The Vandal is a short, hard diamond of a novel which traces through one man’s enigmatic passage through modern America. From the orchestrated killings at the edge of the nation’s foreign policy to the first love of a young girl, it is a penetrating account of one American who still believes, who still cares.
The Vandal wanders the city to observe, to warn, to record the troubling enigma which the country he fought for has become. He is the ultimate modern historian.
He leaves a loving wife and child to plunge into urban America with its madmen and dreamers, its lovers and scoundrels. This is a story encompassing sudden death in the Korean DMZ, high rolling cocaine freaks, lesbian lovers, mad school principals, and one woman’s life-long wait for a man to love.
Tom Molloy challenges and involves the reader in a way that is very rare in modern writing. In an age when so many books claim to have all the answers, here is a work of literature which asks the reader to think and to question.
The Vandal wanders parts of America most of us would rather not think about. But it is a journey of truth, and ultimately a journey of beauty. You won’t know his name, but you will never forget The Vandal.
