Underlay Paperback – March 26, 2015

Description

Review A brilliant novel, wildly funny and surprisingly poignant in its deeply knowledgeable portrait of the obsessed world of the compulsive bettor. Malzberg understands the racetrack the way Hemingway understood the bullring. --Robert SilverbergThere is no one, with the possible exception of Philip K. Dick, whose works, each one of them, are so unpredictable or so outrageous and outraged. --Theodore Sturgeon, Galaxy magazineMalzberg's writing is unparalleled in its intensity and in its apocalyptic sensibility... he is a master of black humour. --The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction Read more From the Inside Flap Harry the Flat is dead and buried in the backstretch of Aqueduct Raceway. This is causing the Mob no end of trouble on the betting side, so Harry's oldest and dearest friend—now carrying on with Harry's widow, Gertrude nee Hawkins, in Harry's absence, and in debt to the Mob for $1500—is persuaded to dig him up after the eighth race. Tony Winner, low level Mob boss, is very specific on this point, and to that end has had a time bomb surgically implanted in our hero's thigh to impress upon him the urgency of this matter.So on this fateful day, off he goes to the Aqueduct in Queens, New York, with a cello case stuffed with a pick and a shovel, prepared to dig up the dubious remains of Harry the Flat so that the Mob's control of horserace betting is no longer compromised. His mind is filled with thoughts of Harry, of Gertrude, of his ex-wife, and all the schemes and plans and bets that led to this moment. It will be a long day for our hero. He has a lot to learn about horse racing. Read more See all Editorial Reviews