Book Review: Fifteen Feet Beneath Manhattan (The Bizarre Adventures of Morey Caine) Posted by JOE GANDELMAN, Editor-In-Chief in Arts & Entertainment, The Moderate Voice. Jun 26th, 2012
I’ve always been a huge fan of Michael Silverstein. I first read his wonderful political poetry on his site Wall Street Poet. We ran a little of it here on TMV. I then invited the former NPR poet and environmental advisor to the Clinton-Gore campaign to do Guest Voices and eventually he joined TMV, writing prose more often than poetry on Wall Street and economic issues. So when I learned he had a book available on Kindle I was curious and decided to invest the $2.99.
Fifteen Feet Beneath Manhattan (The Bizarre Adventures of Morey Caine) is a comic, thriller gothic novel centering on the saga of how Caine, a struggling alternative newspaper reporter, gets drawn into sinister things going on and lurking beneath the streets of Manhattan. There are creepy humans under the streets — and non-humans almost as creepy as the creepy humans. he gets sucked into events by an insidious sanitation bureaucrat. But the real villain is Victor ben Shargis who dreams of a future in which he takes over much more than the underground.
The only question in reading this book is: exactly where has Silverstein been HIDING all these years as a fiction writer?? He is a GREAT writer and enthralling storyteller whose writing packs a hay-maker punch with vividly constructed scenes and punchy, realistic dialogue — a writer who easily elicits a chuckle or two (or more). The real shocker of this book is that you’d think Silverstein has been been writing this kind of lightening-paced thriller for years since it stacks up well against any thrillers on the market today or yesterday. Hopefully, Silverstein will do more lively fictions books such as this and try to get into print editions. I could easily see him selling a script to Hollywood.
Michael Silverstein: I LOVED your book…I really loved your book. And this is coming from someone who does not always enjoy fiction.
“When I discovered the financial poems of Michael Silverstein I was delighted.” — Michelle Singletary, The Washington Post
“Nowadays, you can’t turn on the TV without some talking head telling you about the economy. Yet, in a world overrun by ‘analysts,’ only one man has the guts, the brains, and, quite frankly, the poetry to put it all in perspective.That man is Michael Silverstein… Silverstein is a true intellectual.” — Gersh Kuntzman, The New York Post
“Few people have found much to laugh about in the stock market this year. Michael Silverstein is the exception. The Bard of the Bourse can find humor in losing money, globalization and stock options.” — USA Today
Silverstein “is a humorous reminder of my days with Salomon Brothers.” — Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of New York
“I was amused to discover this week that Wall Street has its own…poet laureate, Michael Silverstein.” — Chris Ayres, The Times of London
“There are times that try investors’ souls; so why not turn to poetry for consolation? That’s the approach of Michael Silverstein.” — San Antonio Express-News
Silverstein’s work is “for well-versed financiers looking for a break from their perusal of ticker tapes and Bloomberg terminals…there is verse here for many an emotional business moment.” — Melissa Allison, Chicago Tribune
Silverstein “…combines the brilliance of great literature with…humor that Wall Street is desperately lacking.” — Inside Business
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