“A remarkable, gripping first novel.”

“One of the great coming-of-age novels of the
twentieth century…Ted Weesner’s seminal novel demands a second look for its
marvelously rendered young protagonist, the unforgettable Alex Housman; for its
courage and wisdom and great good heart.”

“What The Car Thief is really
concerned with emerges between its realistic lines—slowly, delicately, with
consummate art. Perhaps Mr. Weesner himself put it best: ‘In my work, I guess I
wish for nothing so much as to get close enough to things to feel their heart
and warmth and pain, and in that way appreciate them a little more.’ Judging
from this book, his wish has been fulfilled…and then some.”

“Weesner lays out a subtle and complex case
study of juvenile delinquency that wrenches the heart. The novel reminds me
strongly of the poignant aimlessness of Truffaut’s The 400 Blows.
Beneath its quiet surface, The Car Thief—like its
protagonist—possesses churning emotions that push up through the prose for
resolution. Weesner is definitely a man to watch—and read.”

“The Car Thief is a poignant and
beautifully written novel, so true and so excruciatingly painful that one can’t
read it without feeling the knife’s cruel blade in the heart.”

“A simply marvelous novel. Alex (the
protagonist) emerges from it as a kind of blue-collar Holden Caulfield.”

“Weesner’s perfectly restrained and subtle
exploration of the characters’ painful and often difficult emotions caused me
to have an intimate and emotional connection to a character and story of such a
seemingly distant world. It taught me that even the most personal of stories
can be universal and it is with this belief that I have adapted The Car
Thief into what I hope will be a film that does some justice to the
most beautiful novel that ever broke my heart.”