Nearly Roadkill (High Risk) [Paperback]

Caitlin Sullivan (Author), Kate Bornstein (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1996 | Series: High Risk

This novel is a tale of what-appears-to-be boy meets what-appears-to-be girl. Their world is the "Net", where any persona or gender can be created. These two genderless beings, Scratch and Winc, cybersurf into various "Net" worlds, fighting government intervention on this frontier.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Nearly Roadkill apparently takes place in the not-so-distant future, where Internet users are required to register online and all transmissions can be policed by government agencies. Big brother is watching our hero/heroines (you make the call), Winc and Scratch, as they lead the charge against government intervention in cyberspace. The text is written as a series of online dialogues, much like what you'd see in a chat room. You'll also get a fly-on-the-wall experience reminiscent of Nicholson Baker's Vox as these rebels with a cause take time out to participate in graphic cybersex. But except where the sex thing gets in the way, Nearly Roadkill's intent is to raise questions about gender issues, censorship, and who should have authority over the Internet.

From Library Journal

Winc and Scratch are the Bonnie and Clyde of cyberspace in this imaginative and thought-provoking novel by journalist Sullivan and author Bornstein (Gender Outlaw, LJ 5/15/94). Their novel is set in the near future, when Internet users are required to register online so their transmissions can be monitored by government agencies. So-called "vaders," led by cyberfugitives Winc and Scratch, refuse to bow to government intervention into the electronic frontier and orchestrate a shutdown of Internet nodes throughout the world. Written almost entirely as a series of online discussions and transcripts of messages (complete with E-mail typography), the novel intermingles serious issues of gender identity, censorship, and control of the Internet with lots of hetero- and homosexual cybersex and details of chat rooms devoted to various specialized interests. For large fiction collections.
Nancy Pearl, Washington Ctr. for the Book, Seattle
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 382 pages
• Publisher: Serpent's Tail; First Edition edition (June 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1852424184
• ISBN-13: 978-1852424183
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,541,348 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars so good...., August 22, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Nearly Roadkill (High Risk) (Paperback)

Great characters, inventive plot, excellent storyline, good writing, so much fun to read, and a lot of hot sex to boot. What could be bad?

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Nearly Roadkill Is Nearly Good, November 30, 2001

By 

Reagan Strueber (Macomb, IL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nearly Roadkill (High Risk) (Paperback)

Nearly Roadkill, by Caitlin Sullivan and Kate Bornstein, attempts to explore issues of gender and how that affects perception and expectation. Told mostly from the point of view of a teenage boy named Toobe, it follows the story of two genderless web users, Scratch and Winc, who keep meeting up in various chat rooms. The freedom of the online environment allows them to explore what gender is and how it affects their relationship. One night they might be a boy and a girl, the next two women, the night after that a vampire and a young woman.
The book succeeds in exploring the themes of gender and how everyone is affected by it, as well as how perceptions can change based on one's gender. The story, however, is almost nonexistent, with a too perfect ending. By revealing Scatch and Winc's genders, the point of gender exploration is somewhat negated. To make matters worse, the font is nearly impossible to read and there are too many graphic cyber sex exchanges, which detract from the book's message.
If you are looking for a study in gender roles, this book will serve your purpose. However, if you are looking for a book with a storyline and well-developed believable characters, Nearly Roadkill is not the book for you.

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant, October 8, 2006

By 

Candice "Candy" (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nearly Roadkill (High Risk) (Paperback)

I have always been a fan of Kate Bornstein and her nonfiction work, plus I'm always searching for genderqueer fiction, so this was a gem to find. Indeed, it is an interesting, engaging read, and I reccommend everyone read it. But that's not to say there aren't drawbacks:

-The title bothers me; even now I remember that great book I read- what was it called? 'Nearly Roadkill' doesn't sum up the book in any way except perhaps abstractly, and, to my recollection, wasn't mentioned in the book as a phrase or something clever like that. The term 'Infobahn' was odd, too.

-The book is just a little long. It may seem longer because of the format, or because of the storyline (several times you think it should be over; it keeps going), but it does tend to drag in places. That's not to say that I ever wanted to put it down, in fact, I was avidly reading near the end to find how things worked out, but some brevity, some smashing down of things, could have been better.

-A few plot holes. There aren't many big ones, but a few things irked me. The whole book long I was expecting them to be cleverly explained, but they never were! For instance- Jabba writes narrative accounts of what's going on with Lt. Budge, very welcome reliefs from all the cybertalk, and letting us know what's going on with him. But how is this achieved? Is Jabba spying on him and guessing at his inner thoughts? It's never said. Everything else is meticulously explained as Toobe's diary entry, etc., etc., but not that. Jabba's friend and aid, Gwyn, is a "cyber witch", but that never really gets explained. It makes her a very interesting character, for sure, but was the witch aspect necessary? I don't know that I can say. Jabba was a well-drawn character and I liked the fact that the end explained hir life, although it was vague. Was the tie between Jabba and Toobe too precious to be believed? Again, I liked it, but I can see where others would be put-off.

-Lastly- it ended happily, sweetly. Very nice- EXCEPT- what happens to Winc and Scratch in the end???? They run off to hiding and cooperation. Are we expected to believe that the government would just suddenly drop all charges and give up? People know what Winc looks like! Their identities have been compromised, so how will they deal with that? We're never told.

Besides those, I adored this novel. Other people's complaints just weren't big for me: the sex scenes were necessary and lovely, the use of "ze" and "hir" were of utmost importance and didn't distract, and the type and format didn't bother me (if anything, I think it's amazing when people can pull off entire books of cyberchat). It's a beautiful love story, a message about gender, and a warning about government and civil rights. Did it negate the gender lesson by revealing Scratch and Winc's genders? I would certainly say not, because 1) it comes so early in the novel that it's not the main focus, and 2) what genders? What was revealed, except for Winc's past? To say that their gender was disclosed is to show you have certain beliefs about gender. Both admit that they gender-blend, and I love the fact that after they've seen one another physically, they still use gender-neutral pronouns and terms and acknowledge the girl and boy within each of them. It can sometimes seem that the gender stuff goes on, but it is sincerely melded with the plot, rather than separate from it. Knowing Kate Bornstein, I can say that Winc is, essentially, Kate, and describes all of the problems she encountered in her own life and with her own transition and subsequent gender outlaw behavior. The way Scratch and Winc discuss gender is as a fetish, an exploration of themselves, and- after they meet- a way to try to deal with it. It's just great stuff.

And if you take nothing more from it, you'll probably be inspired to get online and try out some new personalities for the pure fun of it. Scrach and Winc make it seem so gloriously fun and easy! Take it from me- this is a delightfully innovative read. Take a chance on it.