In the last column of a job application, there’s that tricky question: reason for leaving? John Manderino has apparently had to puzzle over that one often and long. His answers are collected here in this hilarious novel-in-stories tracing the history of a guy trying to grow up job by job. Delivery boy, altar boy, busboy, teacher, cotton picker, umpire, Zen monk—Manderino’s protagonist tries on one hat after another, from Chicago to Arizona to a South Dakota reservation where he longs to be given an Indian name, “something like Many Roads, or Many Jobs.” Each story in this highly entertaining collection is complete in itself, yet Manderino has woven them into a seamless history that’s hard to put down. The author of Sam and His Brother Len and The Man Who Once Played Catch with Nellie Fox has once again given us a funny, moving portrait of a man’s journey of becoming. Becoming what? The answer lies behind all his reasons for leaving. John Manderino has a sharp eye for human foibles and his depictions of life in the workaday world will leave readers laughing long and loud.
