Rating: 
Summary: Skip this and go for the real thing
Review: "Plainclothes Naked" is antic and manic without ever really becoming funny or entertaining. He's trying and failing to do what Carl Hiasson makes look so easy-- construct a complex, multilined story around a vast number of damaged, low-life characters. Hiaason pulls it off (so did Dave Barry in his first novel, "Big Trouble") but Stahl moves the story too slowly without nearly enough of a sense of urgency to make it work. It reads like a good first draft. Oddly, the second half is better than the first.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this and go for the real thing
Review: "Plainclothes Naked" is antic and manic without ever really becoming funny or entertaining. He's trying and failing to do what Carl Hiasson makes look so easy-- construct a complex, multilined story around a vast number of damaged, low-life characters. Hiaason pulls it off (so did Dave Barry in his first novel, "Big Trouble") but Stahl moves the story too slowly without nearly enough of a sense of urgency to make it work. It reads like a good first draft. Oddly, the second half is better than the first.
Rating:
Summary: Skip this and go for the real thing
Review: "Plainclothes Naked" is antic and manic without ever really becoming funny or entertaining. He's trying and failing to do what Carl Hiasson makes look so easy-- construct a complex, multilined story around a vast number of damaged, low-life characters. Hiaason pulls it off (so did Dave Barry in his first novel, "Big Trouble") but Stahl moves the story too slowly without nearly enough of a sense of urgency to make it work. It reads like a good first draft. Oddly, the second half is better than the first.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding, Outlandish & Wonderfully Out 0f Hand!
Review: I cannot reccomend this book enough.
I'm a reader (I read A LOT) and this is simply one of those special mad wonderful books that will be remembered, quoted, cited, goofed-about, and tickling for a long time. (I'm giggling right now just thinking about it, giggling and shocked and feeling wonderfully guilty: it was too great.)Enjoy!!!
Rating: 
Summary: Stahl is brilliant
Review: I loved both of Stahl's previous books, Permanent Midnight--the best drug memoir ever--and Perv, which captured the skeezy side of Flower Power with such precision that any newbie Phish or SCI wookie skank should check it out before getting in a car with some parking lot tour rat. Plainclothes Naked transfers Stahl's dark vision to the noir style, and it's a perfect marriage. More plot-driven than PM or Perv, it's hilarious, driving, disturbing, and ultimately, like all of Stahl's writing, redemptive. Can't wait for the next one.
Rating:
Summary: JOHN WATERS meets ELMORE LEONARD
Review: I read a lot of this kind of book. I like Leonard, Hiaasan, Lehane, Pete Hautman. So when I read the description of this book, I thought I'd give it a try. After receiving it, I realized I all ready OWN "Perv", but never got around to reading it. I'm going to correct THAT oversight immediately. I understand that Stahl overcame a heroin addiction in his life. I don't really care about that. So have I. But, without getting either preachy or nostalgic, Stahl writes about drug addiction like no other writer I've come accross.
Is this book funny? You betcha. A plot synopsis alone will make you laugh. (see above.) and if it doesn't make you laugh, DON'T BUY THE BOOK. Duh.
This book IS prettty heavy on UGLINESS, but it's done in such a comical way that it never makes you want to take a shower. I did, however, think that the book ALMOST goes over the top in a couple scenes, but Stahl is smart enough to never plummet over the edge.
I think my review title says it all. It's John Waters meets Elmore Leonard. And if you don't know who either of those people are, once again, DON'T BUY THIS BOOK!
Thank you for your time. Now...bugger off.
Rating:
Summary: If you're a Jerry Stahl fan, you will love this book.
Review: I read only half this book - that's where it should've logically ended. It started off great, I loved the style but as I kept going on and on, the hilarity of two crack addicts and a cop who's fallen in love with his prime suspect in a quirky town in America lost it's flavor. True, I should've finished it, but, well, don't take my word for it.
Rating: 
Summary: So-so, not that great.
Review: I read only half this book - that's where it should've logically ended. It started off great, I loved the style but as I kept going on and on, the hilarity of two crack addicts and a cop who's fallen in love with his prime suspect in a quirky town in America lost it's flavor. True, I should've finished it, but, well, don't take my word for it.
Rating:
Summary: a bloody crack-filled chase!
Review: I still don't know if I enjoyed this book or not. Stahl obviously used to be a crack head or just did some up-close-and-personal research. If you have never smoked crack before and were thinking about trying, read this book! It will kick your curiosity instantly. Not one likeable character in the entire book, and too many impossible coincidences. However, I was hooked, once I got into it I wanted to see how Stahl was going to end it. Even though it took him a little too long to do so. The really only believable part in the book was dubbahya's photo. The only positive(?) thing I came out of this book with was a vote for Nader.
Rating:
Summary: Vastly Original -- A Must Read!
Review: Jerry Stahl has written a hilarious, brilliant, dark and twisted modern-day parody of the Parsifal legend, where the quest for the Holy Grail is played out among characters whose very normalcy is defined by psychopathic behavior. In Plainclothes Naked, the grail, or the philosopher's stone, exists in the form of a photo of a smiley face tattooed on George W. Bush's privates. Needless to say, attainment is not easily had, and so the fun begins, for it is in the search itself that redemption becomes even remotely possible for this hapless crew. Beware: After having read this book, what had once constituted "normalcy" for the reader will appear freakish, and vice-versa. In other words, prepare to be "Stahled" by the master of the glass bead game himself.
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