Laymans Report, Eugene Marten
Laymans Report, Eugene Marten
List: $19.00 | Sale: $13.30
Club: $9.50

Synopsis

A disturbing, darkly funny fictionalization of the life of Fred A. Leuchter, the garage tinkerer turned execution authority who became a darling of the neo-Nazi movement, and subject of the Errol Morris documentary, Mr. Death.

He comes to fix your photocopier, but really, Fred’s an inventor. At night, he goes to work. He has goals, ambitions, and when offered the task of building a better electric chair, he jumps at the chance. People have to die—he believes in the occasional necessity of evil—but what if we could kill them more humanely?

A death specialist, first in his field but forever under-appreciated, he’s charmed when a new generation of fascists come calling for his expertise. A Holocaust denier is on trial in Toronto—could Fred prove the gas chambers never existed? 

Newspapers descend. Talking heads have their say. A documentarist makes a film. Everyone will know his name, though some things society will simply not abide. Dishonoured, discredited, disgraced. But Fred’s work does not stop, and the world may yet be reminded of the dangerous truth that some men are driven by forces far more powerful than shame. 

First published in 2013, this is the updated and definitive edition of Eugene Marten’s chilling masterwork of transformational historical fiction.

About The Author

EUGENE MARTEN was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to European parents, emigrated to the U.S. before the age of two, and grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, after stints in Oregon, New York City, Costa Rica, Texas, South Dakota, and Los Angeles. In 2014, an excerpt from Layman’s Report earned him a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Babak on June 17, 2024

My blurb for the new edition Layman’s Report is a propulsive and dazzling novel—Eugene Marten’s sculpted sentences captivate with their cadence and striking imagery. Fred Junior, an eccentric inventor of death devices turned Holocaust denier and victim of his own vanity, is one of the most enigmatic......more

Goodreads review by Thomas on September 07, 2024

Really an odd book! I believe I saw a review of this in the NYTimes a few weeks ago and thought it sounded interesting, but forgot everything about it except the name. I picked it up in my local bookstore’s summer sale based on that and the cover art, which makes it look like a spec-fic. Needless to......more

Goodreads review by David on September 25, 2024

Exquisitely written, with a keen eye for the strangeness of human interactions and a weirdly funny, almost surreal ear for dialogue. The grand scope of the narrative is enthralling and engaging, even if something about it ultimately feels unfinished or unfocused. A memorable book, to say the least.......more

Goodreads review by elena on April 25, 2025

kind of insane? def not a light read took me forever and i’m not sure all the words got in my head. literally the only word i can think of is insane. good though. i think.......more

Goodreads review by Craig on January 19, 2014

4.5 stars. Know that this isn't like his previous novels except that you will not be able to shake the elements of the narrative from your subvocal chatter for long afterwards. Deserving of a re-read and probable upgrade to 5-star status.......more


Quotes

“I am so, so grateful that Eugene Marten's writing exists. Nobody else writes like he does. What a shame! Layman's Report is full of the most strange, beautiful sentences. Marten is unafraid to look directly at the brutal things people do, but there is so much empathy lurking underneath this, too. He is a truly exceptional, one of a kind, talent.”
—Rachel Connolly, author of Lazy City

"However Eugene Marten does what he does with language is from another world. You think about the end of things, of all life, at every turn of phrase. It's not just what he renders in his characters, but how well he constructs the bleakness of the consequences the narrator faces. Like a chiaroscuro painting, Marten gently reveals what the light touches, but barely. What remains is the darkness of the story, and that is what draws the reader in."
—Elle Nash, author of Deliver Me

Layman’s Report is a propulsive and dazzling novel—Eugene Marten’s sculpted sentences captivate with their cadence and striking imagery. Fred Junior, an eccentric inventor of death devices turned Holocaust denier and victim of his own vanity, is one of the most enigmatic characters I have encountered in contemporary fiction.”
—Babak Lakghomi, author of South