Man Down

Man Down

review

Marked by a gritty realism and blunt use of language, Man Down is a disconcerting critique of modern, capitalist society. Pilz shocks his audience with a disturbing insight into the life of a person who falls lower and lower in society and feels he cannot do anything about it; but the empathy between the reader and the central character is one that grows and grows.

Kai worked as a roofer but suffered a serious fall caused by fatigue, and his boss has yet to pay him for his last few months’ work. He borrows money but has no way of paying it back, so he is ‘offered’ another way: drug running. He attempts to find honest work with other roofing contractors but, his appearance now hardly resembling that of an honest worker, he is rejected. So he continues ferrying drugs, vowing to stop once the debt is paid off. Eventually, finding no way out, in a chilling climax to the story, Kai seeks revenge on his first boss, the cause of his troubles.

Pilz’s skilful manipulation of themes of injustice, unaccountability, selfishness, loneliness and betrayal make this book a highly relevant account of society’s underclass and the sometimes desperate situation of immigrants in a new country.

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about the author

rights information

Haymon Verlag
Erlerstr. 10
6020 Innsbruck, Austria
Tel: +43 512 39504532
Email: anita.winkler@haymonverlag.at
Contact: Anita Winkler 
www.haymonverlag.at 

Haymon Verlag was established in 1982 by the historian, journalist and author Michael Forcher as a non-fiction publishing company. The Haymon Verlag is named after the ‘Giant Haymon’ who, according to an old legend, founded the Stift Wilten monastery near Innsbruck in the eighth century. It was one of the first cultural centres in the region that later became known as the Tyrol. Since 1988, it has primarily published German-language and international literature. Haymon Verlag has been a subsidiary company of the 
Studienverlag since 1 September 2004.

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Applications for adult fiction or children’s books should be made to the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, the Civil Service and Sport in good time before the book goes to print.