Tyler Knox, Kockroach

Kockroach

Tyler Knox

Morrow, January 2007, $23.95

ISBN: 0061143332

The cockroach wakes up in a 1950's Times Square roach hotel to find somehow he is no longer a bug, but instead has become a male human. Though he is unhappy to devolve into a man, Kockroach is not concerned, as his species understands survival of the fittest, having been around since the dinosaur age and still thriving in the cement jungles, in spite of weapons of mass destruction, better known as human shoes.

Kockroach takes the name of Jerry Blatta as he meets street punk Mickey "Mite" Pimelia, who sees the transformed bug as a way to make a fortune in the world of gangs. However, Jerry notices that Mighty Mite is soft on crippled telephone operator Celia, so he keeps that handy in case he needs to use this information. Celia finds the roach morality of survival is everything quite enticing. Meanwhile, king Kockroach begins to climb his way to the top of the gangs, as he understands inducing fear.

Tyler Knox cleverly satirizes Kafka's Metamorphosis and 1950's Noirs with this delightfully dark saga. The antihero sees the world through cockroach glasses, as he realizes that humans run on fight (over possessions) or flight (out of fear). Thus combining "moral" bug instincts with insightful clarity of the dreaded shoe stomping society he has joined, Blatta provides quite a vivid picture of the human condition, always one step away from the graveyard. Readers will appreciate this powerful gloomy parable.