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Hustle
Jack McGreary is adrift of the faded boomtown of Paradise Flats. Raised by his eccentric and increasingly erratic father, Jack has learned to live by his wits. When a pair of fast-talking swindlers named Virgil and Miss Rose blow through town, Jack falls in with them and together they go on a crime spree across the American Southwest.
393 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2009
67 people want to read
About the author
Will Ferguson
44 books551 followersWill Ferguson is an award-winning travel writer and novelist. His last work of fiction, 419, won the Scotiabank Giller Prize. He has won the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour a record-tying three times and has been nominated for both the IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and a Commonwealth Writers’ Prize. His new novel, The Shoe on the Roof, will be released October 17, 2017. Visit him at WillFerguson.ca
Ferguson studied film production and screenwriting at York University in Toronto, graduating with a B.F.A. in 1990. He joined the Japan Exchange Teachers Programme (JET) soon after and spent five years in Asia. He married his wife Terumi in Kumamoto, Japan, in 1995. They now live in Calgary with their two sons. After coming back from Japan he experienced a reverse culture shock, which became the basis for his first book Why I Hate Canadians. With his brother, Ian Ferguson, he wrote the bestselling sequel How to be a Canadian. Ferguson details his experiences hitchhiking across Japan in Hokkaido Highway Blues (later retitled Hitching Rides with Buddha), his travels across Canada in Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw, and a journey through central Africa in Road Trip Rwanda. His debut novel, Happiness, was sold into 23 languages around the world. He has written for The New York Times, Esquire UK, and Canadian Geographic magazine.
Ferguson studied film production and screenwriting at York University in Toronto, graduating with a B.F.A. in 1990. He joined the Japan Exchange Teachers Programme (JET) soon after and spent five years in Asia. He married his wife Terumi in Kumamoto, Japan, in 1995. They now live in Calgary with their two sons. After coming back from Japan he experienced a reverse culture shock, which became the basis for his first book Why I Hate Canadians. With his brother, Ian Ferguson, he wrote the bestselling sequel How to be a Canadian. Ferguson details his experiences hitchhiking across Japan in Hokkaido Highway Blues (later retitled Hitching Rides with Buddha), his travels across Canada in Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw, and a journey through central Africa in Road Trip Rwanda. His debut novel, Happiness, was sold into 23 languages around the world. He has written for The New York Times, Esquire UK, and Canadian Geographic magazine.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 5, 2023
A good story and well-developed plot (although there were a lot of credibility questions) but there was something about this book that annoyed me. Perhaps it was the American “wise guy” type vernacular or the all too repetitive themes or the copious descriptions of scams, or perhaps the genre itself, which I found a little hackneyed; mid-twentieth century nostalgic road trip with lots of incidental namedropping of iconic events and famous people. This book evoked a cross between the movies, Forest Gump and Paper Moon.
February 17, 2015
Cons generally come in two forms, the long con and the short con. The long con is more elaborate and has more that can go wrong, takes a lot longer to set up but has correspondingly higher rewards if everything goes right. This is the art of fleecing a single person out of a lot of money all at once. It is this that the BBC TV show ''Hustle'' and Richard Asplin's ''Con Man'' are based on. The short con can be something as basic as a rigged game of ''find the lady'', which aims to part as many people from a little bit of money as quickly as possible. The short con may have a lower return, but that return comes a lot quicker and this is the basis for Will Ferguson's ''Hustle''.
Jack McCleary is stuck in small town America, alone with his father since the death of his mother. He's stuck in a dead end job with no prospects, watching his father spend all their money on a con that will never pay off. His love life has no more success than any other aspect of his existence and it's no surprise that his head could be turned by the glamour of life with Virgil and Miss Rose.
Virgil and Miss Rose are grafters, touring the country making a dishonest, if well paid, living running short cons. They teach Jack the secret of their success and give him a life of more excitement than he'd ever believed possible. Jack contributes as well as learns and soon proves to be a natural grafter, never looking back and always concentrating on the next con.
I loved Ferguson's narrative, which fits wonderfully with the era of the story. Jack has the perfect laid-back tone which has a slightly nourish feel, which makes me think of Chandler's Philip Marlowe at times, albeit on opposite sides of the law. His voice comes across as a lazy drawl with a Texas accent I could almost hear as I read, particularly in the earlier chapters when the pace was a little slower. McCleary's voice came across so vividly that I couldn't help thinking this would make the perfect audio book with the right person reading.
The background is impeccably researched, with Virgil's knowledge of cons and con artists being almost encyclopaedic. He does get a little preachy at times, but this fits in wonderfully with his character and both Jack and I were fascinated pupils. I have no idea if many of the historical con artists Virgil talked about were real or not; if they were, it's a wonderfully researched book and if they were all a product of Ferguson's imagination, it's even more incredible. This kind of history combined with the real life events of World War 2 Jack hears about on the radio and in the newspapers combine so well with the fiction that it's tough to believe there was no Jack McCleary. It all seems so vivid that it wouldn't surprise me to discover that this was actually some kind of biography, presented in a style unique to the genre.
