William Heller or Lowboy as he calls himself, is sixteen, schizophrenic, maybe dangerous. He allegedly shoved a girlfriend before the subway. The cops from the NYPD are after him, along with his mother. But Lowboy has a much worse problem: since he has broken out of the asylum, the world strives on self-destruction, and only he alone can save it. Well... On the run, closely followed by a profiler, who has a similar penchant for secret codes and riddles as Lowboy, he rushes through the tunnels and catacombs of the New York subway. A dark world, whose perception is always the delusional and seems to reflect the more dazzling reality. His journey through the New York metro system is really fascinating and exciting, and its associated thoughts even more. Strangely funny and compelling it is interesting to see the events that have shaped the way for Lowboy into schizophrenia. The critical praise for Lowboy was so exalted I almost hesitated to buy the book; nothing could live up to that hype. But Lowboy just about does. The disintegrating point of view of the title character, aka Will Heller, is precise and sweeps you along. The entire book, in fact, is paced like an express train: fast, at times appearing to be controlled, at other times delivering unexpected jolts. It was only afterward that I questioned a few of the authorial choices, in particular concerning Will's mother. But the external and internal worlds of Will sucked me in to such a degree that even after I emerged, I still felt vaguely unsettled, as you do when climbing up the subway steps after an especially long trip to be smacked with the midday sun.
What do You think about Spodek (2013)?
found it very interesting to view the world through the eyes of a person with schizophrenia
—shiraz
Didn't quite come together at the end for me; a lot of foreshadowing for not much payoff.
—Archergirl
Really enjoyed this one (thanks for the recommendation, Daniel).
—samantha
