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Summary: Did You Ever Wonder?
Review: Guys...did you ever wonder what she was thinking? You know...that chick you dated in college. The one who wore a lot of black clothing and dyed her hair a new color every semester and made you listen to her suicide poetry after you had sex? Well, here's Darcy Steinke's pithy, readable *Suicide Blonde* to tell you.Turns out she WAS thinking about sex most of the time, though not necessarily in the way you were hoping. And she was obsessed with her mother, but you probably already knew that. Sadly, it turns out she was also thinking about her ex-boyfriends most of the time. But if it's any consolation, she didn't treat them much better than she did you. In fact, reading this novel may reinforce the idea that you got off lucky. Seriously, I've read this novel twice and I love it. It takes Dashiell Hammett's San Francisco, fast forwards it to the 90s and turns it upside down to show you all the wormy sexuality squirming around underneath. I must take a star off for the dialogue--sorry, Darcey, the philosophical dramaticisms interrupt the narrative flow. But if you're into sex, depravity and the nature of human loneliness, pick this one up. Read it with a picture of your ex taped to the title page...it'll make the whole experience so much more...suicidal.
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Summary: fabulously written with awesome wordcraft!
Review: I absolutely loved this book! i picked up the book at a used book store and began reading, i didnt put it down till i was done. the plot and writing are all wonderfully coordinated in one whole masterpiece, the minute i was finished i went to look for more of her work!
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Summary: This suicide is one dumb blonde!
Review: I am amazed that I actually finished this loser. The excessively shallow and self-absorbed, not to mention annoyingly navel gazing, character never deepens beyond two dimensions. The reasons for her self destructive behavior don't make an iota of sense, considering she is nothing more than a spoiled suburban brat torturing her mother for having the nerve to raise her in a broken home. This novel does for the "bad girl" what American Psycho did for serial killers, namely it makes them BORING! Bad book. Bad, bad, bad. Not recommended at all. Also I have lived almost my entire life in the San Francisco Bay Area and I have to say that THERE IS NO MARKET STREET BART STATION! The BART line runs under Market Street and stops at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and, finally, Civic Center. If in fact Jesse were going to The Lusty Lady on Kearny Street she would more than likely get off at Montgomery and have to make a bit of a hike up to the Montgomery/Kearny intersection. When setting the stories at real life locations it is important to get least some of the geographical facts right. Then again the author did not even bother to get any of the psychological facts right either. Avoid, avoid, avoid.
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Summary: This is great literature?
Review: I am befuddled as to why this book earned rave reviews. Reading a thoroughly depressing story is one thing, reading a thoroughly depressing story horribly written is another. This is another book about a woman who needs to take some responsibility for her life instead of searching in every dark alley and perversion for fulfillment.
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Summary: Found a home in the weeds along the 5 FWY, Memorial Weekend.
Review: I discovered a copy of this book in the trunk of a friends car. A wise place to keep a library. Upon spying the cover, I decided that I had to give it read. I imagined that the book would be lined with sex like some exquisitely wonderful soft porn debauch. However, 'twas not the case. As I eased snugly into the backseat of said girls car, travelling enroute to San Diego, I delved deep into the subplots and foreshadow. I am here to report that in both cases Darcy Steinke fell shy. The writing was abominable, lacking direction and substantive charm. There was no heavy handed insight to enlighten the faint of heart. There was no poetic digress to laugh out loud with or to quietly lose onself in darkened and unkempt bathrooms. Steamy visualization is not a requirement when discussing the lower forms of personal sexual enlightenment, but when it's time to deliver the goods, you better do so, and with haste. I've spied better journals in the nightstands of girlfriends while they showered in the morning. Questions for the masses: How does material like this get published? Who made the choice to pay this person? Is it any wonder why the literary world is in a downward spiral? I usually strive to be more reserved when writing reviews, but as a writer - I have a moral obligation to stand up and assert something true and appropriate. Percentage wise, I work to submit only positive reviews. Forgive me for being hard, but when others work to be soft and fail, you tell me what's wrong with the picture. To the people who will not appreciate this review, I ask you only to consider.
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Summary: I LOVED THIS
Review: I found this to be highly erotic but very tastefully done. I totally loved it and enjoyed reading every page.
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Summary: It's worth reading once...
Review: I got this book following in the line of this being part of modern popular literature that delves in the subgenres and subcultures currently in existance. I'ev enjoyed similar books by authors such as Allende, Welsh, Rushkoff, and of course Nicholson Baker (Vox in particular). I have an affinity for the rather broad subject area. I read through it and it really wasn't all that bad, but it was a little lackking in description and content. I wasn't drawn in like I have been with other books. I will keep the book as it is my style. I have since read through it again. The second reading did help clarify a few things, but still I don't love it. I do recommend reading it at least once. I also recommend referring it to a friend. If you get it, try finding at a lirary or used bookstore, though. Cheers!
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Summary: Dark and pretty
Review: I have not read this book for a long time, and I really need to reread it again (I think that would be the fifth time). It's a novel full of gorgeous language that I can only describe as being "water-like". Steinke paints three gorgeous and tortured characters, playing on the cliche of "sex=death" and somehow making it her own. There are some lines that are cliched and melodramatic, but they never reek of insincerity, and she keeps you believing that there is no other place for these people to go except further into the darkness of themselves.
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Summary: Steinke Gets A Home Run
Review: I have read all of the reviews on this page, and decided to place my own as well.Steinke takes us into a deep, dark place...into the darkest caverns of the soul, filled with hate, lust, confusion and dread...letting us swim around there, waiting to be drawn out, only to find there is no lifeguard or life preservers. This is not a fairy tale, folks. This is pure emotion and talent here. Steinke displays her ability to write all through out the book. It may be dark, sad, depressing and whatnot, but her name will surely rise and continue to be mentioned and raved about for years to come.
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Summary: Call me pretentious, I liked it...a lot
Review: I have to admit I initially bought this book for the cover. That beautiful naked, blonde woman smoking...yeah. Look at it one more time. People call this book pretentious, over-the-top and self-conscious. Well they can go do that, but I liked the book. I'm not going to describe the events in the book because the review above did so already..., but I'll tell you why I liked it. Like Dacey Steinke's _Jesus Saves_, _Suicide Blonde_ attempts to get inside the ennui, if you will, of a middle-class run-of-the -mill minister's daughter. We have all wondered what it would be like to run away, start a new life, or do something like become a prostitute (well, mine anyway). Maybe most of us know that the life of the prostitute, fo example, is anything but a viable escape, but still, the thought crosses our mind: the anonymity, the base sex, the flip-side of a "proper" woman's behavior. Steinke lets you vicariously explore this option and see that not everyone dwells in the world where degrees matter, boyfriends stay and content suburban life is a goal to be reached. So, maybe Jesse is, as one reviewer put in "slumming," not really having to live this life but "just visiting." But following her through those turbulent few weeks, we the reader too are slumming and watching an unbelievable chain of events play out. And watch Steinke's ability as a grat story-teller remove you from your existence to another. And isn't that what a good novel is supposed to do? So, it won't change your life, won't help you quit smoking, lose wieght, find a man and have a gentically perfect baby, but who wants those things anyway?
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