Every Man's Hand - A Novel (Hardcover)

This madcap comic second novel from Jake Mosher, set in Butte, Montana, features Billy Bristol, a young man in a bad way. He suffers delusions of being a great Western writer, but seems mainly to write proposals to send off to publishers when he can afford to buy stamps. A hypochondriac, he fears every possible illness and injury (other than those that will prolong his eligibility for unemployment). He's also well on his way to becoming a full-fledged drunk. He owes the bartender at his favorite bar for his unpaid tab, his landlady for several months' rent, his mother for the money he borrowed for rent, and is constantly evading them by escaping out his apartment window. He's also fleeing the beautiful young woman at the unemployment office, Buff, who finally gets him a job as the personal attendant of the 88-year-old, blind German actress Andrea K.

Billy is incompetent, accident-prone, and lies far more often than he tells the truth, but Andrea seems forgiving (she's blind, after all, so she misses some of his worst fiascoes) even as he fantasizes about somehow making off with her money. But what gradually happens is that Andrea gets Billy to talk about himself, rather, she commands him to. He's been deeply scarred by his experience of being expelled from college (he is physically incapable of pronouncing the word "dean"). As he begins to address his past -- through fits of twitches, hives, and once even vomiting out the car door -- we come to understand Billy and, miraculously, he comes close to understanding himself.

As wild and wacky as Confederacy of Dunces set in the contemporary West, "Every Man's Hand" showcases an astonishing talent. Riotously funny, full of surprisingwisdom, and oddly romantic, Jake Mosher's novel will raise eye-brows and the appreciation of this bold young writer's mastery.