Customer Reviews

Erotomania: A Romance

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
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I can only imagine the spam I'm going to get from this review, but here goes. This is not a family-friendly book, so please, make sure the kids are away from the screen!

The basic summary of the book is that two people, who are the perfect sexual match for each other, meet randomly and start doing it. All they're interested in is having sex - the male main character, Jim, often can't even remember what this woman looks like and certainly doesn't know her name. Nor does he seem to care for a while, all he wants is more. As time goes on, he realizes that this is unhealthy and he seeks to know her name, her face, and eventually she kicks her boyfriend out and they move in together, attempting to form a relationship. The relationship is similarly unhealthy, and they go to see a counselor. Meanwhile, they begin to develop other interests, like television, food, and exercise, in the end becoming what appears to be a parody of a modern couple - one is overweight, the other exercises constantly, and they both are obsessed with television.

The idea behind Erotomania is tracking a couple through development. They begin as "animals". After all, the purpose of an animal's life is to stay alive and procreate. They eat takeout almost exclusively, because animals don't cook and forage for food. When they learn each other's names and move in together, they've transcended the animal phase, but they still mainly eat takeout and attempt procreation. Luckily, no children ever result from this union. Then the book starts in on the stereotypes as they become more "human". They go to a therapist who is obsessed with his own diagnoses and pays little attention to their actual problems. They discover microwave cooking when Jim's best gay friend, a chef, leaves them to find their own food. They discover television, which quickly consumes their leisure time. They even discover art, albeit in a way I'd never have expected.

The strangest part, perhaps, is that buried in all the sex and stereotypes, I could actually tell that the couple loved each other by the end. The book's subtitle is "a romance" and Erotomania pulls it off. I never expected it to. It's a completely different approach and utterly unlike anything I've ever read before. In all honesty, I was definitely bothered by the frequent swear words and the sex that pervades the entire book - it's not my choice of reading material. I'm still glad I did, though, as it certainly expanded my horizons. There's no denying that it's interesting, and for someone who is interested in experimental literature, I'd recommend it.

This is a wild one. Never knew that total self-obsession, sexual and emotional dysfunctionality could be so funny. There's an s and m scene where our hero commands his woman to say "pollock is synchronistic" in the middle of their sexual encounter. The narrator is a psychological mess, the action is not always clear or logical, I sometimes lost track of who's who, but in the end this is a delightful sexual picaresque inside a spiritual quest. I found it exasperating but also provocative, entertaining, even, at times, touching. I'm sending copies to my sicker friends, definitely recommended.

Think--if you can--of Charles Bukowski crossed with Harold Bloom, with a dollop of Sartre thrown in. That's Erotomania. Though it drips with explicit sexual detail, it is not pornographic. It is rather a serious if hilarious investigation of ways we keep from becoming close--and how we might ultimately learn to find love. Searching for a perfect f**k may sound banal in today's world, but in Levy's hands it often becomes transcendent. When his heroine can only achieve arousal in front of abstract expressionist paintings the book also becomes a way to explore the complexity of our relationship to art. I'm not joking, though in many ways Levy is. This is a funny book. At other times sex is only satisfying when the Chinese food delivery man is watching. But no matter. For Levy, art, literature, and the mind matter above all, despite appearances to the contrary. In the midst of an account of a sexual marathon he may recall Flaubert, eloquently. Perhaps the book ought best be seen as a psychoanalytic examination of a mind that reflexively dwells on sex but is actually obsessed by intellectual fulfillment and human connectedness. It is a weird and unexpected combination, but it works. And after all, isn't our modern culture obsessed with sex above all? Among the most original novels I have ever read.

Francis Levy's novel of obsession and addiction offers a philosophical gander into a culture of excess. While Erotomania is the incredibly amusing story of a pair of sex addicts, drawn together on the unspoken condition of anonymity, it is also a study of neurotic consumerism, whether that consumption is of food or sexual contact.

Levy's narrator, James, begins his torrid affair with the idea that detachment is key to maintaining coital bliss with his boyish blonde lover. The affair remains equally satisfying until separation drives James to near delirium. In a heightened degree of sensuality, he searches an unfamiliar city for the face he cannot remember, the voice that skirts the edges of his memory.

When he returns home and reunites with the fleeting nymph of his imagination, he realizes detachment no longer alleviates his desire. He must make connections with his lover. He must know her name, her history. Personality must come to play in the relationship because he's moved beyond the need to satiate primal instincts. He's transitioning into commitment, but their connection fails to move beyond sexual frenzy.

The two develop a lifestyle focused solely on intercourse. They have no interest in hobbies and prefer to order in Chinese so they do not have to leave their apartment. The threat of a lawsuit and raised insurance premiums after the couple's activities burst a few water bed mattresses and floorboards is the only reason the two have a chance at moving beyond their explosive addiction to sex.

Levy's characters casually toss the concept of incest around. Both James and Monica admit to being abused, but they don't seem to harbor any shame in it. Instead, they constantly work at filling an emotional chasm through one compulsion or another. When they're finally able to move beyond sexual fetishes, they launch directly into new addictions. Levy never analyzes the couple's propensity for addiction; he simply lays out the events. As the narrator, James acknowledges their compulsions, but never recognizes the patterns.

