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Visceral Readings: The Sluts
I’ve already read a lot this year, maybe even more than most other years. Though lately, in the past few weeks, I’ve found my attention kind of skewed up, which I guess is part of the pattern of reading: it comes and goes.
When I get out of the dire want to spend hours on my back looking at sentences, certain moods will come where I can’t get more than a page into something, no matter how strong, and it will take something of really strong aura, a riveter, to get me excited again. Something visceral, that grabs me by the throat and says, Bitch, you are going to read this.
This week, for me, it was Dennis Cooper’s The Sluts. I picked this up randomly, realizing it was I think the only title of DC’s that I hadn’t read for some reason. I brought it home in the rain and, having put down the last 8 or 9 books I’d tried to start in weeks beforehand, picked it open just to get a taste.
I literally read the book straight through, without stopping, even when at times, the experience of the book made it feel as if it were going to knock my head clean off. Those familiar with DC will know that he doesn’t fuck around when it comes to heavy, searing, often deeply sexual imagery, the subject matter alone of which will often hold most people’s attention (unless they are, you know, iffy). Beyond that, though, The Sluts got into me and did not let go by the manner of its ingenious construction–its unorthodox and yet still pleasing form, another thing for which Dennis is well known.
The book is mostly centered around a series of forum posting on a male escort service, written amazingly in a way that follows the way message boards often do, and then coupled with a urban-myth meets Clue (the board game) style progression, getting so deeply hooked in your so quickly, and with so many conflicting threads, that the search for the truth, and scrounging deeper and deeper into the black trough of Sade-ian sex torture, domination, prostitution, and internet drama (all in sentences that are as beautiful in making as they are in form), becomes so visceral and compelling that it seems to drag you on inside it. Truly, at certain points during the reading, I felt hands pressing down hard on my chest, and then suddenly I would be laughing, or needing to sit up. When it was over I felt hungry, and wholly lit up, if in the creepiest of ways.
This kind of physical experience, if often very rare in books, is the kind that can shake you back into remembering what a text can do.
Moving from there, I’d love to know: what books have shaken others here in this way? What are some of the most visceral readings you’ve had? I need more.
[As an aside: google image searching ‘the sluts‘ comes up with some pretty rad stuff:]
Tags: Dennis Cooper, the sluts
When did you pose for that cover shot, Blake?
When did you pose for that cover shot, Blake?
When did you pose for that cover shot, Blake?
haha-
that picture of those girls’ butts and smiling faces made me not want to have sex.
i’m good, right?
i’m good, right?
i’m good, right?
that was my goal. making you not have sex. ;)
that was my goal. making you not have sex. ;)
that was my goal. making you not have sex. ;)
had the opposite effect on me
had the opposite effect on me
had the opposite effect on me
This is one of my favorite novels. There’s funny one-star review of it on Amazon that starts out:
“To begin with, there are weird editorial errors throughout. Either no one bothered to review and correct the errors, or it’s some kind of literary gimmick that evades me. Either way, it’s distracting and annoying.”
Somehow the obvious explanation for these occasional typos–that the novel is narrated largely through Internet postings–eluded (or “evaded”) the reviewer. It’s actually an artful effect, not at all overdone, that apart from its verisimilitude calls attention to the materiality and unreliability of the text.
By the way, the novel was eight years in the making and therefore conceived at a time when the elaborate Internet culture it captures so well didn’t even exist yet.
As for recommendations, do you know Robbe-Grillet’s “The Voyeur”?
This is one of my favorite novels. There’s funny one-star review of it on Amazon that starts out:
“To begin with, there are weird editorial errors throughout. Either no one bothered to review and correct the errors, or it’s some kind of literary gimmick that evades me. Either way, it’s distracting and annoying.”
Somehow the obvious explanation for these occasional typos–that the novel is narrated largely through Internet postings–eluded (or “evaded”) the reviewer. It’s actually an artful effect, not at all overdone, that apart from its verisimilitude calls attention to the materiality and unreliability of the text.
By the way, the novel was eight years in the making and therefore conceived at a time when the elaborate Internet culture it captures so well didn’t even exist yet.
As for recommendations, do you know Robbe-Grillet’s “The Voyeur”?
