Are you looking a book that is as nerdy as you are?
Well The Don Con by Richard Armstrong is a wonderful work of fiction that will hit that soft soft for comic cons and fan conventions. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and was a quick fun read in between conventions that I’m attending this year. Joey Volpe is an actor. Well, lets be real, at this point he’s just a D list actor who does comic cons and fan conventions. After having a bit part on the Sopranos and playing a more prominent role in a TV series which was cancelled after its premier season, he hasn’t acted in anything. This of course is taking a toll on his self-esteem, his marriage, relationships, and most importantly his finances. He’s vulnerable. Easy pickings a for Tony, an actual mobster who has an idea for a heist…and it’s not that good. Joey reluctantly participates in a heist that is fumblingly hilarious, gets caught, and sent to federal prison. Here he meets friends, if you can really call them that, and they hatch a plan to get back at Rosetti. Revenge is so sweet. I really enjoyed the story line. At first I thought “the dust jacket sure gave away a lot!” But as I kept reading it became clear that the plot was much more than the cover suggested. I loved the 3rd act. I was not expecting the revenge to be so sweet. But it was and I laughed so hard I snorted coffee.I wanted to dive a little deeper into a couple aspects of this book that I personally found to be devastatingly accurate or mind-blowingly interesting. Joey, having no money and maybe a bit too much pride, decides to let a federal public defender represent him. This part of the book was a bit painful for me to read. The defender that Joey got was the epitome of inept. As someone who has worked in a public defenders office I knew that person, the new, extremely green and not that bright attorney who just can’t get it together. I hate to day it but sometimes those ones exist, and they definitely give the entire profession a bad rap. Normally most defenders are just over-worked, underpaid and understaffed which makes it hard to focus on giving each client their full attention. In turn this leaves them with not enough time to devote to finding a good defense or being able to negotiate a plea. Joey got the short end of the shit stick on this one. As a new convention goer it was intriguing to see the other side of the curtain. I’m always so excited and shy when I meet people that I’ve never thought to think of it from the other side. As a patron I’m running around seeing all the cool nerdy things, taking pictures, talking to people and basically letting my freak flag fly without fear of judgement from other attendees who are doing the EXACT SAME THING. It’s one of the reasons I love going to conventions and I love going to events that allow for such an open form of nerd expression. I’d never thought of how the guest actors and speakers would feel. Part of me was disappointed that maybe they weren’t as into the nerdiness as the fans are, but then I reminded myself that for them it’s a job, and even if they were super into it they didn’t have to go around acting like it. I really enjoyed this book. It was a great read and definitely got me pumped up for the next convention that I am looking forward to attending. You don’t have to be into gangster movies to enjoy this book. If you’re a nerd that loves conventions or just likes to read something a little different, I highly suggest you pick up this book. Or else….
Nevermind!
Just kidding. I couldn’t be a mobster even if I tried I’m too squishy!
I loved this book and hope you will too.As always, live long and nerd my friends!Sara
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