Noogie's Time to Shine

By Jim Knipfel

ATM thief hits the road with 350 pounds of $20 bills. Ned Noogie Krapczak grew up in rough circumstances in Jersey City, New Jersey. Movies were his only escape, and he dreamed of becoming a filmmaker. But by the time he hits 30, things haven't worked out the way they were supposed to. Instead of making movies, Noogie has a job restocking ATM machines in delis and drug stores. One day he sees a way out of it all, in the form of a slow-motion heist, siphoning $20 bills a few at a time out of the machines he is supposed to be filling. When his scheme is finally uncovered, he hits the road with his Siamese cat, Dillinger, and 350 pounds of $20 bills totaling $5 million. In that instant, he finds himself not watching movies, but living them. He's pulled off a great caper and is on the lam cross-country, a life worthy of Edward G. Robinson or Steve McQueen. Noogie works his way down the east coast on this great escape, disguising himself by using the names of characters in some of his favorite movies. In telling the stories of Noogie's final days, Knipfel's novel captures the tragic end of a broken man who, however briefly and however unseemly, managed to live the American dream--he became a movie star.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0753512831
• ISBN13: 9780753512838
• Release Date: January 2007
• Publisher: Virgin Books
• Length: 247 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.3" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

Don't judge this book by its cover

I'll be honest, I HATE the cover to this book. The book was a gift and my reaction when I saw it was, eww. So it sat on my shelf for six months. I finally decided to give it a try and am glad I did. Okay, once you start reading this book, the cover makes sense but still, what a creepy cover. I asked several friends around the office what they thought of the cover and the reaction was universal - bleck. And all told me they wouldn't read the book based on the cover. So my suggestion to the publisher is if they should do a re-print, change the cover! Enough about the cover. The story is a lot of fun. I found it easy to get wrapped up in Ned, aka Noogie, and his life of crime. Noogie is your basic loser. In his 30s, still lives at home with a nagging, overbearing mother, basically a miserable guy. He works for an ATM company and is relatively happy with his job. Eventually, by mistake, he comes up with a way to slowly steal the cash from the ATMs. The first half of the book (the better half, IMO), follows Noogie's run once he's discovered. The second half follows the police as they track Noogie. It isn't as interesting, but still, it was quick reading as I was interested in finding out what happened to Noogie.

A fun ride through a dark comedy

A while ago Stephen King tried to bring back the pulp novel genre. I'm not sure what happened to King's project, but this book takes a big step toward reviving pulp fiction. Noogie is a fascinating character and I really enjoyed getting into his weird little head throughout his ridiculously funny run from the law. The book also serves as an homage to the genre and all those classic film noir movies that we associate with it (Dark Passage, White Heat). Its a smart and funny book, think Dashiell Hammett but with a wicked sense of humor. Also if you do pick up a copy, remember this as you read it: "Follow the money."