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Title: Are you Loathsome Tonight?
Author: Poppy Z. Brite
Published: Springfield: Gauntlet Publications, 2000
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 110,701
Text Number: 319
Read Because: fan of the author, purchased used at Powells
Review: In twelve stories, Brite explores the darkest recesses of the human id, its erotic and violent drives, its deepest motivations. Reading Brite is often like reading fanfiction in the best, and most essential, sense: her writing is so id-motivated that it's the purest sort of wish-fulfillment—not despite, but rather because of, its lingering and loving gruesome detail. It's about death and drugs and feces; it's about what those conjure and where they originate, for characters but more often for reader and writer. Are You Loathsome Tonight? is that in a condensed form, with bonus cameos from characters in Brite's novels, and so it literally reads as Brite fanfic—of, for, and by the author. This sort of distilled, grotesque indulgence will suit few tastes; nor is it Brite's best. The collection becomes almost masturbatory, which suits its theme but is nonetheless excessive. Some stories are obviously driven by premise or a certain literary experiment, and the effect is too transparent—they'd be better suited to the themed anthologies that prompted them, or to a workbook.
But no matter its flaws, Loathsome never fails to be engaging—and for the right sort of reader, its willingness to push and destroy every boundary can make it a success. "In Vermis Veritas" is brief but brilliantly on point, the consummate opener; "Saved" is my favorite story of the collection, surpassing all others with its grasp of theme and proclivity towards excess. In such a short and compelling volume, the standout selections make the whole work well worthwhile. As a Brite fan, I feel privileged to have stumbled upon this collection; I imagine that other fans may also enjoy this distillaition, albeit exaggeration, of Brite's work. New readers will get a strong taste of Brite from Loathsome, but her novels may be a better starting place on account of their sustain, refinement, and accessibility. On the whole, however, I enjoyed and recommend it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
Author: Poppy Z. Brite
Published: Springfield: Gauntlet Publications, 2000
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 185
Total Page Count: 110,701
Text Number: 319
Read Because: fan of the author, purchased used at Powells
Review: In twelve stories, Brite explores the darkest recesses of the human id, its erotic and violent drives, its deepest motivations. Reading Brite is often like reading fanfiction in the best, and most essential, sense: her writing is so id-motivated that it's the purest sort of wish-fulfillment—not despite, but rather because of, its lingering and loving gruesome detail. It's about death and drugs and feces; it's about what those conjure and where they originate, for characters but more often for reader and writer. Are You Loathsome Tonight? is that in a condensed form, with bonus cameos from characters in Brite's novels, and so it literally reads as Brite fanfic—of, for, and by the author. This sort of distilled, grotesque indulgence will suit few tastes; nor is it Brite's best. The collection becomes almost masturbatory, which suits its theme but is nonetheless excessive. Some stories are obviously driven by premise or a certain literary experiment, and the effect is too transparent—they'd be better suited to the themed anthologies that prompted them, or to a workbook.
But no matter its flaws, Loathsome never fails to be engaging—and for the right sort of reader, its willingness to push and destroy every boundary can make it a success. "In Vermis Veritas" is brief but brilliantly on point, the consummate opener; "Saved" is my favorite story of the collection, surpassing all others with its grasp of theme and proclivity towards excess. In such a short and compelling volume, the standout selections make the whole work well worthwhile. As a Brite fan, I feel privileged to have stumbled upon this collection; I imagine that other fans may also enjoy this distillaition, albeit exaggeration, of Brite's work. New readers will get a strong taste of Brite from Loathsome, but her novels may be a better starting place on account of their sustain, refinement, and accessibility. On the whole, however, I enjoyed and recommend it.
Review posted here on Amazon.com.
