 |
God Jr. by Dennis Cooper
Book Summary InformationAuthor: Dennis Cooper Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published) Published: 2005-07-10 ISBN: 0802170110 Number of pages: 144 Publisher: Grove Press, Black Cat
Book Reviews of God Jr.Book Review: Weird, idiosyncratic, and beautifully simple. Summary: 4 StarsI've often wondered why someone as talented as Cooper never explored another genre. I was curious how his stripped-down writing style would feel in a world not brimming with violence, murder and sex. "God Jr." answers all of those questions.
"God Jr." is about soul-crushing grief and loss, and about how a father builds a tangible monument to his son to compensate for feelings he probably never had. The son died in a car accident while driving with his under-the-influence father. His parents find drawings of an odd structure and in homage to their dead son begin to build it -- at great expense -- in their backyard. Turns out the son didn't even draw it and that it is, in fact, just something he picked up from a videogame. Later in the story the father "enters" this videogame to try to discover who his son was. The son kept the main videogame character in a spot so long that the animals of the game became self-aware and began asking questions. They want to know who they are and why they're here. Because the son brought about this enlightenment, they assume he's God.
The most amazing thing about this book, for me, is Cooper's prose. He's reduced his writing to the absolute bare minimum. There is not a single wasted word here. He has sharpened and sharpened his meticulous prose with a razor and the result is simple yet stunning.
This book -- really a novella -- is a good companion piece to Kathryn Harrison's "Envy." It's interesting to see how two very different but equally capable writers handle similar subject matter so contrastingly.
Summary of God Jr.Dennis Cooper's sparely crafted novels have earned him an international reputation-even as his subject matter has made him a controversial figure. God Jr. is a stunningly accomplished new novel that marks a new phase in Cooper's noteworthy career. God Jr. is the story of Jim, a father who survived the car crash that killed his teenage son Tommy. Tommy was distant, transfixed by video games and pop culture, and a mystery to the man who raised him. Now, disabled by the accident, yearning somehow to absolve his own guilt over the crash, Jim becomes obsessed with a mysterious building Tommy drew repetitively in a notebook before he died. As the fixation grows, Jim starts to take on elements of his son-at the expense of his job and marriage-but is he connecting with who Tommy truly was? A tender, wrenching look at guilt, grief, and the tenuous bonds of family, God Jr. is unlike anything Dennis Cooper has yet written. It is a triumphant achievement from one of our finest writers.
|
 |
Story of the Eyeby Georges Bataille City Lights Publishers; Published: 2001-01-01; Paperback; BookBest price: $5.30Price in other shops: $9.95
Crash: A Novelby J. G. Ballard Picador; Published: 2001-10-05; Paperback; BookBest price: $4.97Price in other shops: $14.00
Tryby Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 1995-03-09; Paperback; BookBest price: $0.84Price in other shops: $13.00
Frisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis)by Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 1993-11-11; Paperback; BookBest price: $3.99Price in other shops: $12.00
The Slutsby Dennis Cooper Da Capo Press; Published: 2005-10-18; Paperback; BookBest price: $8.83Price in other shops: $14.95
God Jr.by Dennis Cooper Grove Press, Black Cat; Published: 2005-07-10; Paperback; BookBest price: $5.98Price in other shops: $12.00
Doctor Ratby William Kotzwinkle Marlowe & Company; Published: 1997-10; Paperback; BookPrice in other shops: $12.95
Exquisite Corpseby Poppy Z. Brite Touchstone; Published: 1997-08-20; Paperback; BookBest price: $3.83Price in other shops: $14.00
Liquor: A Novelby Poppy Z. Brite Three Rivers Press; Published: 2004-03-16; Paperback; BookBest price: $6.49Price in other shops: $13.95
Love in Veinby Poppy Z. Brite Eos; Published: 1995-10-01; Mass Market Paperback; BookBest price: $3.97Price in other shops: $7.99
|
Donald Judd: The Complete Writings 1959-1975by Donald Judd The Press of the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design; Published: 2005-02-15; Paperback; BookBest price: $34.65Price in other shops: $55.00
Sarah: A Novelby J. T. LeRoy Bloomsbury USA; Published: 2001-06-09; Paperback; BookBest price: $1.98Price in other shops: $13.95
Wrong: Stories (Cooper, Dennis)by Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-14; Paperback; BookBest price: $4.97Price in other shops: $12.00
Periodby Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 2001-03-30; Paperback; BookBest price: $3.82Price in other shops: $11.00
Tryby Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 1995-03-09; Paperback; BookBest price: $2.49Price in other shops: $13.00
Closer: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis)by Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-18; Paperback; BookBest price: $4.98Price in other shops: $12.00
Guide (Cooper, Dennis)by Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 1998-08-06; Paperback; BookBest price: $5.67Price in other shops: $12.00
Frisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis)by Dennis Cooper Grove Press; Published: 1993-11-11; Paperback; BookBest price: $3.99Price in other shops: $12.00
My Loose Thread (Cooper, Dennis)by Dennis Cooper Canongate U.S.; Published: 2003-05; Paperback; BookBest price: $4.32Price in other shops: $12.00
The Slutsby Dennis Cooper Da Capo Press; Published: 2005-10-18; Paperback; BookBest price: $8.83Price in other shops: $14.95
|