This is one of my favorite novels. There’s funny one-star review of it on Amazon that starts out:
“To begin with, there are weird editorial errors throughout. Either no one bothered to review and correct the errors, or it’s some kind of literary gimmick that evades me. Either way, it’s distracting and annoying.”
Somehow the obvious explanation for these occasional typos–that the novel is narrated largely through Internet postings–eluded (or “evaded”) the reviewer. It’s actually an artful effect, not at all overdone, that apart from its verisimilitude calls attention to the materiality and unreliability of the text.
By the way, the novel was eight years in the making and therefore conceived at a time when the elaborate Internet culture it captures so well didn’t even exist yet.
As for recommendations, do you know Robbe-Grillet’s “The Voyeur”?
hi alan,
the typos, i agree, made it even more correct, and in several instances had a doubling effect. not overdone at all, really nice, and correct. the way he shifted voices too between the various authors within threads was amazing.
i haven’t read The Voyeur, its been on my list for a long time tho, it affects in this way?
hi alan,
the typos, i agree, made it even more correct, and in several instances had a doubling effect. not overdone at all, really nice, and correct. the way he shifted voices too between the various authors within threads was amazing.
i haven’t read The Voyeur, its been on my list for a long time tho, it affects in this way?
Yeah, the voice shifts are beautifully done. He says he studied oral histories like “Please Kill Me” to figure out how to do that.
“The Voyeur” would be a good follow-up, I think. It’s hypnotic and has a similar “what the fuck is going on here, if anything?” kind of fascination. RG is a big hero of DC’s, as you know.
Can I turn the question around, Blake, and ask if “The Sluts” reminded you of anything you’ve read previously?
Yeah, the voice shifts are beautifully done. He says he studied oral histories like “Please Kill Me” to figure out how to do that.
“The Voyeur” would be a good follow-up, I think. It’s hypnotic and has a similar “what the fuck is going on here, if anything?” kind of fascination. RG is a big hero of DC’s, as you know.
Can I turn the question around, Blake, and ask if “The Sluts” reminded you of anything you’ve read previously?
Yeah, The Sluts — great book. And quite a departure, too. With most of Cooper’s novels, for me they generate their energy through the juxtaposition of relatively flat sections that contradict and complicate each other (flat in terms of narrative movement more than voice, though of course Dennis is famous for exploiting uninflected, detached speech) whereas this one has a recursive, circular, self-correcting structure that keeps turning inward. Which aligns it — to a point, anyway — with Bernhard, The Underground Man, Beckett, the last Kafka stories, etc. And I love those books so much, which explains in part why The Sluts is my fave Cooper book.
Curious what you thought of the ending. Are we supposed to take that final explanation at face value?
Recent visceral read: Dalkey Archive published Rilke’s novel, Notebooks of Brigge. I had never heard of it or even knew Rilke wrote a novel until I bought it randomly a couple months ago. One of those books where yr like: “Every page. Fuck.” Killed me.
Yeah, The Sluts — great book. And quite a departure, too. With most of Cooper’s novels, for me they generate their energy through the juxtaposition of relatively flat sections that contradict and complicate each other (flat in terms of narrative movement more than voice, though of course Dennis is famous for exploiting uninflected, detached speech) whereas this one has a recursive, circular, self-correcting structure that keeps turning inward. Which aligns it — to a point, anyway — with Bernhard, The Underground Man, Beckett, the last Kafka stories, etc. And I love those books so much, which explains in part why The Sluts is my fave Cooper book.
Curious what you thought of the ending. Are we supposed to take that final explanation at face value?
Recent visceral read: Dalkey Archive published Rilke’s novel, Notebooks of Brigge. I had never heard of it or even knew Rilke wrote a novel until I bought it randomly a couple months ago. One of those books where yr like: “Every page. Fuck.” Killed me.
Rilke wrote a novel??? Thanks for sharing that info Mark- gonna have to get it-
Dalkey has a relatively recent edition, I think. I’ve seen them in piles at The Strand.
Dalkey has a relatively recent edition, I think. I’ve seen them in piles at The Strand.
