Eight Million Ways to Die - New York. There are eight million people, there are eight million stories, there are eight million ways to die

Author: Lawrence Block
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-09-01
Features: Before reading this book, there is no truth. In the book, Block, through the character of Degarmo, says, "You know what kind of shit this city is? This goddamn urban jungle is full of what? Eight million ways to die (at that time, New York's population was eight million)." This line sets the tone of compassion for humanity in "Eight Million Ways to Die." Block's novels also break the boundary of reducing detective fiction to a game of wits. He brings in the intense individual loneliness of modern people and places the real side of New York's underclass into genre fiction. Perhaps having seen through society, Matthew no longer wanted to close his eyes. He decided to stay awake, quit drinking, and attend Alcoholics Anonymous. However, at the AA meetings, he saw more sides of society—or more tragedies—and heard confessions of or pain from those struggling for freedom.
Lawrence Block is a master of detective fiction, and the Matthew Scudder series is the best detective fiction of this century. – PrivateEyes
Reading Matthew Scudder, I felt like I had to finish it all at once, just like reading martial arts novels as a child. – Hou Hsiao-hsien
All of Lawrence Block's works are very interesting. Give me another one, Lawrence Block. – Associated Press
Good! – Stephen King
The "eight million" in "Eight Million Ways to Die" actually refers to the eight million residents of New York City. The author frequently writes about bizarre and strange ways of death in the book—people innocently blown up while watching TV at home, or neighbors who have lived next to each other for decades resort to violence over a new pet. The meaning of "eight million ways to die" is that everyone has their own way to die—no one can escape, especially in this bizarre and sinful city of New York.
The book tells the story of the protagonist, Scudder, who accepts a prostitute's commission to help her file a "retirement application" with her "boss." It seemed to be over, but the prostitute was eventually murdered in a hotel. The most suspected "pimp," Chance, thens Scudder to find out who the murderer was. Is Chance "catching thieves and shouting thieves," or is the real murderer someone else?