Sam Kaplan

Munsrat Lives Sam Kaplan

Munsrat has a plan. He has reached the point in life when it dawns on him that the next day's sunrise someday will not come, that he will soon be nothing more than some weed's nutrient. But rather than embrace and hurtle headlong towards the coming doom and feed the plant with human impatience, Munsrat concocts an elaborate plan. Two words form the end of his massive flow chart: "Munsrat Lives." In the novel Munsrat Lives, the mysterious titular figure starts writing graffiti throughout the city-1990s boom-era Seattle. The graffiti intrigues, divides and confuses Seattleites, including and especially Herman, Jimmy and Esprit, who must find out what Munsrat is up to before it is too late. Herman Stittle, a down on his luck port cop, is the first to come upon the mysterious Munsrat tags. He is pulled irretrievably into the puzzle of spray painted words. The Mayor of Seattle makes it a point to stop the Munsrat graffiti and puts Esprit in charge of the case. She can't stand her boss, doesn't care about her job and isn't even all that fond of Seattle. But she can't escape Munsrat, and soon begins receiving anonymous emails from someone who claims he knows Munsrat's plans. Jimmy is full of energy and ideas and embraces the Munsrat mystery with all the freshness and passion of youth. He knows Munsrat is up to something and must find out what it is. These three lives intersect in a city increasingly obsessed with Munsrat and his graffiti. A statue of a troll, a tale-telling old man in a yellow slicker and the drawbridges of Seattle play crucial roles as the truth is slowly revealed. Munsrat Lives explores the love of mystery, the power of belief and the frustrations of modern life.