Customer Reviews

Doc and Fluff: The Distopian Tale of a Girl and Her Biker

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have read this book at least 8 times, usually around the winter soltice. I find it invigorating, for - even though the title labels it a dystopia - it lays bare the essence of our human experience right now: how to make the best of what we have. Many dystopias leave you depressed, but even though this book is set in a future where the society, and the land, are in much worse shape than we see it now, everyone is doing their part to follow what they find important. For some it is a spirituality based on the earth's cycles and basic physical reality, for others it is following their hedonistic desires and satisfying those of others. These two groups are the main ones in the book, and Califia's immediacy of style make it seem like she's been there and is sharing with you what she saw and heard. Also, because the main topic is human relationships and how they are just or unjust, the setting is peripheral. This is a novel of human karma, instant karma, set against the background of deities. But the human volitions reflect the cycles of nature, and for me this book is so satisfying because it brings the scope of birth, struggle, pleasure, sacrifice, and death into immediate and intimate perspective thru the interactions of the characters.

I'm getting a little heady here because it's pointless to describe any details in such a small space. Every time I reread Doc & Fluff I feel like my battery has been recharged, that I can continue my life, with all its small and large problems, powered by the knowledge that it all does count towards something. And this keeps me coming back.

when i'm trying to describe this book to a friend, i usually end up saying something like, "all the sex is violent, and all the violence is sexy." which isn't, strictly speaking, true. some of the situations that Doc and Fluff encounter as they bike around their devastated world are truly horrifying... but none of it without reason. in a few places Califia's politics show through, as in the case of the all-female Harpy Farm, where transsexuals are treated (unfairly, Califia clearly believes) as less than the "real" women. overall, though, the story is about two women trying to make a relationship work when they both have unusual demands to make and no experience in keeping their lovers with them. on the way, other characters struggle with the same issues, there is lots of (frequently kinky) sex, and issues of violence and retribution are played out in the near-anarchy of Califia's world. nobody comes out of the book entirely wrong, and nobody plays the part of perfect romance hero(ine). when someone goes riding off into the sunset, you know she's going to have more trouble wherever she goes. but you also believe she'll be able to handle it. definitely not for the faint of heart.

Who would have thought that such a fast-moving, action-packed story could have so much else to offer as well. This one delves into the intricacies of relationships, provides an often satirical, but also a compassionate and understanding view of the politics in a lesbian-feminist community, and shares a spirituality related to the goddess.

While the politics and philosophy and raunchy sexual encounters are always there, the novel never loses sight of it's down-to-earth humanity.

This book provided me with a very different perspective, one that I had yet to be exposed to in our paternalistic society. The concept of an all female society, where women do it all and some girls go most of their childhoods without even seeing a male. Although the society in this work of fiction has it's problems, as it certainly would if it were a reality, it's an interesting concept all the same. I found it helpful in getting me to think in some different ways. The sex and violence were disturbing, but an essential part of the story, this book is not for the feint at heart or easily offended. Creative, memorable, and well worth reading! -Sharice Lee Author: The Survivor's Guide-

This is the first book I have read by Pat, and I highly enjoyed this real to life, un sugar coated telling of a believable fictional tale. Its rough and real! Pat really knows how to talk HARD and keep it relavent to the story line. The charaters she describes are varied and equally reflect their knowledge from graduating from their own schools of hard knocks. Its a hard world they live in however they continue to survive, love, and prosper even in the mose dire of sercumstances!!!

Doc and Fluff is a very enjoyable read. If you are offended by violence and goddess spirituality then do not pick up this book. If you are looking for an exciting fictional tale full of sex, interesting characters, Harley motorcycles, adventure and a love story between two women, then you must read this book. This is a story mainly of Doc, an old fashion Dyke and her girlfriend Fluff, that hooks for a living. Both go on a wild ride adventure and both are changed in a postive way at the end of the tale. Pick up this book and pass it along to a friend.

Doc and Fluff is an amazing book. I love the fact that at last in Pat Califia we have a woman who believes in the strength of women, spirituality of women writing a strong novel about survival. Doc & Fluff is set in a rather nasty future USA and features the activities of the Hell's Angels and women inhabiting a communal Dyke farm. It is very satisfying, the bad guys get done, really nastily and interesting things happen to Doc and Fluff who hoon through all this on a big bike.

Read the introduction AFTER you read the novel, unless you don't mind being told how the story will turn out. Besides, the introduction may leave you with the incorrect feeling that Pat is a militant "man-hater".

I loved the book enough to recommend it to non-scene readers.

I like to think I have an open mind about anything and sometimes that's a dangerous thing because some of us who truly believe we are open are in fact the most closed. All that withstanding on just the merits of a good storyline the book is mediocre. It's disjointed style makes it hard to stay interested. The main character of Doc is not given a soul for which we (the reader) should care about until the last few pages. Kind of late isn't it? Also Fluff, for all her bad and good virtures, miraculously becomes some sort of Angel that Doc just doesn't appreciate. Well I didn't appreciate the character switch. All the sex is violent so if you like that sort of thing have at it but to be honest I was expecting more than the few scenes doled out by Pat. I'll tell you that the sex was the least of this book's problems. If you just like futuristic hooey with a twist then read this book.