Skunk: A Love Story [Paperback]

Justin Courter (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 1, 2007

Employing a wild mix of tall tale, rich metaphor, and contemporary science fiction, this darkly hilarious novel explores a young man's attraction and ultimate addiction to skunk musk and the social difficulties he encounters as a result. He longs to find an isolated utopia where he can indulge his addiction in peace but is continually thwarted, even by a young woman with a unique understanding of his fetish because of her own fetid fetish for fish. Exaggerating the traits that attract and repel lovers, this extremely unlikely love story is comical but insightful into the mysteries of fetishes and sexual chemistry.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An obsession for skunk musk sends a young man on a picaresque journey in Courter's darkly comedic first novel, set in the town of New Essex that appears to be a suburb of New York City. Damien Youngquist nurtures a peculiar love for the smell of skunk, "the richest of all olfactory pleasures," by trapping the animals in the woods and forming a family of them at his home—much to the disgust of his nosy neighbor, Mrs. Endicott, and fellow employees at the law book publishing firm where he works, Grund & Greene. Then Damien meets lively, foul-mouthed Pearl, a woman who appreciates his taste for skunks like no one else. A fish fetishist, Pearl is also a marine biologist with a couple of inventions that just might solve global warming and world hunger. Courter takes his time with Damien's story, illuminating the many varieties of obsession and its strangest consequences. (June)
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About the Author

Justin Courter is a poet, novelist, and short-story writer who has been published in Apalachee Review, The Berkeley Fiction Review, Fourteen Hills, Fugue, LIT, The Literary Review, Main Street Rag, Many Mountains Moving, New Orleans Review, North Dakota Review, Northwest Review, Pearl, Phantasmagoria, and Pleiades. He lives in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Omnidawn Publishing; First Printing edition (June 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 189065020X
• ISBN-13: 978-1890650209
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6.1 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,911,447 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars waky,yucky, nutty...but I couldn't put it down!, August 1, 2008

By 

Bethany L. Canfield "Dreadlock Girl" (Corvallis, OR,USA.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Skunk: A Love Story (Paperback)

Obsessions are either understood by those around us or they are not. Addictions are the same, but to love anything too much is more danger than it is worth. Not for Damien, the main man in this book, Skunk: A Love Story. Damien is unhealthily obsessed with the smell of skunks, their "musk" and anything skunk related, this novel is about how his life goes and flows because of it. A tale of life with an addiction that is not understood by anyone, and ridiculed by everyone. Witty, fun, silly and mostly just insane this is a book unlike anything I have enjoyed.

My relationship with Skunk was a stop and go type of time. I loved it, then it seemed to move too slowly, then I loved it, then I didn't then.., well you get the idea, yeah? Much of the time it felt like there was a little something missing, and I cannot put a finger on it. The voice of the narrator reminded me (for all you TV folk) of that of Dwight Schrute off of the splendid show The Office. He is similar in the way he speaks, in his weirdness and just too much to mention. I enjoyed the voice, but sometimes I felt like I needed to be told the same story from the perspective of a more balanced individual.

No matter what, this was one of the most entertaining books I have read so far this year. It held tons of laughs, tons of weirdness and the feeling of too many salami sandwiches much too late at night.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read- Scented Scenes, September 5, 2007

By 

David A. Surbeck "Betty" (Wayne, PA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Skunk: A Love Story (Paperback)

Grab this book while it is still available. It is a quirky love story that will leave you in tears. Daiman negotiates life's troubles with a steadfast determination to overcome obstacles that keep popping up. Courter writes with breathtaking audacity and clarity.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Skunked!, August 10, 2007

By 

Mary Wild - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Skunk: A Love Story (Paperback)

This book is a most delightful change from the ordinary and a compelling read. The author is gifted in both imagination and description. His characters draw the reader into their life situations out of curiosity and fascination. It shines a new light on the dark side of addiction and persecution bringing about laughter as well as tears.
Looking forward to the sequel!