A quote highlighted at the opening of the book indicates that there were no problems or conflict when the two left identity by the wayside, but I disagree. In the relationship's infancy, James nearly goes insane with desire for Monica, despite the fact that he does not even know her name. The only time the two seem to have genuine conflict is when they're being forced to deny their urges. As long as they can revel in excess, they're perfectly content.

Erotomania is a sound piece of literary fiction, and quite unique in its own rite. It's funny and romantic, and at the same time deeply disturbing and poignant. Levy's dysfunctional couple carves out a brand new niche in literature. Readers in need of an alternative story line will be thoroughly satisfied.

The book is a deep think, and I was emotionally moved by the transformation from beginning to middle to the very, very, very sweet and understanding ending. The voice in the text and its sharp intellect (trapped in the maelstrom that is all humanity's fruitless pursuit of the truth) were front and center. The writer keeps things on the fast track with bolts of arresting thought. This is an original book and I suspect it will develop a life of its own. When I finished reading, I felt blessed to have been led to a discovery of love--physical and non-.

Obsession is something that strikes everyone at least once in their life, and that obsession is usually someone they believe to be 'The One'. A compelling and original novel by Francis Levy, "Erotomania" follows James as enjoys one fantastic night with the one he believes to be it, Monica. An experience of Amnesia afterwards though, does not strip James of his fanatical obsession with her. Not knowing why or even who she is, "Erotomania" is an exploration into the human psyche of eroticism and love in a way that hasn't quite been done the same before. An exceptional and deftly written novel from beginning to end.

Levy's book is a hit! It's one of those rare 'what-you-see-is-other-than-what-you-get' narratives that forces you to look at several levels of feeling simultaneously (your own, the characters', and the author's). Smart and intriguing, it enriches the meaning of the word 'desire'! Erotomania: A Romance

It was engrossing. The author manisfested and intended visions that allowed me to go beyond my range of thoughts. He powerfully gave me the sight, smell, and taste of the sexual, intellectual, and emotional desires he brilliantly describes.

Erotomania is a difficult book and not an easy read, but worth every minute spent reading it.
> The main difficulty for me originally was related to the non erotic sexual
> language which felt a bit unrelenting, until i began to recognize that under
> and around the blatant sexual stuff there lied much deeper truths and i am
> not talking about all the references to philosophy, movies, literature etc.,
> but about the nature of sexuality; the effect of arousal on the mind and on
> the conscience; the adolescent nature of early sexuality and its intense
> ambivalence and egoism; followed by the less ambivalent mature love (
> beautifully described yet using grotesque imagery); the questions about
> advances of civilization; questions about where is paradise in the garden of
> eden or outside it which relates to your comment about the book being about
> the development of consciousness; the development of morality etc.
> the book is a real tour de force, because it is serious and funny, superficial
> and deep, irritating and fulfilling. it is about deeper truths and honesty.
> one feels very touched by the time one has finished it.
> bravo, it is for those who read it carefully, a real gem and not one you
> forget once you have finished it

Most of what is mentioned in the rest of these reviews was there for me in Levy's Erotomania, but also most of what everyone here seems to be saying is pretty superficial. The reviews are all focused on the same thing: premise. Which is brilliant and fascinating. The ideas and situations presented in the book are definitely intriguing. And the process and development of the story remained interesting, but there were quite a lot of problems for me.

Levy's delivery is often weak and unclear. His narrator is either strangely unreliable or his research is poor. He recalls seeing a nature show in which a hyena attacked a kangaroo. However, those animals never interact in nature. No hyenas in Australia. No kangaroos anywhere else. Just an example, but there are many more like that. So, the question is, why is the narrator so hazy? It's never addressed. His father is never mentioned in the story, but he talks often of his mother, including describing sexual encounters he had with her, without any reflection upon them or their impact on him whatsoever... So, I was wondering if perhaps he was confusing himself with his father at times?

It makes sense, considering the supposed age of the main character, which is never said. However, he does reveal (and revel) in an experience that took place when he was in high school, which also coincided with the JFK assassination. That would make him, if the story takes place at the time of the copyright (2007), approximately sixty years old (same as the author). However, the narrative reads with the sort of immaturity and lack of perspective of a protagonist half that age. Furthermore, the setting is cloudy at best, with mentions of telephone directories, home phones, and a total absence of internet or text messaging, which suggests that this book was actually written or possibly is meant to take place at least, more like the late 1990s.

Still, that is certainly a lot of sex for a man of fifty to be having (several times a day, endlessly), and also, no mention of viagra. The narrator does at one point say, "I'm not a young man," or something to that effect. But anyone over thirty could say this depending on the situation. The protagonist in The Natural was considered retirement age at thirty-six, after all.

Sure, there are times when I questioned Jim's motives, but that's okay. What's really missing here is character. There is much of a sense of Monica, as being a person with a destructive, yet alluring addictive personality. Key details of character like age and location would have made this story much richer for me. Generic American town? Okay, but that just seemed like laziness to me here.

There is just so much inconsistency and inaccuracy in the narrative, but paired along with such an interesting coupling, that I finished the book almost just to see if the character traits I was looking for would be revealed. Nope. The graphic depictions of unusual sexuality were fine with me. I'm not easily offended and I'm very open to this sort of literature, but it is a book, after all. Which means that the most engaging element should be in the intellect. Arousal? Not too much for me. More like curiosity. And then disappointment.