Rudy Baylor could become, in the hands of another author, a schlimazel, an inevitable victim of bad luck. Or he could be an example of late 1800s naturalism, in which all manner of disaster strikes a poor fellow who is powerless to change his destiny. Rudy goes beyond both character types because he is resilient, good-humored, smart, and still capable of idealism. He possesses an unflashy intelligence: He passes the bar exam when many others fail, and he thinks on his feet well during the trial. To survive, he does what he has to do with at least a small measure of dignity: He grubs for jobs at established firms, he works in the cash-payment underground economy of a college bar to keep his meager earnings safe from creditors, and he even steels himself to chase ambulances with Deck. Finally, in a society in which money matters, Rudy...