Tepper Isn't Going Out : A Novel

Rating:
Summary: He's Funny
Review: All right, I loved this book. But I have to admit it might be because I'm an ex-New Yorker living in the South. Tepper was such an accurate potrail of an ex-coworker of mine that I could hardly believe it.

Anway, it's a lot of fun and I'd recommend it to anybody, but particularly those who have lived in Manhattan and may now be living somewhere else.

Rating:
Summary: 'There's always something'
Review: Murray Tepper is one of the most likeable characters that I've ever come across in a novel. As I was reading this sunny satire by New Yorker Calvin Trillin, I kept smiling to myself and thinking that I wished I could meet Tepper and sit with him in the front seat of his 'legally parked' dark blue Chevy Malibu. I had to keep reminding myself that 'Tepper Isn't Going Out' is fiction - it read like a 'parking' memoir. Parking is a sport in Manhattan, and Murray is a pro.

Murray sits in his Malibu late in the day, reading his Post and perfecting his hand flicks that he gives to would-be parkers who ask him if he's going out. One thing leads to another, and Murray winds up being the parking philosopher with a line of people waiting to join him in his car. Next he ends up being declared an 'attractive nuisance' by City Attorney Victor 'Yesboss' Hessbaugh under a 1911 statute. It seems Mayor 'Il Duce' Ducavelli has decided that Tepper has become one of the 'forces of disorder' that are threatening the City. Tepper gets his day in court, represented by ACLU lawyers who have a shopping cart stuffed full of documents. I'm not going to say how Murray's story ends, except to say that there's a delightful twist that I hadn't guessed.

'Tepper Isn't Going Out' is a fun book, and it's a playful poke at a former mayor or two. Put some money in the meter, sit behind the wheel, and enjoy this book! Oh, and I have one question for Murray: How did he manage to get those choice parking spots in the first place?

Rating:
Summary: Let me park in peace!
Review: Murray Tepper isn't asking too much. He just wants to be able to get in his car and find a parking place. Once parked he just wants to read in peace. In New York City, where parking is at a premium, that is not possible. As Murray tries to park and read in peace, he disturbs the balance of things, people cannot imagine that a man would want to just read, he is threatened, an object of curiosity and pity, and worries his wife, daughter and longtime friends. A curious reporter prints an interview with Murray and sets in motion events which invilve the highest of city power. Calvin Trillin has crafted a delightfully dry tale of a man just trying to get a bit of joy in his everyday life, and the commotion it causes. I had to bite my lip so I wpould not laugh at my desk, as I tried to read this book at work (I did not want to put it down).

Rating:
Summary: Parking a car in NYC has never been so entertaining
Review: Tepper, a native New Yorker in his 60's, has taken to parking his car in the evenings and on weekends in desirable spots around the city, putting his money in the meter and spending his time sitting in his car reading the paper. Cars stop by asking him if he's going out, he tells them that's he's not, usually by flicking his wrist in that "move on" sort of way. As far as he's concerned, he's parked perfectly legally and as long as there's money in the meter he has every right to occupy the parking spot. It is a curious habit he has developed and his family and friends are a little concerned. He knows all of the city's parking rules by heart. Mention any street or avenue and he can tell you what hours of which days you can park there and what hours you can't. This is a result of living in the city where alternate side of the street parking (so the streets can be cleaned) dominated large parts of his evenings as he searched for a parking spot where he could leave his car parked legally longer than just overnight. Now Tepper has a car garage and he is, apparently, having a little trouble adjusting

Anyone who lives or has lived in NY (or probably any city) and knows the horrors of parking there will definitely be able to appreciate the humor of Tepper's circumstances, and this is indeed a fairly entertaining book. Much of the action (if you can call it action) takes place in Tepper's car. But the humor here is very dry and understated and unless you can appreciate that you just might get a little bored reading about Tepper's parking conquests and dilemmas. Eventually, Tepper becomes a sort of local hero and celebrity, as people begin waiting for him in front of parking spots he is known to frequent. They stand in line, taking turns sitting in the passenger's seat of his car seeking advice about their lives. Tepper is a man of simple logic - in fact, listening to Tepper talk about parking is very reminiscent of Chauncy Gardner and his "metaphors" for gardening which enlighten everyone around him in Kosinsky's "Being There." And lest you think Tepper is some NYC loon, he's not. He has a family and plenty of good friends and he owns Worlwide Lists, a business that specializes in selling lists of prospects for direct-mail ordering. Ultimately, Tepper finds himself in some legal trouble as the mayor (a stand-in for Guiliani for sure) tries to stop him from parking for sport. This of course causes him greater celebrity and now he has lawyers who want to represent him, agents who want him to write a book about his life, etc.

Calvin Trillin is a longtime columnist for The New Yorker and, humorously enough, actually served as editor for an issue of "Beautiful Spot: A Magazine of Parking." This book is light and fun and entertaining and not a bad way to spend a couple of days.