I’m in total agreement about what an awesome book The Sluts is. I’ll also second Alan’s shout out about The Voyeur, another astonishing book. In terms of books that made me physically tense whilst reading, actually end up gripping the book and feeling my shoulders go all tight just through sheer visceral nastiness, I dunno, Cows by Matthew Stokoe sprung straight to my mind; don’t know if you’ve read that?
I’m in total agreement about what an awesome book The Sluts is. I’ll also second Alan’s shout out about The Voyeur, another astonishing book. In terms of books that made me physically tense whilst reading, actually end up gripping the book and feeling my shoulders go all tight just through sheer visceral nastiness, I dunno, Cows by Matthew Stokoe sprung straight to my mind; don’t know if you’ve read that?
excellent, yes. i am buying this now, it’s been on my amazon wish list for about 4 years. of robbe grillet, Jealousy is one that I will never forget, the way he handles paranoia as an object by describing the lines and colors of the house kills me.
as far as other things that commanded a similar kind of response, i can think of a few, if in a very different way than with DC.
most anything of brian evenson’s has had a pretty incredible effect on me, physically and mentally, particularly the stories in ‘the wavering knife’ (‘the installation’ is probably closest in feel to the Sluts) and ‘the open curtain.’ both just destroy on psychic levels that few can. how he handles the senses particularly in TOC is beyond belief at times.
christine schutt’s story ‘the blood jet’ in her collection ‘a day, a night, another day, summer’ is one of the sickest gut punches i can remember, in a totally different kind of way.
also, ‘magnetic field(s)’ by ron loewinsohn, ‘europeana’ by patrik ourednik, and ‘in the blind’ by eugene marten: each of these contain that weird black energy that seems to move around you as you read.
great great, yes please, more. :)
excellent, yes. i am buying this now, it’s been on my amazon wish list for about 4 years. of robbe grillet, Jealousy is one that I will never forget, the way he handles paranoia as an object by describing the lines and colors of the house kills me.
as far as other things that commanded a similar kind of response, i can think of a few, if in a very different way than with DC.
most anything of brian evenson’s has had a pretty incredible effect on me, physically and mentally, particularly the stories in ‘the wavering knife’ (‘the installation’ is probably closest in feel to the Sluts) and ‘the open curtain.’ both just destroy on psychic levels that few can. how he handles the senses particularly in TOC is beyond belief at times.
christine schutt’s story ‘the blood jet’ in her collection ‘a day, a night, another day, summer’ is one of the sickest gut punches i can remember, in a totally different kind of way.
also, ‘magnetic field(s)’ by ron loewinsohn, ‘europeana’ by patrik ourednik, and ‘in the blind’ by eugene marten: each of these contain that weird black energy that seems to move around you as you read.
great great, yes please, more. :)
the ending passage struck me strange at first, like a summation, but then it immediately seemed to turn in on itself again:
::SPOILER ALERT ::
because clearly the last passage could be interpreted as a ‘neat little package ending’ to the book, and thus fucking it up, and also because we know DC is way too smart to let that be the case, i took the last section as the final fucked spin of the wheel. in the section before we see the Zach character being found dead, etc., and then the letter is posted by the webmaster clearing him, saying ‘this was all a hoax, i’m sorry, etc’ but given the tone of the webmaster in previous section (wanting to fix things, make good), i took it as a cover up move, on webmaster’s part, or on a higher power’s part, trying to subvert the whole book by rolling it back, which in contex, rolls the book forward again. the fact that it seems tidy on its face and yet with further contemplation calls these questions out seems to me to open the book up even further, and therein skews the whole trajectory of it again, so that in ending you really have no idea who controlled what information, and etc.
loved that the ending made me do that double take, i actually laughed aloud at how smart on top of smart it is while getting into the shower & thinking about it immediately after reading.
more thoughts?
