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Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife…
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Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife (original 2006; edition 2006)

by Sam Savage, Michael Mikolowski (Illustrator)

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
1,7971219,416 (3.43)152
Born in a bookstore in a blighted 1960's Boston neighborhood, Firmin the rat miraculously learns how to read by digesting his nest of books. He quickly realizes that a literate rat is a lonely rat. In a series of misadventures, Firmin is ultimately led deep into his own imaginative soul.
Member:dylanf
Title:Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife
Authors:Sam Savage
Other authors:Michael Mikolowski (Illustrator)
Info:Coffee House Press (2006), Paperback, 162 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:
Tags:None

Work Information

Firmin by Sam Savage (2006)

  1. 20
    A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole (pgmcc)
    pgmcc: Both books take a quirky viewpoint on the world. They are also both about loneliness and isolation, yet really good reads.
  2. 00
    The Killing Circle: A Novel by Andrew Pyper (ShelfMonkey)
    ShelfMonkey: Both books have tremendous fun with authors and writing.
  3. 00
    Winkie by Clifford Chase (ShelfMonkey)
  4. 00
    An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England by Brock Clarke (ShelfMonkey)
  5. 00
    Timbuktu by Paul Auster (sanddancer)
    sanddancer: Both quirky, but not too cutesy stories told from the perspective of animals.
  6. 00
    Le pilon by Paul Désalmand (Anonymous user)
  7. 00
    Mort(e) by Robert Repino (ShelfMonkey)
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» See also 152 mentions

English (85)  Spanish (15)  Italian (8)  French (5)  German (3)  Catalan (2)  Dutch (2)  Hungarian (1)  Portuguese (Brazil) (1)  Portuguese (1)  Romanian (1)  All languages (124)
Showing 1-5 of 85 (next | show all)
It's been said that you can't judge a book by it's cover. But every now and then a very cool book resides within a very cool cover and Firimin is an excellent example of that being the case. ( )
  kevinkevbo | Jul 14, 2023 |
2.1
  BegoMano | Mar 5, 2023 |
Borrowed from Mr Smith, this story was short, about a rat who lived inside an American bookstore, and befriended the author who rented rooms above it. Written from the rat's perspective who first devoured books to learn how to ascertain the flavour of a good book (if you want to know what Jane Austen tasted like, read this book), then learned how to read, and play a miniature piano. Sad tale of the bookshop's closure, and the eventual death of the author; but entertaining and sympathetic. ( )
  AChild | Jan 15, 2023 |
This was a very cute premise of a bookstore rat who grew up eating books and then eventually reading them. While at times it waxed too philosophical for my tastes, it was an interesting read. Though truth be told, I mainly bought it because there was a bite taken out of the book. Brilliant marketing scheme ( )
  wisemetis | Jan 14, 2023 |
Oh I just loved it!! A quick eloquent read. That little rat was my best friend and I wish I had never had to leave him in those pages. ( )
  mkmiller90 | Jan 2, 2021 |
Showing 1-5 of 85 (next | show all)
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» Add other authors (17 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Sam Savageprimary authorall editionscalculated
Buenaventura, RamónTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Krahn FernandoIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Mikolowski, MichaelIllustratorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Santangelo, EvelinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Vierdag, HansTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed

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Clàssica (742)
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Epigraph
One day Chuang Tzu fell asleep, and while he slept he dreamed that he was a butterfly, flying happily about.
And this butterfly did not know that it was Chuang
Tzu dreaming. Then he awoke, to all appearances
himself again, but now he did not know whether he
was a man dreaming that he was a butterfly or a
butterfly dreaming that he was a man.
The Teachings of Chuang Tzu
Had he kept a pain diary, the only entrywould have been one word: Myself.
—Philip Roth
Dedication
To Nora
First words
I had always imagined that my life story, if and when I wrote it, would have a great first line: something lyric like Nabokov's "Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins"; or if I could not do lyric, then something sweeping like Tolstoy's "All happy familes are alike, but every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way."
Quotations
If you are lonely, I think it helps to be a little crazy as long as you don't overdo it.
Jerry used to say that if you didn't want to live your life over again, then you had wasted it.
And you don't have to believe stories to love them. I love all stories. I love the progression of beginning, middle, and end. I love the slow accumulation of meaning, the misty landscapes of the imagination, the mazy walks, the wooded slopes, the reflecting pools, the tragic twists and comic stumbles. (page 39, Delta trade, 2009)
It was soon painfully clear that when he looked at me what he mainly saw was a cute animal, clownish and a little stupid, something like a very small dog with buckteeth. He had no inkling of my true character, that I was in fact grossly cynical, moderately vicious, and a melancholy genius, or that I had read more books than he had.
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Wikipedia in English (1)

Born in a bookstore in a blighted 1960's Boston neighborhood, Firmin the rat miraculously learns how to read by digesting his nest of books. He quickly realizes that a literate rat is a lonely rat. In a series of misadventures, Firmin is ultimately led deep into his own imaginative soul.

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Book description
The life of a rat who comes to learning through digesting books.
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