Stripper Lessons [Paperback]

John O'Brien (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 13, 1997

John O'Brien's books have established him as a writer who communicated the voice of the loner with blistering realness and unmistakable force. Stripper Lessons is perhaps O'Brien's most interior and intense novel, a powerful story of one man's obsessive search to belong. Here is the dark and simple life of Carroll, a middle-aged, unmarried, friendless man whose only joy is watching beautiful women dance. Terribly shy and unable to socialize with the people around him, Carroll's fascination with the women at his favorite club is totally innocent-he finds solace in the routine, the rules, and the predictability of the action. But when his desire for a particular dancer takes him one step too far, his entire life threatens to crumble.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Another Academy AwardR winner for the late O'Brien, who wrote Leaving Las Vegas? Here, a shy, lonely man finds comfort in watching beautiful women strip.
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

This posthumously released novel by the late O'Brien, author of Leaving Las Vegas (1991), is an introspective and surprisingly compassionate study of a loner, Carroll. He is middle aged, unmarried, and friendless. His job as a file clerk is a series of humiliations large and small. His life, such as it is, centers on Indiscretions, a strip joint. Although the surroundings are seedy, Carroll goes there nightly with the rather benign expectation that one of the waitresses or strippers will share a real conversation with him. He eventually meets Stevie, a new dancer--and she actually talks to him! He falls for her right then and there. Discarding his protective emotional shell, Carroll shares his fears, ideas, and hopes with her. But he has picked someone with a very limited interest in him, and, as this point begins to come home, Carroll wonders if life wasn't better inside that shell after all. A sensitive and understated novel. Brian McCombie

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Grove Press; 1st edition (June 13, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802135072
• ISBN-13: 978-0802135070
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.7 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #513,453 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 Searching, January 7, 2006

By 

David (Irving, Texas, United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stripper Lessons (Paperback)

"Stripper Lessons," a posthumously released novel by John O'Brien, the author of "The Assault on Tony's" and "Leaving Las Vegas," describes Carroll, a lonely man, unmarried, with no friends, as he searches for answers in life.

By day Carroll is a file clerk for a law firm desperately searching for a missing file. By night, Carroll is a lonely and friendless loner searching for a relationship in a topless strip club called Indiscretions. The book details Carroll's attempt to search for what is missing in both his work life and his personal life.

At the club, Carroll meets Stevie, a newly hired stripper, whom he falls for instantly. His confidence, slightly bostered after watching a VHS tape he purchased on a TV infomercial which claims to teach shy guys how to meet women, Carroll strikes up a conversation with Stevie, whose only interest in Carroll goes no further than the dollars he left on stage for her during her dance.

But any conversation, a pat on the back, or a peck on his cheek is misinterpreted by Carroll as a sign that his angel, Stevie, cares for him.

The story is a study of lonliness and the desire, the need, and the desperation of humans to make contact with other humans. Carroll is a likeable character the reader can relate to and have compassion for, despite the fact few of us are like him.

I highly recommend the book. The book is slightly a slow read due to the writing style of O'Brien, which can best be described as "genius," but well worth the time devoted to devouring word by word what O'Brien has to say.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Life We All Live, March 23, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Stripper Lessons (Paperback)

A perfect rendition of the life everyone lives . . . lonely, secluded, and surreal. The novel screams of O'Brien's talent to connect with the seedy and realistic side of our world. First class entertainment. Maybe it should be retitled "Life Lessons." A must read for everyone, especially O'Brien fans.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars You can relate to Carroll,but you'd never admit it to anyone, September 2, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (MN, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stripper Lessons (Paperback)

The main character, Carroll, is a milktoast loner, and O'Brien lets us see inside the head of the type of person most people would never get to know.

The books reads like part poetry/part confessional, and his unconventional writing only adds to the story (e.g. capitalizing "That Place"). People like Carroll are everywhere, lonely and afraid, and we probably pass them every day at work, on the streets or in the hall.

Stripper Lessons also gives us a glimpse (metaphorically speaking) at strippers, though it would have been nice to get a little more insight into those strip for a living, why they do it, how it makes them feel, and what they think of all the Carrolls they meet day after day.