Two men drive into an alley in the late evening, one from its north end, one from its south.  The problem is easily resolved, if only one will back up.  They would if they weren't such shmucks.

When this book first appeared in print, the Library Journal called it “Brashly hilarious..” “The foibles of human nature and the pains of frustration common to all of us are meticulously revealed in this very contemporary and memorable novel.”

The American Library Association Booklist said it was ”A delight of comic absurdity.”

The Montreal Gazette wrote, "“Never has a Canadian novel been more ribald, more explicitly sexual. But never has a Canadian author managed through a simple story to suggest a much broader, indeed universal theme; the determination of Everyman to stick to his own stubborn position no matter how self-defeating - even potentially tragic - the results. SHMUCKS is a great book - packed with life and feeling, universal in meaning, on the level of Waiting for Godot.”  

zanybooks.com author Phillip Good describes his own near death experience with Shmucks, "I was rolling on the floor laughing, book in hand, the tears pouring down my cheeks, when I realized I could no longer catch my breath.  I did finally with my wife's help, but when she suggested maybe I ought to put Shmucks aside for a bit, I felt I'd no choice but to press on.  A moment later, I was rolling on the floor laughing and gasping for breath once more."

Click here to read an extract from the text