Ricky Rice is a middle-aged hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. The sole survivor of a suicide cult, he spends his days scraping by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York. Until one day a letter arrives, reminding him of a vow he once made and summoning him to Vermont's remote Northeast Kingdom to fulfill it. There, Ricky is inducted into a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom have at some point in their wasted lives heard the ...
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Ricky Rice is a middle-aged hustler with a lingering junk habit, a bum knee, and a haunted mind. The sole survivor of a suicide cult, he spends his days scraping by as a porter at a bus depot in Utica, New York. Until one day a letter arrives, reminding him of a vow he once made and summoning him to Vermont's remote Northeast Kingdom to fulfill it. There, Ricky is inducted into a band of paranormal investigators comprised of former addicts and petty criminals, all of whom have at some point in their wasted lives heard the Voice: a murmur on the wind, a disembodied shout, a whisper in an empty room. All these may or may not have been messages from God. Their mission is to find the Voice - and figure out what it wants. Big Machine takes us from Ricky's childhood in a matrilineal cult housed in a New York City tenement to his near-death experience in the basement of an Iowa house owned by a man named Murder. And to his final confrontation with an army of true believers - and with his own past. Infused with the wonder of a disquieting dream and laced with Victor LaValle's fiendish comic sensibility, Big Machine is a mind-rattling mystery about doubt, faith, and the monsters we carry within us. Big Machine named: ???American Book Award 2010 ???Shirley Jackson Award 2009 - Winner - Best Novel ???10 Best Books of 2009 - Publisher's Weekly ???Favorite Fiction of 2009 - Chicago Tribune ???Best Science Fiction of 2009 - Los Angeles Times ???Best Science Fiction & Fantasy - Washington Post ???Most Valuable Fiction Book of 2009 - The Nation ???Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence 2010 Winner
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Add this copy of Big Machine: a Novel to cart. $0.99, fair condition, Sold by Dream Books Co. rated 4.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Denver, CO, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by One World.
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Seller's Description:
Fair. This copy has clearly been enjoyed-expect noticeable shelf wear and some minor creases to the cover. Binding is strong and all pages are legible. May contain previous library markings or stamps.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.25, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Random House Publishing Group.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.25, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Random House Publishing Group.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.25, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Random House Publishing Group.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.25, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Random House Publishing Group.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.25, fair condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Baltimore rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Halethorpe, MD, UNITED STATES, published 2010 by Random House Publishing Group.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.60, very good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spiegel & Grau.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.60, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Atlanta rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Austell, GA, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spiegel & Grau.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.60, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Reno rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Reno, NV, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spiegel & Grau.
Add this copy of Big Machine to cart. $2.60, good condition, Sold by ThriftBooks-Dallas rated 5.0 out of 5 stars, ships from Dallas, TX, UNITED STATES, published 2009 by Spiegel & Grau.
I'm really not quite sure if I would recommend this book to a friend or not. It wasn't bad enough that I stopped reading it or anything, but for me it started with a bang and then fizzled out. The author pulls you in with a mystery meets memoir, but then the book seems to suddenly change into some strange religious/ sci-fi tale, which just isn't my thing. It goes from being believable to downright bizarre in an instant. I enjoyed the format, how the author switches back and forth between unraveling the mystery of the Washburn Library and remembering the past experiences of the character. However, for me there were a lot of unexplained parts ( how did the dean even know about Ricky's promise, how to send him the note? And this "I am an oracle" stuff just wasn't enough of an answer for me, etc), and the content of the second half was just a little too...weird.