the ending passage struck me strange at first, like a summation, but then it immediately seemed to turn in on itself again:
::SPOILER ALERT ::
because clearly the last passage could be interpreted as a ‘neat little package ending’ to the book, and thus fucking it up, and also because we know DC is way too smart to let that be the case, i took the last section as the final fucked spin of the wheel. in the section before we see the Zach character being found dead, etc., and then the letter is posted by the webmaster clearing him, saying ‘this was all a hoax, i’m sorry, etc’ but given the tone of the webmaster in previous section (wanting to fix things, make good), i took it as a cover up move, on webmaster’s part, or on a higher power’s part, trying to subvert the whole book by rolling it back, which in contex, rolls the book forward again. the fact that it seems tidy on its face and yet with further contemplation calls these questions out seems to me to open the book up even further, and therein skews the whole trajectory of it again, so that in ending you really have no idea who controlled what information, and etc.
loved that the ending made me do that double take, i actually laughed aloud at how smart on top of smart it is while getting into the shower & thinking about it immediately after reading.
more thoughts?
Cows sounds amazing, is $49 on amazon used. shitt. need to find this.
Cows sounds amazing, is $49 on amazon used. shitt. need to find this.
I just picked up a new book by Larry Fondation. It’s like the L.A. straight man’s version of Cooper or something like that. It’s pretty visceral and good.
I just picked up a new book by Larry Fondation. It’s like the L.A. straight man’s version of Cooper or something like that. It’s pretty visceral and good.
Good point about the webmaster’s character — what you said sounds right to me.
Certainly the ending was vexing to me both times I read the book. One part of my brain was like, did they MAKE him tack this on? and then another part was like, no, of course it’s part of the game.
And here let me sidebar: I’ve never really bought the argument that the psychologist’s lame explanation at the end of Psycho is a meta-commentary about bad movie critics who try to “explain” Hitchcock’s pictures. That’s just rationalization after the fact, and pretty dull, too, now that it’s common currency, though I’m sure it was cool when whatever academic first came up with it came up with it.
I don’t know if Psycho is actually a direct influence here — plenty of other related touchstones. Point being, Dennis is writing a million years after Psycho (and related touchstones), and knows all of this as well as anyone. Dennis knows that in this book, a “closed” ending that explains everything would be ridiculous and out of place — the form demands an “open” ending. So he goes for the closed ending, precisely to subvert things, which forces yr brain to do the sort of “double take” that you mention, and jump up at least two meta-levels, to consider why the fuck is he doing this, and then to basically think through all these sorts of issues — which is funny, off-putting, ballsy, and very smart.
This doesn’t change the fact that a book which is beautiful and unsettling and moving has an ending that annoys me.
The fact that I want the open ending, and dislike getting flicked in the forehead and annoyed by the last chapter, just proves how deep my bourgeous love of pretty things and emotional catharsis is. Which is part of Dennis’ point.
And: the fact that you can rack up so many levels of meta so fast, including this one commenting on that fact, will bring you in short order to just the sort of recursive circular track in your brain that the book itself formally embodied for all but the last three pages.
— which is totally crazymaking.
This is really hard to get my mind around, actually — I feel like it’s pretty simple, but when I actually try to write out what is happening, it’s like I’m doing fucking high level math. Paradoxes of set theory, mysteries of the infinite, sluts w/o end, sluts, sluts, sluts.
Good point about the webmaster’s character — what you said sounds right to me.
Certainly the ending was vexing to me both times I read the book. One part of my brain was like, did they MAKE him tack this on? and then another part was like, no, of course it’s part of the game.
And here let me sidebar: I’ve never really bought the argument that the psychologist’s lame explanation at the end of Psycho is a meta-commentary about bad movie critics who try to “explain” Hitchcock’s pictures. That’s just rationalization after the fact, and pretty dull, too, now that it’s common currency, though I’m sure it was cool when whatever academic first came up with it came up with it.
I don’t know if Psycho is actually a direct influence here — plenty of other related touchstones. Point being, Dennis is writing a million years after Psycho (and related touchstones), and knows all of this as well as anyone. Dennis knows that in this book, a “closed” ending that explains everything would be ridiculous and out of place — the form demands an “open” ending. So he goes for the closed ending, precisely to subvert things, which forces yr brain to do the sort of “double take” that you mention, and jump up at least two meta-levels, to consider why the fuck is he doing this, and then to basically think through all these sorts of issues — which is funny, off-putting, ballsy, and very smart.
This doesn’t change the fact that a book which is beautiful and unsettling and moving has an ending that annoys me.
The fact that I want the open ending, and dislike getting flicked in the forehead and annoyed by the last chapter, just proves how deep my bourgeous love of pretty things and emotional catharsis is. Which is part of Dennis’ point.
And: the fact that you can rack up so many levels of meta so fast, including this one commenting on that fact, will bring you in short order to just the sort of recursive circular track in your brain that the book itself formally embodied for all but the last three pages.
— which is totally crazymaking.
This is really hard to get my mind around, actually — I feel like it’s pretty simple, but when I actually try to write out what is happening, it’s like I’m doing fucking high level math. Paradoxes of set theory, mysteries of the infinite, sluts w/o end, sluts, sluts, sluts.
ha, yes. this is a good layout of the thought process that i think it causes, and i think it particularly works here (and more so than the Psycho thing, which does seem bullshit), because the whole book is pretty much a series of theories and refutations (whereas in Psycho the ending truly is tacked on out of the blue). i can quickly imagine the book continuing from that last chapter, with someone questioning the letter writer’s identity, or otherwise commenting, continuing that daisy chain even further, into what would be, most likely, a whole other book. so the ground that the book lays before that simple-seeming-tricky-seeming-simple ending kind of allows me, in my reading, to accept that it really is what is meant. it’s fun either way.
and yes, sluts sluts sluts
ha, yes. this is a good layout of the thought process that i think it causes, and i think it particularly works here (and more so than the Psycho thing, which does seem bullshit), because the whole book is pretty much a series of theories and refutations (whereas in Psycho the ending truly is tacked on out of the blue). i can quickly imagine the book continuing from that last chapter, with someone questioning the letter writer’s identity, or otherwise commenting, continuing that daisy chain even further, into what would be, most likely, a whole other book. so the ground that the book lays before that simple-seeming-tricky-seeming-simple ending kind of allows me, in my reading, to accept that it really is what is meant. it’s fun either way.
and yes, sluts sluts sluts
You can get it (Cows) at Creation Books for a lot less–Peter Sotos, too.
You can get it (Cows) at Creation Books for a lot less–Peter Sotos, too.
isnt creation kaput?
isnt creation kaput?
I agree with everything you have said about The Sluts.
I found it was like watching a Hitchcock movie, it builds and is fuelled by it own momentum and the readers ability to deal with the matter.
I love your site btw, so thanks for all the hard work you put into it
Nick
I agree with everything you have said about The Sluts.
I found it was like watching a Hitchcock movie, it builds and is fuelled by it own momentum and the readers ability to deal with the matter.
I love your site btw, so thanks for all the hard work you put into it
Nick
Blake, some books that go for the guts and do surgery there: pretty much anything by Peter Sotos: if it’s your first outing, his collected works are now available in three volumes through creation books; Pierre Guyotat, eden, eden, eden & tomb of 100,000 soliders, both are landmines in the brainfield; Samuel Delany’s hogg (obvious but indispensable); Bataille, Story of the Eye (same deal as Hogg); Gary Indiana, Gone Tomorrow; Annie Ernaux, Cleaned Out; those are the ones that occur to me straight off that haven’t been mentioned. Also, if visceral can be taken in other ways, I recommend Dodie Bellamy, The Letters of Mina Harker, like a tongue of language wrapping around you; Agota Kristof, The Notebook / The Proof / The Third Lie; Matthew Stadler, The Sex Offender; books books books.
Blake, some books that go for the guts and do surgery there: pretty much anything by Peter Sotos: if it’s your first outing, his collected works are now available in three volumes through creation books; Pierre Guyotat, eden, eden, eden & tomb of 100,000 soliders, both are landmines in the brainfield; Samuel Delany’s hogg (obvious but indispensable); Bataille, Story of the Eye (same deal as Hogg); Gary Indiana, Gone Tomorrow; Annie Ernaux, Cleaned Out; those are the ones that occur to me straight off that haven’t been mentioned. Also, if visceral can be taken in other ways, I recommend Dodie Bellamy, The Letters of Mina Harker, like a tongue of language wrapping around you; Agota Kristof, The Notebook / The Proof / The Third Lie; Matthew Stadler, The Sex Offender; books books books.
that is a great list David. thank you. i have read several of them, the Bataille and Delany, Bellamy, but several others are new. much appreciated.
according to the Creation Books website they are out of business, and I don’t see a good order method on their site… any idea on how to do that, besides amazon?
that is a great list David. thank you. i have read several of them, the Bataille and Delany, Bellamy, but several others are new. much appreciated.
according to the Creation Books website they are out of business, and I don’t see a good order method on their site… any idea on how to do that, besides amazon?
