Perv: A Love Story

Rating:
Summary: relentless dependence on convenient coincidence
Review: Author Jerry Stahl will always have a place in my heart for his affiliation with my favorite porno movie, "Cafe Flesh." I picked this up on the recommendations of the people on the dust jacket and I was not disappointed! The (doubtlessly autobiographical) narrative begins when our 15-year-old hero loses his virginity in a monstrous and embarrassing way. It's all downhill from there as he's kicked out of his fancy prep school and moves in with his monstrous yenta mother. The hero's mom is a combination of Sara from Selby's "Requiem for a Dream" and Joan Crawford, perpetually dressed in glittery formal attire. Seeking redemption by running away from home with his elementary school sweetheart, now a lapsed Hara Krishna, he hitches a ride with two malevolent hippies named Meat and Varnish -- GO READ THE BOOK!
I don't know if I can adequately express in words the depth this little page-turner had on me. It's full of grotesque characters who at first appear hilarious, that upon closer inspection become heart-breakingly tragic. On a more personal level, I can relate to the hero in that I had an easy-going lawyer father who met a tragic end. As he sagely advises his boy at one point (I don't have the book in front of me so this quote is approximate) "Do something -- you'll regret it later, anyway!" The funniest and saddest book you'll read for many years.

Rating:
Summary: big disapointment
Review: I absolutely loved Jerry Stahl's memoir "permanent midnight". I wanted it to go on and on, and after completing it, I actually reread the last 20 pages twice! That was the first Stahl work I came across, and I was excited to read some of his fiction, although I was also a bit apprehensive, thinking "okay, the guy wrote a good memoir, but can the guy write fiction?" Well, I came across this book, and read a comment on the back by James Ellroy, claiming that "Jerry Stahl is the hipster american bard". So I checked it out.

Perv was disappointing from the very beginning to the very end. There is way too much "hipster", and not enough "bard". The writing and plot here are simply lazy; it's painfully obvious that the guy spent no time thinking about a little thing that I like to call "the story". It's just several "scenes" that are loosely tied together. I kept waiting for the action to pick up, at least a little bit, just a taste; but whenever it was about to get going, Stahl would go into endless streams of internal dialogue that served no other purpose than to establish the narrator's hipster cred. And if you've read Permanent Midnight, it's clear that the narrator here is just Stahl himself. It's like the guy can't get enough of himself and his role as cool outsider.

My guess is that Stahl thought out the big 70 page "climax" (for lack of a better word), and then loosely added some other scenes around it. Whatever the approach was, it's a poor excuse for a story. I think that the guy really believes his own "hype" as being a "cool" writer... and apparently other people do to; I read somewhere that Ben Stiller actually bought the movie rights to this!!! That is beyond me; you'd have to be Shakespeare's illegitimate son to turn this into a cohesive theatrical release.

I gave the book 2 stars because it does have its moments, although VERY few and FAR between. I really do think that Stahl's a talented writer, but I also think that he is extremely lazy and a little bit too cool for his own good. I had to force myself to finish this.

Rating:
Summary: big disapointment
Review: I absolutely loved Jerry Stahl's memoir "permanent midnight". I wanted it to go on and on, and after completing it, I actually reread the last 20 pages twice! That was the first Stahl work I came across, and I was excited to read some of his fiction, although I was also a bit apprehensive, thinking "okay, the guy wrote a good memoir, but can the guy write fiction?" Well, I came across this book, and read a comment on the back by James Ellroy, claiming that "Jerry Stahl is the hipster american bard". So I checked it out.

Perv was disappointing from the very beginning to the very end. There is way too much "hipster", and not enough "bard". The writing and plot here are simply lazy; it's painfully obvious that the guy spent no time thinking about a little thing that I like to call "the story". It's just several "scenes" that are loosely tied together. I kept waiting for the action to pick up, at least a little bit, just a taste; but whenever it was about to get going, Stahl would go into endless streams of internal dialogue that served no other purpose than to establish the narrator's hipster cred. And if you've read Permanent Midnight, it's clear that the narrator here is just Stahl himself. It's like the guy can't get enough of himself and his role as cool outsider.

My guess is that Stahl thought out the big 70 page "climax" (for lack of a better word), and then loosely added some other scenes around it. Whatever the approach was, it's a poor excuse for a story. I think that the guy really believes his own "hype" as being a "cool" writer... and apparently other people do to; I read somewhere that Ben Stiller actually bought the movie rights to this!!! That is beyond me; you'd have to be Shakespeare's illegitimate son to turn this into a cohesive theatrical release.

I gave the book 2 stars because it does have its moments, although VERY few and FAR between. I really do think that Stahl's a talented writer, but I also think that he is extremely lazy and a little bit too cool for his own good. I had to force myself to finish this.

