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Wigger
Book by Braithwaite, Lawrence
87 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 12, 2008
I rarely hate a book that I read, but here's one that I absolutely hated. I just thought this shit was pretentious. There's an attempt at 'avant garde' narrative structure, but this dude aint no Kathy Acker or Bill Burroughs. This guy just thinks he's transgressive or something. It struck me as suburban or just kind of dumb.
August 30, 2018
I'll stick with Burroughs. It seems that the author (who obviously a fan of Burroughs) tried to write his own version of 'Queer' just after he stayed up all night reading 'Naked Lunch' and 'Nova Express'. The mood of the book is self deprecating, pretentious, and hatefully hip. It is a short read and can easily be finished in a day which is good because if I had put the book down I would never have picked it back up. The only good thing I will say is that Braithwaite definitely doesnt deviate and is true to his character and self deprecation. Reading about his life from Wikipedia or wherever will give you a better idea of what I'm saying. supposedly he wasn't the best of people. He ultimately committed suicide which is sad but didn't surprise me. I can see this book best in the hands of a post adolescent or high school suburban rebel who has just started to cut his teeth on anarchy and nihilism and 6 months into his new pot binge. I see it sitting beside their unfinished copy of notes from the underground and the obligatory Nietzsche
March 1, 2018
Quick read, doesn't overstay its welcome. Very unusual but creative and effective metaphors ("he had the face of a repeatedly defeated boxer and walk of a lazy metronome", "[a drag queen] pulls her purse open like Tarzan breaking the jaws of a crocodile"). Experimental-ish, but not distractingly so. Nonchalantly transgressive in parts, but without the in-your-face obviousness that makes it seem contrived. Drugged out prose, almost spacey language. Very ambiguously voiced-- it is often difficult to discern which character is really speaking which line-- which works quite wonderfully in adding to the on-and-off surreal atmosphere. Obviously, no real plot or narrative. Recommended.
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October 12, 2008You can get your head around it - it's a bite-sized chunk so don't worry about the experimental aspects. Last time I thought about characters sliding around each other like this interacting in a web it was with Alfred Chester's Exquisite Corpse. A dozen guys with sex and drugs -- they meet in twos and threes on the streets and what happens happens.
October 18, 2008
I like what he's trying to do. I honestly think that a few more small sections would help with understanding. Of course, I don't think that understanding was what he wanted. Good art, if not so great a novel.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews