspaper, and suddenly call out, "Cripes. They blew up the Venetian last night. Who knew?"

But on to the actual writing. If you're into the stone-youth-wankery of Bret Easton Ellis, you might like this. If not, you might still like this, as it flows quickly and makes for a nice "beach book." None of the sex is too explicit (for better or for worse), which perhaps helps nudge this into the "literary" genre (as opposed to "dude lit"). Me, I didn't find any of the characters likable, but I respected that the author didn't (seem to) expect me to. They're all losers. (Really. And don't fool yourself into thinking that makes them more "real." If you believe that, get a better life.) It's like playing your birthday numbers on the roulette wheel: pick a character to root for, but don't expect anyone at the table to win. show less

A novel set in Vegas, centered around high-school and college-age kids, all of whom are involved in drugs and prostitution: not something I would have picked up on my own. It definitely sucked me in though, and I was pulling for Chase to escape the whole way through. The writing is understated and clean.

This raw and edgy debut novel is the scary version of what teenagers living in Las Vegas might be doing in 2012--hopefully not today. A scary page turner with a hint of the pornographic, the book follows a group of twenty and thirty-somethings and their high school proteges as they sink into the world of entrepreneurial prostitution. The characters are all too believable, although too much time is spent on flashbacks--which is the style these days--that don't add as much as the current action to the three dimensionality. This one will leave you wanting more but hoping you don't go back for more, much like one might feel if they had a session with, well, you know...

The Delivery Man was really good for a first novel. I was recommended the book by many sources due to my love of everything Bret Easton Ellis. While I can tell the author is a fan also, I felt that the Delivery Man didn't come anywhere close to Less Than Zero (Ellis' first novel). I do have high hopes for McGinniss though, as LTZ isn't my favorite Ellis novel and he went on to write some of my all-time favorite books. I'm sure McGinniss' next book will be even better.

Ok, onto an actual review. The novel takes place in Las Vegas where the main character grew up. He is now in his mid-20s and has returned from college in New York City. He paints, but does very little of it, truth be told. Mostly he acts as a courier of young (think high show more school) prostitutes. He does this to help his childhood friend/sex partner.

The use of flash back seemed tacked on and by the end seems completely pointless. They seem to lead you by the hand, but most everything they tell you can picked up from the bits and pieces told in the story proper.

Some might not like the pessimistic and depressing tone of the book, but I was completely fine with it. Unlike any of Ellis' book where I still like the main character even if they do horrible things, I just didn't really care for him in the Delivery Man. He seemed to make bad decisions just to make them. The fight with the high schooler in the beginning seemed to only be there just so we could have the beating near the end (which anybody could have seen coming).

Final thought: Good, but not great. Can't wait to read his next one down the road though. show less

This was recommended via Bret Easton Ellis on Twitter. I can see why he likes it so much. It just seemed like Ellis fan fiction in terms of style, content etc. If I wanted to read a Bret Easton Ellis novel I would have bought the real thing.

There were some positive signs in the book. I will look out for other works by this author but he certainly needs to further develop his style.

The Delivery Man was an amazing book, that helps you look into the life of teens in Las Vegas. It showed real life events that people ignore. The novel also looks into the struggles with poverty and what it leads you too. This book is not for young teens, there are foul remarks, cursing, and odd sex scenes. I would suggest this book for older more mature teens and some adults.