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Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary), until only one question remains: Who’s behind Ed’s mission?
Winner of the 2003 Children’s Book Council Book of the Year Award in Australia, I Am the Messenger is a cryptic journey filled with laughter, fists, and love.
After capturing a bank robber, nineteen-year-old cab driver Ed Kennedy begins receiving mysterious messages that direct him to addresses where people need help, and he begins getting over his lifelong feeling of worthlessness.
the holdup
The gunman is useless.
I know it.
He knows it.
The whole bank knows it.
Even my best mate, Marvin, knows it, and he's more useless than the gunman.
The worst part about the whole thing is that Marv's car is standing outside in a fifteen-minute parking zone. We're all facedown on the floor, and the car's only got a few minutes left on it.
"I wish this bloke'd hurry up," I mention.
"I know," Marv whispers back. "This is outrageous." His voice rises from the depths of the floor. "I'll be getting a fine because of this useless bastard. I can't afford another fine, Ed."
"The car's not even worth it."
"What?"
Marv looks over at me now. I can sense he's getting uptight. Offended. If there's one thing Marv doesn't tolerate, it's someone putting shit on his car. He repeats the question.
"What did you say, Ed?"
"I said," I whisper, "it isn't even worth the fine, Marv."
"Look," he says, "I'll take a lot of things, Ed, but . . ."
I tune out of what he's saying because, quite frankly, once Marv gets going about his car, it's downright pain-in-the-arse material. He goes on and on, like a kid, and he's just turned twenty, for Jesus' sake.
He goes on for another minute or so, until I have to cut him off.
"Marv," I point out,"the car's an embarrassment, okay? It doesn't even have a hand brake-it's sitting out there with two bricks behind the back wheels." I'm trying to keep my voice as quiet as possible. "Half the time you don't even bother locking it. You're probably hoping someone'll flog it so you can collect the insurance."
"It isn't insured."
"Exactly."
"NRMA said it wasn't worth it."
"It's understandable."
That's when the gunman turns around and shouts, "Who's talkin' back there?"
Marv doesn't care. He's worked up about the car.
"You don't complain when I give you a lift to work, Ed, you miserable upstart."
"Upstart? What the hell's an upstart?"
"I said shut up back there!" the gunman shouts again.
"Hurry up then!" Marv roars back at him. He's in no mood now. No mood at all.
He's facedown on the floor of the bank.
The bank's being robbed.
It's abnormally hot for spring.
The air-conditioning's broken down.
His car's just been insulted.
Old Marv's at the end of his tether, or his wit's end. Whatever you want to call it-he's got the shits something terrible.
We remain flattened on the worn-out, dusty blue carpet of the bank, and Marv and I are looking at each other with eyes that argue. Our mate Ritchie's over at the Lego table, half under it, lying among all the pieces that scattered when the gunman came in yelling, screaming, and shaking. Audrey's just behind me. Her foot's on my leg, making it go numb.
The gunman's gun is pointed at the nose of some poor girl behind the counter. Her name tag says Misha. Poor Misha. She's shivering nearly as bad as the gunman as she waits for some zitty twenty-nine-year-old fella with a tie and sweat patches under his arms to fill the bag with money.
"I wish this bloke'd hurry up," Marv speaks.
"I said that already," I tell him.
"So what? I can't make a comment of my own?"
"Get your foot off me," I tell Audrey.
"What?" she responds.
"I said get your foot off me-my leg's going numb."
She moves it. Reluctantly.
"Thanks."
The gunman turns around and shouts his question for the last time. "Who's the bastard talking?"
The thing to note with Marv is that he's problematic at the best of times. Argumentative. Less than amiable. He's the type of friend you find yourself constantly arguing with-especially when it comes to his shitbox Falcon. He's also a completely immature arsehole when he's in the mood.
He calls out in a jocular manner, "It's Ed Kennedy, sir. It's Ed who's talking!"
"Thanks a lot!" I say.
(My full name's Ed Kennedy. I'm nineteen. I'm an underage cabdriver. I'm typical of many of the young men you see in this suburban outpost of the city-not a whole lot of prospects or possibility. That aside, I read more books than I should, and I'm decidedly crap at sex and doing my taxes. Nice to meet you.)
"Well, shut up, Ed!" the gunman screams. Marv smirks. "Or I'll come over there and shoot the arse off you!"