Blake, Is Creation kaput? I know it has that 1989-2009 banner on its homepage but I think that’s to mark its twentieth year, though it does look like an RIP. Other than that I couldn’t find anything on there that says that they’ve wrapped up their operations but maybe I missed something? I haven’t ordered anything from them in a bit but I did place an order earlier this year, which was fine. At any rate, the third volume of Sotos’ collected works is marked as being available from August 1 2009 for the hardcover, September 1 for the paperback. So, if you really wanted to be sure before you placed your order, take a look at the page now, then check back later, and if it’s all on the up and up, it should probably sometime soon have a new announcement saying IN STOCK NOW. If that fails, unfortunately, because Sotos is all limited editions. there isn’t many great (inexpensive) ways to get him. If you’d like, I’d be happy to send you xeroxs of the ones I have if worse came to worst. But keep an eye out on Creation, I don’t think it’s dead.
Blake, Is Creation kaput? I know it has that 1989-2009 banner on its homepage but I think that’s to mark its twentieth year, though it does look like an RIP. Other than that I couldn’t find anything on there that says that they’ve wrapped up their operations but maybe I missed something? I haven’t ordered anything from them in a bit but I did place an order earlier this year, which was fine. At any rate, the third volume of Sotos’ collected works is marked as being available from August 1 2009 for the hardcover, September 1 for the paperback. So, if you really wanted to be sure before you placed your order, take a look at the page now, then check back later, and if it’s all on the up and up, it should probably sometime soon have a new announcement saying IN STOCK NOW. If that fails, unfortunately, because Sotos is all limited editions. there isn’t many great (inexpensive) ways to get him. If you’d like, I’d be happy to send you xeroxs of the ones I have if worse came to worst. But keep an eye out on Creation, I don’t think it’s dead.
Great post on The Sluts. When I read it (The Sluts) the first time, I was so…. well, you know how it affects you. And, for me, it was the same reaction the second time I read it.
I don’t think Creation is dead. I’ve ordered all the Sotos collections and they are great. Especially if you get the hardbacks and the supplementary texts that come with them.
I can’t really think of too many books that have affected me in such a visceral way. But some of Sotos’s books (especially “Tool”) were so vicious that I was shaking as I read them. Dennis’s “Frisk” really floored me when I first read it. And when i was younger, “The 120 Days of Sodom” made me feel as though I had discovered something truly evil. In fact, it more or less changed my life (in the sense of how I look at literature).
I’m reading Bellamy’s “Letters..” right now and…wow, what a great book!
Great post on The Sluts. When I read it (The Sluts) the first time, I was so…. well, you know how it affects you. And, for me, it was the same reaction the second time I read it.
I don’t think Creation is dead. I’ve ordered all the Sotos collections and they are great. Especially if you get the hardbacks and the supplementary texts that come with them.
I can’t really think of too many books that have affected me in such a visceral way. But some of Sotos’s books (especially “Tool”) were so vicious that I was shaking as I read them. Dennis’s “Frisk” really floored me when I first read it. And when i was younger, “The 120 Days of Sodom” made me feel as though I had discovered something truly evil. In fact, it more or less changed my life (in the sense of how I look at literature).
I’m reading Bellamy’s “Letters..” right now and…wow, what a great book!
Oh, David, I love your list. All of those books are great.
Oh, David, I love your list. All of those books are great.
[…] The Sluts by Dennis Cooper [I wrote about this book a lot this year, beginning here.] […]
i read all of DC’s books way too close together, i think, and missed out on a lot. going to reread the sluts. i always forget i have it, since it’s hiding behind the freud action figure on my book case (back living with parents ugh). great post, i’m glad it was randomly on the popular sidebar because i never would have discovered it otherwise.
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