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Street Hungry
Bill Kent Book Review

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Plot Summary of Street Hungry
"

Dunne, Oct 2003, 24.95, 320 pp.
ISBN 0312308472

On the streets of South Philly, “Weight” Wisnitz sells fruits and vegetables out of a truck at cut rate prices. He's been a fixture in the neighborhoods for years so when he suddenly keels over and dies, one of his regular customers thinks enough of him to call obituary writer Shep Ladderbook of the Philadelphia Press. Shep writes a nice obituary for the colorful man who made an impact so many lives.

A few days later, Ladderback's assistant, Andy Casicki is eating lunch with her mother at the upscale restaurant Loup-Garou when a famous restaurant critic keels over in the same manner as Wisnitz.   Andy and Ladderback learn that there have been similar deaths in the city, which raises the obituary writer's curiosity. He investigates the deaths and learns that they lead back to a free clinic, an ambulance company that is always late delivering the bodies, and a generic drug company ready to go public.

STREET HUNGRY is a fascinating who-done-it with so many interrelated sub-plots that is takes the full length of the novel to finally understand how they are linked. The protagonist, a man who has been on top at the paper game for four decades, is a likable character whose contacts developed over forty years allow him to track a story back to its source. Bill Kent looks at the seamier side of life and turns it into a gritty and dark expose of the human condition.

Harriet Klausner
"

Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar



Review Analysis of Street Hungry
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot

Composition of Book
descript. of violence and chases - 10%
Planning/preparing, gather info, debate puzzles/motives - 40%
Feelings, relationships, character bio/development - 30%
How society works & physical descript. (people, objects, places) - 20%




Tone of story - very humorous
How difficult to spot villain? - Very difficult--no foreshadowing/clues
Time/era of story: - present (2000-2010)
What % of story relates directly to the mystery, not the subplot? - 70%
Kind of investigator - amateur citizen investigator
Kid or adult book? - Adult or Young Adult Book
Crime Thriller Yes
Murder Mystery (killer unknown) Yes

Main Character
Gender - Male
Profession/status: - journalist
Age: - 40's-50's
How much violence does he/she use? - none
Ethnicity/Race - Swiss
How sensitive is this character? - middling sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - very athletic

Main Adversary
Identity: - Male
Age: - 40's-50's
Profession/status: - doctor
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in: - a moderate amount
Motive of antagonist - money/treasure
How sensitive is this character? - hard edged
Sense of humor - Mostly serious with occasional humor
Intelligence - Smarter than most other characters
Physique - average physique

Setting
United States Yes
The US: - Northeast

Style
Person - mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death? - generic/vague references to death/punishment
How many deaths? - 5-7
Amount of dialog - significantly more dialog than descript
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