Customer Reviews

Oedipus Wrecked

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

 

 

Cute book about the author's misadventures, mostly as a teen, with his body during a long, drawn out adolescence. Though he often gets caught, a la Jason Biggs in AMERICAN PIE, from which Keck's humor seems to derive, he never lets societal scorn stop him from exercising his rights to be sexual any which way he can. Some of these events are more mortifying than others, and some of them more unbelievable. In a dozen teen sex comedies we've seen an incriminating sex tape wind up on TV during our hero's family viewing hour, so when Keck asks us to believe that this happened to him as well, we respond with the skepticism ordinarily saved for those who claim to have known the original girl whose date wound up hanging from a tree, his feet gently brushing the top of his parked car while she waited inside, wondering, where has he gone? But in general Keck is amiable about this, he actually doesn't care whether we believe him or not.

He likes anal sex, with himself, and reading the opening chapter in which he reminisces about inserting the banana, the broom handle, the cucumber and the family's ice cream scooper, my eyes widened, while I thought wow, here's a guy Kevin who's had more up his ass than I have. Though he writes another chapter professing, "I Was A Teenage Homosexual," it's plain to see that his bent is really towards women, and he manages to have sex with four of them within a two year span, which is pretty good, no? Keck, a talented poet, has a deep Southern charm like THE DUKES OF HAZZARD or SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT, and he knows how to spin out a story. Nearly always he ends the tale before you're tired of him. I hope that OEDIPUS WRECKED is only the first of many Sedaris-esque memoirs from him.

I did not expect it to be as funny as it was and also very honest. I loved it.

If you enjoy finely crafted prose, need a dose of hilarity, and aren't easily offended, then you'll enjoy this. The stories are based (loosely?) on the author's sexual misadventures. Keck sometimes seems incredulous recounting his own behavior and the responses it elicits in others. Well worth your dime and your time.

I've been reading Keck's stuff since it first appeared on Nerve and have been waiting for this book to come out for months. Just got it the other day and read it from cover to cover in one sitting. It's probably the funniest book ever written about sex. If you're not offended easily (or even if you are) then get this book.

Kevin Keck's collection of essays, Oedipus Wrecked, is insanely funny. This book, while much too brief, left me wanting to read more about Keck's sexual (mis)adventures. Like other authors I've enjoyed discovering, Keck seems to have gotten his start by publishing essays on Nerve.com, a popular web site you should check out. Many of the eassyas in this collection appeared on Nerve first.

Whether it involves stealing his own mother's vibrator, taping himself masturbating (only to have his family accidentally view the evidence), or nearly going broke as he wastes gobs of time on phone sex lines, Keck's many sexual adventures are a riot. These are not for the faint of heart.

One big thing I enjoyed about this collection is the author's honest, straight male perspective. He writes about things many other guys are probably thinking (or doing behind closed doors), yet few are talking about. I find that quite refreshing.

This is a dirty book... Dirty, dirty dirty book. It might have better be titled 'Ode to Chronic Masturbation'. But underneath all the 'smut' is a well written and funny book of stories people might write in their journals, but would never consider publishing. I read it very quickly. Whole book took about 1hr 1/2 to read, which would make this book one that's better to borrow than buy.

This book was suggested to me by a friend who said she couldn't stop laughing as she read it. I don't laugh easily, but this is definitely the only book to ever make me nearly choke to death as I was reading it.

It's easy, though, to overlook what a great writer Keck is and to think of him as just another memoirist with a series of funny anecdotes (or in his case a series of dirty jokes). These are well-written stories that actually reveal quite a lot about human sexuality and male anxieties. It should probably be required reading for every woman.