Rating:
Summary: I am drooling on the keyboard
Review: I agree that this book should be compared to "Catcher in the Rye", but not for the reasons that everybody thinks. Like "Catcher in the Rye", it is the story of a young boy trapped in a world of insanity. But mainly, I agree with this notion because Jerry Stahl is the first person since J.D. Salinger to effectively compress extremely complicated emotions and situations into one-liners. His writing is compelling, provocative, heart-felt and just plain beautiful. I LOVE this book. On a personal level, I can identify with certain aspects of it and as an apiring writer, I can admire the superior diction. Just a warning: If you are squemish or conservative, you will not enjoy this book. It is very (refreshingly) blunt and sometimes (delightfully) horrifying. If you like experimental and honest writing, you NEED to own this book. I can only hope that Mr. Stahl does not emulate Salinger by becoming a recluse because I eagerly anticipate his next release.

Rating:
Summary: Wrong is so right.
Review: I am so sick of chick books. This one is one of my favorite "boy books". It's a faster read than Philip Roth and just as dark, wrong and funny.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, Jerry Stahl, Jerry Stahl...
Review: I guess I liked this.... I guess? I'm just kind of confused. I mean, I didn't not like it, but it wasn't the best. I suppose I was just a bit disappointed after reading Permanent Midnight and then reading this. Permanent Midnight was SO good! It was SO good, and after I finished, I couldn't wait to get my unsanitary hands all over another one of Mr. Stahl's books. So I bought this one. I don't know, it was okay. I just think he could've done better.

I just didn't really like a couple of the characters. Tennie Toad was stupid. I didn't like that kid. I wanted to smack him around and call him Penny and ask "Do ya lak that?" Hahaha. I didn't like either of the Schmidlaps. Mr. S. reminded me of this psycho old guy that is stalking me over the internet. I can imagine them to have the same voice. And they both seem like drunken idiots.

I did like the ending. It wasn't what you'd expect or anything. It wasn't a happy, happy ending, but it wasn't sad. It was just fine. Well, it was kind of sad. I don't know. And this book was very interesting. I think I finished it in about a day and a half; it usually takes me a 1.5 or 2 weeks to complete a book, for I never seem to make time. I am such a busy girl! Anyway, the good does outweigh the bad.

So, if you want to read this AND Permanent Midnight, read this first. You will enjoy this so much better, and your reading adventures will be much more exciting and fulfilling, or something.

Rating:
Summary: Oh, Jerry Stahl, Jerry Stahl...
Review: I guess I liked this.... I guess? I'm just kind of confused. I mean, I didn't not like it, but it wasn't the best. I suppose I was just a bit disappointed after reading Permanent Midnight and then reading this. Permanent Midnight was SO good! It was SO good, and after I finished, I couldn't wait to get my unsanitary hands all over another one of Mr. Stahl's books. So I bought this one. I don't know, it was okay. I just think he could've done better.

I just didn't really like a couple of the characters. Tennie Toad was stupid. I didn't like that kid. I wanted to smack him around and call him Penny and ask "Do ya lak that?" Hahaha. I didn't like either of the Schmidlaps. Mr. S. reminded me of this psycho old guy that is stalking me over the internet. I can imagine them to have the same voice. And they both seem like drunken idiots.

I did like the ending. It wasn't what you'd expect or anything. It wasn't a happy, happy ending, but it wasn't sad. It was just fine. Well, it was kind of sad. I don't know. And this book was very interesting. I think I finished it in about a day and a half; it usually takes me a 1.5 or 2 weeks to complete a book, for I never seem to make time. I am such a busy girl! Anyway, the good does outweigh the bad.

So, if you want to read this AND Permanent Midnight, read this first. You will enjoy this so much better, and your reading adventures will be much more exciting and fulfilling, or something.

Rating:
Summary: Perv - A Love Story
Review: I have just finished this book and had to review it while it was still fresh in my mind. This novel is a great book and a great sophmore effort by author, Jerry Stahl. The main reason why I will not give it the full "five star" treatment because, to me, it did lag a little during the "Meat and Varnish" stage. But all in all an awesome book that I will say is worthy of but two words... DAMN GOOD!

Rating:
Summary: Stahl - Perv: A Love Story
Review: Perv is a fantastic novel. Its funny, its filthy and most importantly, its sincere. Like a Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century (set, however, in the 70's), Perv takes an honest look at adolescence, the perils of family life, and the tail end of the days of hippies and free love. Stahl obviously has talent and he uses it well here.

Rating:
Summary: Nothing like being smacked in the head...
Review: Perv: A Love Story does just that. You have to get through three quarters of the book to understand what I'm talking about, but you'll get it. You think the beginning is shocking? You think anything in the middle is disturbing? Just wait until the end. Based on the graphic details of what occurs to Bobby and Michelle with their, let's call them, captors, I can only assume Mr. Stahl has been there and done that.

Overall, it was a funny and sad story, but I don't think Stahl wants us to feel sorry for the main character. As stated in the book at some point, there's empathy and there's sympathy. I think Stahl wants us to empathize with the characters but to just stand back a minute and not get too close.

Recommended for those that aren't uptight. If you are, you won't even get through the first couple of pages.