Frisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis) [Paperback]

Dennis Cooper (Author)

Book Description

Series: Cooper, Dennis | Publication Date: November 11, 1993

In Frisk, Dennis Cooper explores the ultimate meaning of the body, sex, and death. The novel’s narrator, a thirteen-year-old boy, is stunned when he encounters photos of a mutilated boy; his imagination leads him on a journey in which sexual urges start to fuse with grisly fantasies and desires he doesn’t understand.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Cooper says, "I present the actual act of evil so it's visible and give it a bunch of facets so that you can actually look at it and experience it. You're seduced into dealing with it. ... So with Frisk, whatever pleasure you got out of making a picture in your mind based on ... those people being murdered, you take responsibility for it." In unsparingly confessional mode, Cooper leads the reader into a confrontation with what they get out of fantasized scenes of violence. A brilliant novel -- not a genre horror work but, rather, a critique of the power of genre.

From Publishers Weekly

Homoeroticism, brutality and psychosis are explored in this unnervingly lucid account of a man whose fascination with snuff photos and murder leads to a killing spree in Holland.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st Evergreen Ed edition (November 11, 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802132898
• ISBN-13: 978-0802132895
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #85,385 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Chewy, December 30, 2001

By 

"blissengine" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis) (Paperback)

Clinging to his memories of fake snuff photographs, the mysterious narrator named Dennis explores the dangers and taboos of sexuality. Finally, in Holland, he finds himself free of restrictions and is able to act upon his dark fantasies. A fascinating tale of fetishes and deep desires that disturbs as it compells the reader onward. While not as lush as Poppy Brite's "Exquisite Corpse" or as satirical as Ellis's "American Psycho", "Frisk" charts its own course along similar territory, coming up with a new revelation. And I have to agree that Cooper's writing style can easily put off readers, and I found "Frisk" to be the most readable of his books I've read.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for the faint of heart., November 3, 1997

By 

[e-mail] - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis) (Paperback)

This is Dennis cooper's breakthrough novel, which got him both praise and death threats. The narrator, "Dennis", is obsessed with the connection between sex and death, desire and annihilation. As you read his story, he implicates you in indulging him his fantasy, but he also loves you for listening to him. Don't put it down when it starts to repulse you, because so much is waiting for you at the end.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful, gruesome, beautiful words: a true American Psycho., May 1, 2000

By 

Shane C. Desmond - See all my reviews

This review is from: Frisk: A Novel (Cooper, Dennis) (Paperback)

This is one of those rare novels that can fully restore your faith in the written word as a truly higher artform, while simultaneously destroying your faith in humanity. Alternately grisly and utterly fascinating, Cooper's Frisk will take you through a devastating landscape of psychological and sexual depravity, bring you right to the point of absolute empathy, and then save you with a loving reality slap. A truly marvelous work, but certainly not for everyone.