P: A Novel [Paperback]

Andrew Conn (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2003

This is the story of an unlikely duo — Benjamin Seymour, a failed pornographer, and Finn, a ten-year-old girl genius who has run away from home. Over the course of one day — sometimes separately and sometimes together — they wander the city looking for some semblance of belonging. There, the novel grows to include a diverse cast of characters and themes that support the inward journey of each. The narration veers into an array of literary forms to best reflect the heartbreaking quest of its main characters. Each new chapter comes as a surprise, as Conn employs such storytelling methods as the newsreel, Q and A, stream of consciousness, and screenplay to propel this raunchy and romantic debut tale.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

P is the literary equivalent of a cover song. Conn, a film critic and essayist, here covers Ulysses (Joyce is "St. James" in the acknowledgments), a novel that poses obvious challenges to a young writer hoping to pay homage. Technically, the talented Conn is more than proficient. His take on Ulysses is set in Manhattan on (of course) June 16, 1996. His Leopold Bloom is Benjamin Seymour, an Ivy League-educated pornographer (director, actor) chafing his way through three years of celibacy in mourning for his dead true love, Penelope. Stephen Dedalus is Finn, a 10-year-old girl, who ditches her elite prep school to smoke dope, beg for change and wander the city. Conn's discursions on the porn industry and his stream-of-consciousness presentation of Manhattan through a child's stoned gaze are smart and fun to read. Scenes recounting Penelope and Benjamin's doomed relationship are at once tender and tortured, imbued with a complexity that is rare in a first-time novelist. These accomplishments are considerable, but Conn's novel is hamstrung by its slavish devotion to Ulysses. Overschematic and hyperallusive, P will be mystifying to those unfamiliar with the source material and vexing to those who know it. Such is perhaps the inevitable pitfall of tributes. One hopes that Conn will next apply his gifts to a more freewheeling project.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

A racy, ambitious first novel with echoes of James Joyce and Philip Roth. -- Time Out New York, June 11, 2003

Conn sends us on an engaging, entertaining, funny, and moving trip... A writer to watch. -- Kirkus Reviews, April 15, 2003 (starred review)

Conn's novel is a young man's declaration of wild ambition, and the book's very immodesty is its saving grace. -- Salon, June 12, 2003

Rambunctious, exhilarating, surreal, funny, and moving. . . Conn has written an urbane adventure story that worldly readers will enjoy. -- The New York Times Sunday Book Review, July 6, 2003

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 360 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press; 1 edition (May 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1887128557
• ISBN-13: 978-1887128551
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,098,697 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Go Buy This Book, June 24, 2003

By 

Raymond L. Forsythe (New York, New York USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: P: A Novel (Paperback)

This is a fantastic novel, at once hilarious and heartbreaking. Careering between Tom Wolfe, Dickens and Damon Runyon, Conn creates some of the most memorable characters and situations found in the pages of a New York story. The story is simtaneously high brow and low down, as compelling as any cliff-hanger mystery. A word to the wise: Go buy this book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Benjamin Seymour for President...Buy This Book!!, June 19, 2003

By 

Billy Batts "Books Like Heroin" (Staten Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: P: A Novel (Paperback)

I found a copy of this book in manhattan and bought it without even ever hearing about it. Trust me...it's worth it. It takes you back to a time when 42nd Street Times Square wasn't a place to bring the family for an entertaining evening on the town. It is the story of Pornstar/Producer Benjamin Seymour (who should be played by Ron Jeremy in the movie.)
Conn writes in an interesting style combinging third-person narration alongside what appears as actual screenplay style formatting in the "movie" that has become Benjamin's life.
"P" is a heartbreakingly funny piece of work that shines a light on the conflicting sides of life in both the adult film industry and the human experience of living with heartbreak. It unfolds into a book unlike any I have ever read. Extremely thought- provoking without being over-philosophical. There are plenty of passages to go back to and ponder over long after you place the book on your shelf.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Literate, Not Smut, June 24, 2003

By 

Seth (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: P: A Novel (Paperback)

This novel is both highly enjoyable and thoroughly provocative. Reviews and descriptions I've seen focus on P's technical accomplishment and outre humor, but these elements only serve to highlight a poignant, hopeful story of several deeply engaging characters. It's not for the squeamish or readers who rely on straightforward narrative, but its rewards are many for those who don't mind four-letter words and a strangely shaped tale. Forget about pornography and focus on literature - read P.