Fri, Oct 01, 1999

: The Efficiency Expert

Author: Edgar Rice Burroughs

What a cool little gem of a book! Difficult to find even years ago, I picked this up at a used bookstore. It’s not a huge tale by any means, but it’s a clever little adventure about a young college graduate growing up in gangster-ridden Chicago. Like so much of Burroughs, it’s witty with more subtlety than you might expect, and the plot twists and turns back on itself nicely. The main character, a clueless college grad, is hilarious in his naivety. (For instance, he doesn’t turn in a pickpocket who nicked his watch and later the pickpocket returns the favor by giving the watch back. Johnny finds out the pickpocket would have gotten $20 for the watch, so he gives him twenty dollars! Of course he’s assuming as a college grad he’ll find the job-getting easy — but no one answers his "I will run your company for you" job wanted ad.) Johnny falls in with the Chicago underworld, but won’t compromise his integrity, even when framed for a murder. The trial at the end is a little predictable and (almost) all the loose ends are tied together a bit too neatly. It’s a light, feel-good tale with some amusing pokes at society people.

Here’s a classic example of the Burroughs writing style I like so much. This is his tactful description of a couple making out on a sofa:

She was not alone, yet although there were many comfortable chairs in the large room, and the sofa was an exceptionally long one, she and her companion occupied but little more space than would have comfortably accommodated a single individual.

Topic: [/book]

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