Last Of The Creeps

Equal parts Falstaff and Fredo, a true loser by anyone's definition, and arguably one of the most self-absorbed, pathetic anti-heroes in the modern history of urban literature, Brooklyn born-and-bred Bobby Casanova is the Last of the Creeps.



The bald, broke and burnt out 40-something man-child, whose once Italian-American dominated neighborhood has been infiltrated and overtaken by the "Russkies, Chinks and Ay-rabs", is lost in a Roman wilderness of pain - in Bensonhurst!



The residue of a well-chronicled late-'70s strip-club murder-suicide, Bobby finds himself shuffling through a mind-numbing existence as a linens warehouse security chief, overnight gas station attendant and ultimately, a part-time chauffeur; first for his mob-connected Cousin Al and then, for Freddie "The Stiff", a former cohort and confidant of his long-diseased father.



Bobby's search for love pairs him with the seemingly unattainable Anne-Marie Gambale, the middle-aged spinster Marnie Bellachio, and his self-proclaimed "Forever Girl", Nima, a plump Palestinian beauty whom Cousin Al describes as "an honor killing waiting to happen."



Whether he's watching 11 hours of Sunday football, torching "Oil" from his trusty pipe, fending off the ill-fated matchmaking of his devoted and doting Aunt Ce or battling his all-too-frequent night terrors, Bobby always seems to come out the loser.



Told in his own inimitable vernacular, Bobby's story unfolds in three volumes - Book One: " ... you don't exist", Book Two: The Lowdown and Book Three: The Last of the Casanovas.



In his debut novel, Umit Torenli has created a well-crafted first-person narrative that promises to offend you, as well as make you understand that the dying voice of a dying neighborhood and generation can be entertaining and well worth listening to.



Umit Torenli has been the sports editor at the Brooklyn Daily Eagle since 1999. He is a graduate of the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

Last of the Creeps is his debut novel.