The Liquidators

Thomas Bond of Middletown, Ohio, has built a cros-country empire of mostly African American truck drivers who roam the nation's heartland selling off the failed products of its commerce. Aging and ailing, Bond wants to see his life's work continue, but his children are uninterested and force him into desperate measures and unexpected revelations about the family's past. When its attempts to find a succesor fail, Bond imagines a project that sets off further family conflict and surprising recognitions.

A widely respected critic, Tom LeClair was a member of the jury that chose the 2005 National Book Award for fiction. In addition to his novels (Passing Off, Passing On, and Well-Founded Fear), LeClair has written two books of literary criticism, The Art of Excess and In the Loop, and coedited a collection of literary interviews, Anything Can Happen. He has reviewed books for the New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post, The Nation, Atlantic Monthly, The New Republic, Book magazine, and American Book Review. LeClair is currently Nathaniel Ropes Professor of English at the University of Cincinnati.