The Boy in the Box: A Novel - Hardcover

Nelson, Lee J.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1882593669 ISBN 13: 9781882593668

Publisher: Bridgeworks, 2002

Synopsis

In this highly original, Kafka-esque novel, Smith tries to recruit others to help him solve the mystery, only to encounter the same resistance and denial. He concludes he must solve it on his own. Fast-moving and accessible, this book is a suspenseful, surreal foray into a city that no one really knows, where the pain and danger of being an outsider in an eerie, menacing and anonymous world can both frighten and amuse.

About this title

From the Inside Flap

When Smith, a newcomer to New York City, hears from the janitor of his apartment building the rumor of the kidnapping of a young boy and his imprisonment in a wooden box, he tells his neighbors and the police, but his concerns are treated with disbelief, indifference or contempt.

In this highly original, Kafka-esque novel, Smith tries to recruit others to help him solve the mystery, only to come up against the same resistance and denial. Looking for friends, clues and assistance, he has unsettling encounters with the janitor's son, Lupo Dezmun; with his neighbor, Carin; with a waitress named Wendy; and with others. Two skeptical and increasingly confrontational police officers, detectives Poland and Brinkman, challenge Smith's sense of reality and identity. All contribute to a surreal, eerie foray into a city that no one really knows, where the pain and danger of being an outsider in a menacing and anonymous world can both frighten and amuse.

Smith's search for clues to the mystery of the boy in the box continues with no less frustration when he ventures into Chinatown and even during an important midtown Manhattan job interview, which he hopes will launch his career as an industrial designer. Arriving for the interview he is met by a man named Doctor Kennedy--who turns out to be disconcertingly well informed about Smith's private world.

Smith concludes he must solve the mystery of the boy in the box on his own. In the end, he locates the scene of the sinister crime that may or may not have occurred--and learns much about himself and what lies beneath the surface of urban life today. "The Boy in the Box" is as fast-paced, suspenseful and accessible as an Alfred Hitchcock mystery, with an ending reminiscent of Henry James's "The Turn of the Screw."

About the Author

Lee J. Nelson teaches English at the City University of New York.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bridgeworks
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1882593669
• ISBN 13: 9781882593668
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 226