It's like being in school again and your sadistic math teacher's barking orders at you from the front of the room, even though he couldn't care less and he's waiting for the bell so he can go home and drink beer and get fat in front of the telly.
I look at Marv. I want to kill him. "You're twenty years old, for Christ's sake. Are you trying to get us killed?"
"Shut up, Ed!" The gunman's voice is louder this time.
I whisper even quieter. "If I get shot, I'm blaming you. You know that, don't you?"
"I said shut up, Ed!"
"Everything's just a big joke, isn't it, Marv?"
"Right, that's it." The gunman forgets about the woman behind the counter and marches over to us, fed up as all buggery. When he arrives we all look up at him.
Marv.
Audrey.
Me.
And all the other hopeless articles like us sprawled out on the floor.
The end of the gun touches the bridge of my nose. It makes it itchy. I don't scratch it.
The gunman looks back and forth between Marv and me. Through the stocking on his face I can see his ginger whiskers and acne scars. His eyes are small and he has big ears. He's most likely robbing the bank as a payback on the world for winning the ugliness prize at his local fete three years running.
"So which one of you's Ed?"
"Him," I answer, pointing to Marv.
"Oh no you don't," Marv counters, and I can tell by the look on his face that he isn't as afraid as he should be. He knows we'd both be dead by now if this gunman was the real thing. He looks up at the stocking-faced man and says, "Hang on a sec. . . ." He scratches his jawline. "You look familiar."
"Okay," I admit, "I'm Ed." But the gunman's too busy listening to what Marv has to say for himself.
"Marv," I whisper loudly, "shut up."
Excerpted from I Am the Messenger by Markus Zusak Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
Ed Kennedy is a nineteen-year-old cab driver who is kind of a nobody! He hasn't achieved anything great, isn't a genius, his mom despises him, and his dad died of alcoholism. The only real thing that he has is his dog, named the Doorman, who everyone says desperately needs a bath. And, he's in love with Audrey, a girl from a bad neighborhood, just like him, who also happens to be one of his best friends since forever. The thing is, Audrey doesn't know that Ed is in love with her, and worse yet, she says she doesn't believe in love. <BR/><BR/>One day, Ed and his friend stop at a local bank, but a robbery begins while they are in line. And Ed stops the guy. <BR/><BR/>So then he becomes a local hero. He is just trying to live a normal life, and then he gets a playing card in the mail with three addresses and times on it. Ed doesn't know what to do. Should he just throw the card away, like his friends instruct, or should he go to the first address to see what this is all about? <BR/><BR/>This book would be a good recommendation for fans of THE DA VINCI CODE and the movie National Treasure. <BR/><BR/>Ed is such a cool character! He seems like such a normal guy, who does things that normal guys do, and lives a very ordinary life. Until he gets the card in the mail, and he's not so ordinary anymore.
14 out of 16 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Markus Zusak is the best author ever-NO JOKE! The only book I can say is better than this one is The Book Thief (also by him). The story is perfect for finding yourself and realizing that you're not the only person in the world, and even though you think your life is bad there are other people in the world who are worse off than you. I love this book and not one person I know that's read it has disliked it.
12 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.After having read and enjoyed Marcus Zusak's "The Book Thief" I decided to see what else he had out there. Lucky for me, I found this! I can say honestly, it is one of my favorite books and one of only two that I literally could not put down. I found myself up at two in the morning with half of the book still to go and all I could think was "I can finish it....I have to finish it!"<BR/><BR/>The story line is simple enough. A young man accidentally foils a bank robbery and because of that is singled out (by someone) to become a hero. They start sending him playing cards in the mail, each with three clues on it. He has to figure out the clues and do whatever needs doing. The results vary with everything from his befriending an old woman who has no one else left in her life, to stopping a man who has been beating his wife and child most of their lives. In the end, he learns a lot about himself.<BR/><BR/>It is an incredible, emotionally gripping roller coaster that will leave you thinking back on every decision you've made in your life and evaluating how it has affected you and those around you. It will challenge you by making you think about how you affect people around in your life. I highly recommend it for any teen or adult who loves the sort of book that you can't forget. This is a great book club title because it encourages discussion and, quite frankly, you can't help but want to share it!
11 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Nov 23 00:00:00 EST 2009
In the book I am the Messenger, by Markus Zuzak Ed Kennedy is just a normal, sensitive, hopeless, underage cab driver. He really does not know what to do with his life, until a mysterious ace of diamonds playing card with several street names written on it ends up in his mailbox.
Ed embarks on a journey around his town stopping at certain houses and changing people's lives for the better. Some people he knows and others he does not; all along discovering more about himself. Ed's story moves through many colorful acquaintances, including, Daryl and Keith - the bumbling hit-men, the stern man in the taxi with yellow eyes, and the sneaky woman who decides to cause trouble for Ed at the Sledge Game. All of whom seem to work for the same person. Throughout his journey Ed cannot help but wonder who is the one dictating all the playing card madness.
Throughout the book many themes are used to propel the story. Though the most important is finding your way in life, others include life goes on, change helps you learn more about yourself as well as others. The book is a wonderful, charming story. It has memorable characters and is quite a page turner. Though it is about 400 pages in reality 357 it keeps a great pace with the events in the story and the sarcasm and language really make it a fun read. The book is really a story meant for young adults but even adults will find it a short entertainment. One problem with the book though, is that some of the characters are really not needed. Though the story comes full circle at the end, taking out some of the characters wouldn't have change the story one bit.
Anyone should read this charming story because not is it only packed with action for the action-lovers; but it has romance for the romance-lovers, and a great plot with good characters for the one's who just love a good story. Markus meant does not only appeal to every type of person in this story; but also was able to take a lighter side to the Holocaust in his other book The Book Thief about a girl named Lisel who steals books around her town to feed her thirst for knowledge.
I am the Messenger is an incredible book filled with the needs of every type of book lover. It has a great story line. Charming characters, story line, and some of life's morals. It is truly a charming read and is a story that hopefully will remain in teenagers and adults bookcases for years to come.
6 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.My librarian recommended this to me..I will never ask him to recommend a book to me again. First of all, I HATE putting down books after I start them, even if they're awful. This book however, I could not stand!
I started it and thought "it will get better.." It doesn't.
The perspective: drove me insane. "I sit at the table." Drives me crazy.
The language: OVER DRAMATIC. It killed me! (The guy made a overdramatic thought at every action. Not to mention, the main character isn't a character you'd like to know.)Originally, I didn't mind the main character. But he grew on me as a loser who has no aspirations in life.
**CAUTION** if you are a realistic person, do NOT read this book.
However, I'm sure some people will like this book. If you like over dramatic thoughts and "deep" language.. then go ahead. But don't say I didn't warm you!
5 out of 31 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue May 22 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I loved this book, and it has the same charm that markus puts into every book of his. But, if you are under 14 years old i would advise you to wait a couple years before you read it. It is full of 'adult themes' but is truly a wonderful book, so dont be deterred by this. Just eait untill you are a bit older, and then read up!
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun Nov 01 00:00:00 EDT 2009
With Ed Kennedy living a bland life as an underage cab driver with just his dog, The Doorman, he felt as if nothing was coming his way. His mom hated him, his dad had died, he had feelings his friend Audrey (but she wouldn't feel love towards anyone), and he was threatened by a criminal after being the "star of the scene" when he was a victim in a bank robbery. However, when Ed gets his first card in the mail, things start to change. Ed starts thinking outside of what's there to go way ahead of himself and change the lives of others. Helping and hurting, he is given spades, hearts, clubs, and diamonds with different mysteries to unveil on every card. Each story is a new experience for him, and that is what I loved about this story. It wasn't just one main plot. Every situation was eventually linked into one, and that one story was his. The beginning was clever, the storyline was thorough, and the ending was amazing. All in all, this book was extremely hard to put down and I loved every bit of it.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Mon Mar 29 00:00:00 EDT 2010
I loved it. It tops charts for me and definitely was good. I reread it several times:)
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Thu Jul 19 00:00:00 EDT 2007
I started this book with high hopes. The plot sounded interesting, so I read it. I started reading it. I did not finish it. I had to abandon it for the lack of clarity. I could not make any sense of it!!! Why would a person actually go after a card with addresses on it? Why would they be nervous about it? I- personally- just discard it and go on with my life... I wouldn't get all worked up about it! Ed seemed just so unrealistic. If you're into that, 'Ooo... how scary a card with addresses on it... how creepy.' then this could be a great book for you. If you're into, 'A card in my mailbox. With addresses on it. That's weird. I'm throwing this away.' then don't read this. I also didn't like the constant bad language in the book.
2 out of 11 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Tue Dec 26 00:00:00 EST 2006
This book is indescribable. There is a magic to the writing and the events that makes it such a pleasure to experience. The only sub-par element is the amount of willpower it takes to put it down when you don't have time to read it all in one sitting. There isn't a whole lot else to say, except that anyone unsure about reading the book should most definitely give it a shot.
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed May 23 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I Am The Messenger by Markus Zusak is by far one of my favorite books. It really delves into the human psyche and challenges our views of what makes a hero, what secrets we hide, and what humans are capable of when they try. It is certainly not a children’s book – the cursing and slightly larger-than-life themes prove that – but teenagers, young adults, and above will enjoy it.
Ed Kennedy is a 19-year-old taxi driver whose life is completely and utterly dead-end. He lives in a shack with his dog the Doorman, plays a card game called Annoyance with his friends Ritchie, Marv, and Audrey, loves a girl he can’t have, and is constantly yelled at by his less than approving mother. One day, he stops a bank robbery, and after that he starts receiving cards in the mail – Aces, each with a written hint on it directing him to someone that needs his help.
I have never seen a style of writing quite like Zusak’s. I marveled at it in The Book Thief and I marveled at it in I Am The Messenger, and I will continue to marvel at it so long as it contains that fabulous, simplistic tone only he can seem to pull off. And he uses this power for good by writing what is one of the most beautifully philosophical pieces I have ever read in my life. The book digs into your heart and forces you to reevaluate yourself, your life, and the point to which you’re willing to go for other people. The characters are realistic and flawed, and their relationships show a wonderful clarity that are at times incredibly goofy and at times some of the most touching things I’ve ever read. If there is one thing that I could have suggested improvement on, I think he should’ve left the ending where it was with the ‘dead man’ ending; the rest might have been devoted to reflection. He could have reached the same conclusions without the last protagonist being introduced, I think. Even that flowed well – it was simply a matter of preference.
I Am The Messenger is the type of book you can read 15 times in a row without getting bored (I certainly did). Zusak has truly outdone himself with this, and I will always be on the lookout for a new book by him. I would recommend this for anyone who has a tolerance for curse words and some adult themes. This is a book that sticks with you forever, and I – certainly – will never forget it.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Sun May 06 00:00:00 EDT 2012
This is definitly a must read book
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed Sep 14 00:00:00 EDT 2011
Like every other book of his, Zusak creates such real and honest stories with real and honest characters. It leaves the reader with an incredible feeling.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.I don't know why this book was so touching, but I know that it's easily one of the most beautiful works I've ever read. Lovely. Just lovely.
1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Fri Aug 17 00:00:00 EDT 2007
this book is detailed with lust, fantasies,rape, murder to name a few things. ATT: PARENTS: review this book before you purchase! cant find it in a public library.
1 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
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Posted Wed May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2013
Reading sample=instant <3
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Posted Tue Mar 26 00:00:00 EDT 2013
This book reminds me of the true meaning of YOLO
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Posted Mon Mar 25 00:00:00 EDT 2013
Helping others never was Eds first priority until he got thwe first card. Through mysterious playing cards and hints Ed recieves he figured out who he is and what he wats the most.
With great flowing writing Markus Zusak writes a novel that equals the Book Theif.
Anonymous
Posted Sun Mar 24 00:00:00 EDT 2013
Great book by a great author!
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Posted Tue Mar 19 00:00:00 EDT 2013
This book is about an underage cab drever, Ed, who lives an average life. He is secretly in love with his best friend and is hopeless at cards. His vcontinues in this same dreary routine until he stops a bank robber. Then the first ace arrives in the mail. It has three adresses, three poeple/familes who need help, three missions
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Overview
Meet Ed Kennedy—underage cabdriver, pathetic cardplayer, and useless at romance. He lives in a shack with his coffee-addicted dog, the Doorman, and he’s hopelessly in love with his best friend, Audrey. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence, until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. That’s when the first Ace arrives. That’s when Ed becomes the messenger. . . .
Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting ...