Firmin: Adventures of a Metropolitan Lowlife

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The title character of Savage's debut novel, Firmin, is a civilized rat, born in a used bookstore in Boston's grimy Scollay Square. Looking at the world "through cracks," and desperately hungry, he gnaws his way through a book, and -- miracle of miracles -- teaches himself to read. Alas, the "cracks" widen and the world opens its arms to him. Well, sort of. For in fact, the more literate Firmin becomes, the more alienated he feels from the other members of his species. Unable to communicate with the humans he comes to love (despite repeated efforts to vocalize the words he has learned), he is left isolated and alone, a rat in search of his "destiny."

Filled with longing and loss, Firmin also details the demolition of a piece of history. For as Firmin grows up, the buildings of 1960s Scollay Square are coming down. A profound study of alienation and the heartbreaking obscurity of the outsider, Firmin is also a piercing commentary on the human condition in an ever-changing society. Savage weaves an inventive and dreamlike tale, by turns hilarious and startlingly moving, completely outlandish yet utterly credible, and sure to bring a smile of deep satisfaction to its readers. (Summer 2006 Selection)

Publishers Weekly

Savage's sentimental debut concerns the coming-of-age of a well-read rat in 1960s Boston. In the basement of Pembroke Books, a bookstore on Scollay Square, Firmin is the runt of the litter born to Mama Flo, who makes confetti of Moby-Dick and Don Quixote for her offspring's cradle. Soon left to fend for himself, Firmin finds that books are his only friends, and he becomes a hopeless romantic, devouring Great Books-sometimes literally. Aware from his frightful reflection that he is no Fred Astaire (his hero), he watches nebbishy bookstore owner Norman Shine from afar and imagines his love is returned until Norman tries to poison him. Thereafter he becomes the pet of a solitary sci-fi writer, Jerry Magoon, a smart slob and drinker who teaches Firmin about jazz, moviegoing and the writer's life. Alas, their world is threatened by extinction with the renovation of Scollay Square, which forces the closing of the bookstore and Firmin's beloved Rialto Theater. With this alternately whimsical and earnest paean to the joys of literature, Savage embodies writerly self-doubts and yearning in a precocious rat: "I have had a hard time facing up to the blank stupidity of an ordinary, unstoried life." (Apr.) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

Savage's debut novel is an odd recollection of the Scollay Square of 1960s Boston from the perspective of a rat named Firmin. Firmin is not your typical rat. After discovering he's literate, he voraciously reads every book in Pembroke Books, a bookstore that attracts collectors and authors who discuss the qualities of first editions, books with special or unusual bindings, and erotica literature that the proprietor keeps locked in a safe. During a journey to the Boston Public Garden, Firmin is chased and beaten by a man with a walking stick. He is saved by bohemian writer Jerry Magoon, under whose care he recovers. The two share an unusual friendship and interests that include late-night trips to a theater that runs classic and pornographic films. Firmin's life changes when Jerry tragically falls down his apartment stairs. Suddenly alone and homeless, Firmin characterizes the experience of the human residents of Scollay Square after the city tears down its buildings. This is a cleverly written memoir of the colorful lives and distinct shops of a Boston borough that was sadly replaced by lackluster government offices. Recommended for many collections.-David A. Berona, Plymouth State Univ. Lib., NH Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

The autobiography of a rat, born in a bookstore, that learns to read. In a decrepit Boston neighborhood circa 1960, drunken soldiers spy Flo, a mama rat in search of a nest, and give chase. Detouring down a drain, Flo lands in the basement of Pembroke Books: New, Used, Rare, where she shreds the nearest volume, which happens to be Finnegans Wake, into a comfy pile, and gives birth to 13. Firmin, the runt always nudged off one of Flo's 12 teats by a bigger sibling, winds up eating Joyce's words. Soon he discovers he can read. Initially, Firmin admits, a mouthful of Faulkner is a mouthful of Flaubert, but as his taste (and his scavenging skill) improves, he begins to read more than he snacks so that when his siblings leave for more promising digs, Firmin remains, believing his love of humanity is a direct result of his early diet of literature. The object of Firmin's affection is the bookstore proprietor, Norman Shine, whom Firmin watches over from myriad observation points in the store. Firmin marvels at Norman's knowledge of books: There is no question too arcane or pedestrian for Shine. When he receives news that his establishment-in fact, the whole of Scollay Square-is to be demolished as part of an urban renewal project, Firmin grieves with his friend. But Norman, who eventually catches sight of Firmin, does not reciprocate, a reality Firmin registers on discovering a box of Rat Out in Firmin's favorite hideaway. Dejected, Firmin makes a mad daylight dash into the street, where he is attacked. A sci-fi writer who lives above the bookstore rescues Firmin. (His one published book chronicles a Rat Empire that overtakes Earth.) Simpatico, the two read and play Cole Porter on a toy piano asthe wrecking ball swings. An amusing diversion for bibliophiles and Willard fans; in Savage's debut, a rat's life may be brutish and short, but not necessarily without style.