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I Am the Messenger

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Manufacturer: Knopf Books for Young Readers
List Price: $8.95
Our Price: $4.91
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Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .

Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?

Winner of the 2003 Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award in Australia, I Am the Messenger is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love.


From the Hardcover edition.


DESCRIPTION:

Binding: Paperback
EAN: 9780375836671
ISBN: 0375836675
Label: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Manufacturer: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 368
Publication Date: 2006-05-09
Publisher: Knopf Books for Young Readers
Reading Level: Young Adult
Release Date: 2006-05-09
Studio: Knopf Books for Young Readers


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CUSTOMER REVIEWS:

Customer Rating:
Summary: more unique brilliance from Zusak
Comment: I started this book thinking it couldn't possibly live up to my expectations after reading The Book Thief. I was wrong. Again,from Zusak, such a refreshingly different way of viewing the experience of being alive & what it means to be human... I am now going to read his earlier novels, hopefully for more reading joy.

Customer Rating:
Summary: THE absolute best book I've ever read
Comment: If this book does not stir your emotions and cause you to analyze your life, you really should give up reading. I'm not sure why this is considered a Young Adult novel, because I'm an old one and it is without a doubt the best book I've ever read. I don't want to spoil the ending for potential readers, but I suggest to all the reviewers who don't understand it to reread the last five pages(paperback version), to include the information that follows the conclusion of the actual story. It's a who-dunnit that YOU have to figure out and all the clues are right there...you just have to SEE it. Marcus Zusack is a genius!!!

Customer Rating:
Summary: amazing til the end
Comment: This was a really great book, wonderfully written, and everything was awesome until the last few pages or so...
It was really disappointing that it was just some random guy setting all this up, just to see if he could do it..? Killed his father, made a man rape his wife nightly, and for what? Just to see if Ed could deliver the message? That's kinda unbelievable.

Customer Rating:
Summary: "I am not the messenger, I am the message!"
Comment: There's very little positive that one can say about Ed Kennedy's achievements in life and, what's even worse, he knows it. At the tender age of nineteen, he's already suffering a full blown mid-life crisis. His best friend is a dog so smelly it could gag a sewer rat at twenty paces. The only job he's had which amounts to the tiniest hill of beans is driving a cab. He's madly in love with Audrey, a girl who refuses to love anyone and treats him only as her best friend. His male friends, Richie and Marvin, are equally washed up. Their only entertainments are rugby, boozing and playing cards. His father was an alcoholic and his mother treats him with utter disdain and a complete lack of respect.

Whether it was the right place at the right time or the wrong place at the wrong time is a matter of debate but, one day in the middle of his otherwise humdrum life, Ed Kennedy is caught in the middle of a bank robbery. When he manages to nab the robber, he is hailed as a local hero and destiny pushes his life down a new path. He begins to receive anonymous coded messages on playing cards instructing him to be at a certain address at a certain time. Clearly, on the basis of his ability to halt a bank robbery, somebody is assigning him to a series of tasks which are intended to change other people's lives. The missions are widely varied - rescuing a woman from a nightly rape by her alcohol-soaked husband; giving the gift of happiness to a confused elderly lady by assuming the role of her long dead husband; providing an enthusiastic congregation to an unfulfilled parish priest; forcing spiteful brothers to recognize their love for one another; and so on. And whoever is behind these cryptic messages is not allowing Ed the option of declining the invitation. A serious beating at the hands of two mysterious night visitors convinces Ed that he has no choice but to assume the role of "the messenger".

"I am the Messenger" is, of course, a message. It is intended to convey the idea that worldly achievements - wealth, good looks or fame, for example - are not the basis of a fulfilled life. Love, charity, friendship, happiness and other more lasting virtues not only come from somewhere else entirely but require considerable investment of effort to achieve them.

Adults reading "I am the Messenger" may think that Zusak has succumbed to sermonizing. They might also suggest that the emotional impact of his novel is so sweet as to be cloying. However, if we remember that Zusak's intended audience is the young adults in grades 9 to 12, then we might forgive him for being a little obvious and leaving a little less to the intuitive leaps of a more mature reader.

While it doesn't have quite the gripping power of his previous novel, "The Book Thief", "I am the Messenger" is still quite capable of putting a lump in your throat and a smile on your face. Engaging characters, raw but realistic dialogue, endearing life-affirming messages and a satisfying ending make "I am the Messenger" a novel well worth the time invested to read it. Highly recommended.

Paul Weiss

Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrific read!
Comment: After reading THE BOOK THIEF this book was recommended to me. So different in tone than the first Zusak book I read & yet it was still completely gripping. I fell in complete love with the characters- their flaws, their triumphs, the beauty in the little things. The ending was predictible but I saw why he had to go there & I wasn't sad about it. I would absolutely recommend it- just an amazing book from start to finish. Everyone should have an Ed Kennedy in their life. And I think I'd like to have a pint with Markus Zusak if I ever get the chance.

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