The Pornographer's Poem: A Novel [Paperback]

Michael Turner (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 14, 2004

The Pornographer's Poem is an edgy, important novel that tests the lines between pornography and art, exploitation and exploration. Introduced at the age of 16 to adult cinema by an eccentric teacher, the unnamed narrator of this controversial novel secretly shoots a short film of his neighbors having a very unconventional kind of sex. Helped by his doomed poet friend Nettie, who thinks such work can be liberating, he uses what are essentially porn loops to try to make sense of the world, to right its wrongs, in the process becoming a cause célèbre in the underground. But seen first through the eyes of a child and later an alienated adult of indeterminate age, this world is a brutal one populated by disposable people. In his highly acclaimed third novel, Michael Turner deftly blends time shifts, tableaux of radical sexuality and degradation, and an unexpected coming-of-age theme, bringing comparisons to Salinger and other chroniclers of growing up absurd.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An unnamed narrator recounts his sexual awakening as it relates to porn movies in this odd, inventive and overwrought novel composed of recollections, interrogations, letters, lists and screenplay fragments. At 16, the narrator makes a scratchy Super-8 of his neighbors getting down with their dog and also witnesses his first real porno; after that, he enters the business himself, as a filmmaker and a performer. He and his feminist friend Nettie have a volatile relationship—they fight and make love heatedly and endure long separations. After she gets back from school in England, they start work on a new project, Rich Kid Gang Bang, which pokes fun at all the fancy folks in their Vancouver neighborhood. That's when they meet the magnetic and psychopathic Flynn—and that's when their previous pornographic escapades begin to look nice and wholesome. Dirty talk and drugs, dreams and reality all swirl around in a strange and sometimes impenetrable world, relayed to the reader by a character who prides himself on his ability to lie, even as he's being interrogated by a mysterious and threatening tribunal.
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Review

"An exquisite and startlingly obscene novel....Turner's elegy to innocence is by far the best novel I have read this year."

Product Details

• Paperback: 310 pages
• Publisher: Soft Skull Press (May 14, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1932360239
• ISBN-13: 978-1932360233
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,630,919 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetic, gritty, page turner - buy the book!, September 27, 2003

By 

Holden (Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pornographer's Poem (Paperback)

I stumbled upon Michael Turner's "The Pornographers Poem", while browsing discount book
shelves at a local book store. I purchased the book partly because of the excellent reviews on the
back cover including praise from the Globe and Mail.

I wasn't disappointed. Michael Turner's writing is very good, almost poetic. He is a master of
creating time and place, I could see the beach from his words.

I won't spoil the story by delving too deeply in the format, which is similar to an interrogation, by
an unnamed person. This however is the most effective part of the story and it makes for a most
satisfying ending.

After finishing the book, I have often thought about it and I realize that there could be many
different endings and you're never sure exactly which truths our main character has shared or withheld from his interrogator.

The book is raw and real in some parts, so it might offend the faint of heart, but those who appreciate serious, fresh writing will find this to be an excellent book.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars 1999, April 7, 2009

By 

Marcel Daniels - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Pornographer's Poem: A Novel (Paperback)

When I read Michael Turner's novel The Pornographers Poem I was 21 years old. I purchased it signed by the author at a reduced price. I had dropped out of University, talked about nothing but that novel on many drives on 401 Highway. I discovered an open form of writing that has influenced me today, as it had ten years ago. The openess of style, the themes that are presented, children aging and discovering themselves through the act of sexual film orientation. The entertainment of the novel not yet matched or revisited by Mr. Turner. The last novel he has written? Well,I hope not. Maybe sooner than later. A Canadian book that I hope will be republished again, maybe with some author comments.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Poetic and almost surreal, November 1, 2007

By 

Benjamin (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The Pornographer's Poem: A Novel (Paperback)

The narrator, a young boy recently graduated from high school, gives and account of his life to an unnamed interrogator. He tells about his friends, and especially his long standing friend Nettie, and the new friends he makes including Robin who takes a particular liking to him; and the enigmatic Flynn. He also tells of his remarkable elementary school teacher who introduces him to film making; and the new neighbours, an open-minded young couple.

When he catches his new neighbours supposedly in the privacy of their own garden enjoying one another, he uses his movie camera, a gift from his school teacher, to get a better view, but he can only use the zoom while depressing the shutter. What he unwittingly captures on film turns out to be quite outrageous, especially when the family dog joins in! It is this film which in turn determines the subsequent events in his life, as the story reveals.

The unusual format of the book coupled with the quality of the prose makes for most interesting reading. As the young narrator explains himself we are never quite sure how much is truth, how much is exaggeration, how much is dreamed or just pure invention. Some of his descriptions, reflecting his interest, are in film script format, some are in fact dreams. At times he is very frank and explicit, and here the prose can be quite blue, yet such passages are somehow neutral and detached.

The conclusion reveals the true situation, but it is not until the last few pages, if then, that one even has so much as a glimmer of what is really happening. To say more would spoil the story, and if my review seems somewhat vague, please forgive me, but to reveal any more (and there is a great deal more) would be unfair to potential readers.