BLURBS
“Shemkovitz does for Buffalo what William Kennedy once did for Albany, and he does so with verve and charm and a gifted eye for the details of the extraordinary lives of ordinary people.”
—Jacob M. Appel, author of The Biology of Luck and The Man Who Wouldn’t Stand Up
“A funny, antic, swift-moving novel about independence, the call of the road and learning the hard way. Lot Boy is a terrific debut by a writer with talent to burn.”
—Porter Shreve, author of The End of the Book
“Greg Shemkovitz’s rust belt noir is a gritty, vulgar, hilarious example of why you should never turn your back on a mechanic.”
—Patrick Wensink, Bestselling Author of Broken Piano for President
REVIEWS
“Eddie Lanning has grown up with the run of his father’s Ford dealership, but lack of ambition and an immature attitude leave him trapped as the 'lot boy' who covers the most menial and unskilled tasks and errands. Eager to escape both snowy Buffalo and his family legacy, Eddie allows a habit of petty theft to escalate into warranty fraud as he is drawn by fellow employee Spanky into a dangerous parts-selling scheme. This sensitive portrayal of both inchoate youthful rebellion and the invisible bonds of family and home effectively emphasizes the difficulty of Eddie’s final choice."
—Publishers Weekly
"It’s been a long time since I’ve cherished a work of fiction this thoroughly. ... Shemkovitz is a skillful writer who draws on his own experience to sketch the socioeconomic and cultural details of his native Buffalo in western New York, and fills in the rest — the callous and antisocial behavior of his protagonist Eddie Lanning — through his keen empathy and imagination. In so doing, the author pulls off a difficult trick by leaning on personality traits that his protagonist sorely lacks to render a compelling and believable character. ... You wouldn’t want to be in the shoes of Eddie Lanning, the novel’s inchoate antihero, or any of the other characters hovering around the dealership for that matter, but you if you’re willing to go along for the ride you can bet it will be worth it."
—Trian City Beat
"Lot Boy is an inventive, unsparing take on a mind-set so wrapped in real and imagined losses that it can’t make room for others. Shemkovitz inhabits his main character by way of a thorough, crisp approach, offering a window on stagnation in an American city."
—Foreword Reviews
INTERVIEWS
Triad City Beat
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