The Hook Man-the nightmare of romantic teens on Lovers Lanes from coast to coast-is an enduring and frightening urban legend. But what if he had a name? Fears of his own? What if he was real? He is. In this funny, touching, and completely unpredictable novel, Matt Clark lets everyone in on a dark secret in American pop culture, and gives the Hook Man a heart-and a voice-like no other in contemporary fiction.
"Part picaresque, part urban folklore, part bildungsroman, and like no other novel I've ever read. Deftly written, funny, at times heartbreaking." (Josh Russell, author of Yellow Jack )
"Inspired strangeness." (Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng )
"Clark's writing is illuminated by a child's sadness and by a young man's sensual hunger...a terrific book." (Andrei Codrescu, author of The Blood Countess )
"The gracious humanity of his Hook Man will earn Matt Clark a spot among the most beguiling characters in fiction." (Elizabeth Gilbert, author of The Last American Man and Pilgrims )
