The Businessman: A Tale of Terror

I'm not much of a horror reader--one every few years or so--but this book had so many rave blurbs on it from like every major publication in existence, not to mention Stephen King and Dean Koontz, that I thought I'd give it a try. Actually bought it back in 2001 and finally got around to reading it now. What a trip! If there was ever a book that makes it impossible to guess what is going to happen from page to page, this is it. I don't want to give much away because it's so much fun to experience it fresh as you read along. Suffice it to say, this book takes the reader into the coffin, and mind, of a dead person (on page one), up to heaven (via an escalator at Sears), into the psyche of a tree, into a magnetized potholder and many more bizarre places that I will not reveal. The storyline is intriguing and gripping, and the characters marvelously entertaining. The author's voice is very funny and off-hand. Though he often portrays very disturbing events (e.g., violent deaths and bloodbaths), he does it in such a unique way--balancing it with the mundane, the laugh-out-loud funny, and the profound--that it's not as troublesome as it might be otherwise. Not a combo I would have expected to work, but somehow it does...and still maintains a high level of intelligence.

Although I've read a lot of horror, fantasy, science fiction, and for that matter mystery novels, I can't really think of another book you could compare this one to. (Except perhaps other novels by Thomas Disch.) It is really a unique, disturbing work, a seamless blend of black humor and fantasy. Having said that, I have to admit that it's not a work I personally responded to. I thought it was just a little too unpleasant, and too weird. Bob ranks high on my list of the most unappealling characters I've ever encountered, and even sweet Giselle got very cloying after a while. But it's certainly worth reading if you're a fan of fantasy and/or horror, and Disch is undeniably an original and skilled writer.

Listed in Cawthorn's and Moorcock's "Fantasy: The 100 Best Books".Bob Glandier, an overweight executive, kills his beautiful, young wife Giselle, who ran out on him. Giselle, who was chosen to be a saint, can't leave her earthly remains to enter the afterlife. When her corpse finally rots enough for her soul to set itself free, the last thing she wishes is to go back to her husband. Yet, his evil mind pulls her to him, and what's a saintly woman to do in such circumstances, but haunt her killer as a ghost?Disch turns this book into a wild, laugh-out-loud romp, and this only enhances the terror of the starkest scenes. This is a surreal tale that gives a new direction to horror stories.If you are lucky enough to find it, pick it up. This is a unique novel that should receive lots of attention.