The pacing of the story builds beautifully, with the slower start working well with the slow pace of life with Jack's back story and then picking up as his life gets more exciting and almost becoming a rush towards the end. The story moved like Virgil's getaway car pulling away from the kerb, slowly building up speed and not stopping for anything. My one minor issue with the story was that it took a little longer than I felt necessary to get going, with too much of Jack's back-story than was required. I understand the need for Ferguson to show how Jack would have been enticed by Virgil and Miss Rose, but I did feel the point was over made.
The three main characters were wonderful, with the youthful exuberance of Jack McCleary combining beautifully with the older, wiser head of Virgil and the glamour that was Miss Rose. The different effect that both these people had on Jack was well explored and the three of them were distinct enough that I can't help but come up with a picture of them in my mind. It's not just the people that were drawn so vividly, as the whole feel of the book shows you depression-era America, even when it's not being described in vivid detail. Ferguson paints in broad strokes, but you can still see a detailed picture emerge from them, which is a sign of real talent in a writer. Ferguson implants the image and the reader's mind finishes it off for him.
Even with all this style, what ''Hustle'' never forgets to be is a lot of fun. This is not one of those well-written books that turns out to be all style and no substance; this is all style and all substance. It's smartly plotted, full of action and still manages to be very descriptive and vivid. Once you get over the slightly slow start, ''Hustle'' is an entertaining and compelling read.
This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
Jack McCleary is stuck in small town America, alone with his father since the death of his mother. He's stuck in a dead end job with no prospects, watching his father spend all their money on a con that will never pay off. His love life has no more success than any other aspect of his existence and it's no surprise that his head could be turned by the glamour of life with Virgil and Miss Rose.
Virgil and Miss Rose are grafters, touring the country making a dishonest, if well paid, living running short cons. They teach Jack the secret of their success and give him a life of more excitement than he'd ever believed possible. Jack contributes as well as learns and soon proves to be a natural grafter, never looking back and always concentrating on the next con.
I loved Ferguson's narrative, which fits wonderfully with the era of the story. Jack has the perfect laid-back tone which has a slightly nourish feel, which makes me think of Chandler's Philip Marlowe at times, albeit on opposite sides of the law. His voice comes across as a lazy drawl with a Texas accent I could almost hear as I read, particularly in the earlier chapters when the pace was a little slower. McCleary's voice came across so vividly that I couldn't help thinking this would make the perfect audio book with the right person reading.
The background is impeccably researched, with Virgil's knowledge of cons and con artists being almost encyclopaedic. He does get a little preachy at times, but this fits in wonderfully with his character and both Jack and I were fascinated pupils. I have no idea if many of the historical con artists Virgil talked about were real or not; if they were, it's a wonderfully researched book and if they were all a product of Ferguson's imagination, it's even more incredible. This kind of history combined with the real life events of World War 2 Jack hears about on the radio and in the newspapers combine so well with the fiction that it's tough to believe there was no Jack McCleary. It all seems so vivid that it wouldn't surprise me to discover that this was actually some kind of biography, presented in a style unique to the genre.
The pacing of the story builds beautifully, with the slower start working well with the slow pace of life with Jack's back story and then picking up as his life gets more exciting and almost becoming a rush towards the end. The story moved like Virgil's getaway car pulling away from the kerb, slowly building up speed and not stopping for anything. My one minor issue with the story was that it took a little longer than I felt necessary to get going, with too much of Jack's back-story than was required. I understand the need for Ferguson to show how Jack would have been enticed by Virgil and Miss Rose, but I did feel the point was over made.
The three main characters were wonderful, with the youthful exuberance of Jack McCleary combining beautifully with the older, wiser head of Virgil and the glamour that was Miss Rose. The different effect that both these people had on Jack was well explored and the three of them were distinct enough that I can't help but come up with a picture of them in my mind. It's not just the people that were drawn so vividly, as the whole feel of the book shows you depression-era America, even when it's not being described in vivid detail. Ferguson paints in broad strokes, but you can still see a detailed picture emerge from them, which is a sign of real talent in a writer. Ferguson implants the image and the reader's mind finishes it off for him.
Even with all this style, what ''Hustle'' never forgets to be is a lot of fun. This is not one of those well-written books that turns out to be all style and no substance; this is all style and all substance. It's smartly plotted, full of action and still manages to be very descriptive and vivid. Once you get over the slightly slow start, ''Hustle'' is an entertaining and compelling read.
This review may also appear, in whole or in part, under my name at any or all of www.ciao.co.uk, www.thebookbag.co.uk, www.goodreads.com, www.amazon.co.uk and www.dooyoo.co.uk
January 29, 2014
A 2.5-star rounded up, due to my positive thinking outlook at present. Because while it was entertaining at times, it was dull at others. It took on the characteristics of Virgil’s incredible tale-spinning: full of style, flash, fast-moving, yet inconsistent and not actually saying very much. Also, like a big heist, the set-up was awfully drawn-out, explaining Jack’s motivations, and the moral angle, while interesting to start with, grew stale eventually. The cons themselves were quite fun and I enjoyed the denouement, . The jazz and the World War background were treated a little too heavy-handedly, not adding much to the plot other than pleading authenticity. I’d like to read Happiness again though, as I don’t remember Jack as a character in that novel; although I loved it, I read it over a decade ago.
May 19, 2012
An easy, fun read - Great Depression-era Americana con-artist tale, quite entertaining...
August 12, 2012
great sense of place and humour. Warmed to the shady characters but maybe just too many con tricks to digest?
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews