Matchstick Men
By Eric Garcia
Before Eric Garcia’s new novel, “Matchstick Men,” even came out, they were making a movie out of it, starring Nicolas Cage and Sam Rockwell.
The book stars Roy, an overweight, obsessive-compulsive con man who frets over dirt on the carpet and hoards his ill-gotten gains inside a large ceramic horse, and his partner Frankie (Rockwell), who spends more than he can swindle.
The two make a good team until Roy runs out of the medication that keeps his problems in check, and Frankie sends him to a shrink who isn’t content just to write a prescription. The doctor burrows into Roy’s neurosis to find an ex-wife who left Roy after becoming pregnant.
Enter Angela, Roy’s new-found daughter, who gets drawn into the life of grifters, cons and matchstick men. It’s a world where greed rules and everyone is capable of being the con or the sucker.
