Kockroach

It is the mid-1950s, and Kockroach, perfectly content with his life infesting a fleabag hotel off Times Square, awakens to discover that somehow he's been transformed into, of all things, a human. A tragic turn of events, yes, but cockroaches are awesome coping machines, so Kockroach copes. Step by step, he learns the ways of man—how to walk, how to talk, and how to wear a jaunty brown fedora. Led by his primitive desires and insectile amorality, he navigates through the bizarre human realms of crime, business, politics, and sex. Will he find success or be squashed flat from above? Will he change humanity, or will humanity change him? From Publishers WeeklyStarred Review. Kafka's "Metamorphosis" is turned on its antennae in this roaringly entertaining noir novel. Knox's debut begins with a cockroach waking up to find he has been transformed into a man. Kockroach, however, doesn't lapse into despair, but instead demonstrates the relentless survival instinct of his species by learning how to get by in the human world. Helping him is pint-size Times Square hustler Mickey "Mite" Pimelia, who sees in Kockroach (or, as he's known to humans, Jerry Blatta) his ticket to the top. Sex, organized crime, violence, betrayal and success follow for Kockroach, whose insect's sense of amorality aids his ascent. Meanwhile, Celia, a crippled but beautiful woman, befriends Mite and finds herself drawn to Kockroach. Knox's inhuman antihero's tale is told in flawless noir style—Kockroach's coldness juxtaposed against Mite's bitter self-recrimination in a seedy, smoky 1950s New York—and Kockroach's insights into that New York are perversely delightful. The book's conceptual cleverness is ultimately eclipsed by the epic story line, making for a compelling story of greed and power that is more Chandler than Kafka. (Jan.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From BooklistIn The Metamorphosis, Kafka asked readers to suspend their disbelief as salesman Gregor Samsa finds himself changed into a "monstrous vermin." Similarly, in his oddly compelling first novel, Knox asks readers to accept that a cockroach in New York City circa 1950 awakens to find itself transformed into a human, who eventually goes by the name Jerry Blatta. Knox plays on every aspect of life humans regularly take for granted--how to walk, talk, love, hate, kill or be killed. The novel switches between omniscient narration and the voice of Mite, a human being of slight stature and a low-level hoodlum. Blatta, with his gigantic appetites and prodigious physical strength, becomes feared around town as a killer for hire and a killer on his own volition. Knox's tale is complete with heroines, harlots, and love triangles, and honest and corrupt businesspeople, cops, and politicians. As for Blatta, he metamorphoses from tough-guy murderer to seemingly legitimate businessman to a surprising third incarnation. Steve WeinbergCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved