Reviews for Noogie's Time to Shine

The average rating for Noogie's Time to Shine based on 2 reviews is 4.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-08-19 00:00:00 Eamon Hartley This is my third book by Knipfel and though I've rated it as high as Blow Offs and Unplugging Philco, it is in fact not quite as good. Close, though. Short and a very fast read, it tells a story of some really lackluster criminals and the cops that are after them. The book is divided in two halves, the first one reads like a terribly misguided crime and subsequent not so great escape by a man who knows movies much better than life, the second half reads more like a detective novel where everyone tries to figure out what happened and in the end settle for some approximation of it. Much like life itself, it's a bit unsatisfying and somewhat vague in the end, but Knipfel's excellent writing and humor and timing balance it all out. Recommended.

Review # 2 was written on 2008-01-25 00:00:00 Andrew McColgan I believe I've read every one of Jim Knipfel's "Slackjaw" columns over the years in New York Press, and it was with no doubt I'd enjoy it that I've lately been reading his books that are always, unfortunately, not the easiest to find. This book takes you inside the life of an isolated mamma's boy of sorts, a pudgy uniformed ATM stocker who visits machines around New York City and makes sure they have the right amount of money in them. It's like a film noir come to life in a novel. The character, nicknamed "Noogie", ends up stealing a little bit, then a lot, then a whole lot, of money, and when the trail is thickening on him, he takes off, leaving his mother behind, all his belongings, just taking his cat, his new-found money in a giant duffle bag, and his car, and sets out onto the roads of America. The way he misinterprets peoples' behavior, the odd reactions he has to things, are quirky but ring true. We follow his adventures downhill. And then there are large unexpected twists and turns that shake up the format of the genre--the crime thriller, or the lonely cowboy--and we end up following Knipfel's madcap imagination wherever it takes us, finally settling into a sort of police procedural in Florida. All in all, a great read, something you'd quite expect from Jim Knipfel. Any of his books are just as good...