Subterranean Green

by Edan Benn Epstein

Late one night a mysterious stranger encounters a drunken homeless man found sleeping on the sidewalk and forcibly takes him to a nearby motel. The stranger tells the drunkard that he must follow him for 24 hours after which he is free to resume the life that he had if he wishes. What begins as a mystery unfolds as the story of three lost souls over the course of twenty years whose lives are intertwined with each other in ways that are only revealed over the fullness of time. The homeless man is Jeter Hanbone, sex addict and alcoholic. Karen Hogg is the lonely woman who carries his child. Victor Podgorny is the mathematics genius who works as a dishwasher. Like many of Epstein’s novels, Subterranean Green is a spiritually redemptive story of descent and salvation, of lives filled with both awe and ennui and with a magic touch that transcends and elevates the most ordinary of people, places, and things.

410 pages, Paperback

Published February 14, 2017

Reviews

[Sonya Baska · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something happened to each of the main characters in childhood. Throughout the book, we observe how they deal with the aftermath. They interact with each other and the others in a bizarre way…
It's a level of psychic distortion that not always been revealed to the public. These people tend to hide in places like libraries, they tend to do simple work that not requires many social obligations, and they may become an alcoholic and even homeless. Finally, each of them got their personal redemption and it's a sheer joy to be a witness to that! The book is so wonderfully written so you may forget completely that it’s all fictional.