The Right Man for the Job

Gunnar Lund, the protagonist of Magnuson's engaging first novel, has found himself in difficult terrain. In his job as a ""repo man,"" repossessing furniture in Columbus, Ohio's poorest neighborhood, he faces shotgun blasts, vicious Rottweilers and the unenviable task of taking people's last belongings. His home environment is no more pacific: on his day off, he and his girlfriend, Margaret, engage in a knock-down, drag-out brawl down the apartment stairs. Gunnar, an ex-factory worker in his native Wisconsin, has left his fianc e and traveled to Columbus with Margaret, a former dope dealer who's now enrolled in Ohio State's Women's Studies department. His only friend in Columbus is his partner, Dewy Bishop, a black fellow repo man and former college football defensive tackle. The gritty, disturbing life of an ""account manager'' (the euphemism they are encouraged to use) is chronicled with knowing detail. Gunnar says, ""I have picked up babies, set them down on housing-project linoleum, and repoed their cribs.."" Gunnar's travels through the black ghetto with Dewy crackle with energy, and Magnuson paints a revealing portrait of the working-class male mind: Gunnar's relationships with women, his teasing, affectionate friendship with Dewy, his willingness to do almost anything for a salary. The female characters remain less fully realized, and the events surrounding Margaret have a contrived feel that causes the last third of the novel to lose some steam. Magnuson's prose isn't flashy, but the excellent setting and well-observed characters suggest a career worth watching. $30,000 ad/promo. (Mar.)