Teeth [Paperback]

Hugh O'Neil Gallagher (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1, 1999

Hugh Gallagher's acclaimed debut novel follows the global soul-search of Neil, a dentally challenged, reluctantly hip downtown scribe. Disenchanted after his East Village writing career crumbles, he takes off for Hollywood, the tropical wilds of Indonesia, and the anarchist squats of East London. At once a saddening chronicle of childhood's end, and an insightful trek through the world of possible futures, Teeth is disarmingly funny and touching -- a resonant anthem for all those truly hungry for a solid bite out of life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Gore Vidal calls Hugh Gallagher's Teeth the "dental masterpiece we've all been waiting for." The protagonist, Neil, is the sort of hip, jaded, MTV-pumped, post-postmodern, literary punk who will appeal to street-savvy teens across the globe, and he's probably the most dentally challenged guy readers will ever encounter. After a freak accident leaves his teeth in shards in his mouth, Neil skips his suburban town, leaves his boring parents in the dust, finds a hovel to call home, crashes classes at a renowned New York City college, and earns his 15 minutes of fame by penning postpunk literary manifestos for a reckless zine called (what else?) Dusted. The truth is this: All of this glory and excitement is just a mirage, a facade, a set of sparkling dentures in an otherwise rotted mouth. Neil is running away from something. But what? He crosses the globe, sells his soul, and abandons his calling all to discover that the key to lasting happiness may rest inside himself--maybe even in his own mouth. Teeth is a coming-of-age tale like no other. Younger teens may be mystified by it, but older teens will sink their ummmm ... teeth into it. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Neil is a twentysomething writer whose column in a defunct underground youth 'zine has made him a cult hero. Now unemployed, he's become a tortured and confused dreamer desiring to travel the world (at the advice of a young actor who has since overdosed a la River Phoenix). He also hopes to reunite with his exotic European girlfriend, to win back a comradeship with his supercool former editor, and mostly to correct his nagging problem teeth. Talented first-time author Gallagher fleshes out an interestingly sympathetic hero and uses his broken teeth, the result of a rebellious leap taken through a second-story window, as a clever metaphor for the fragmented and damaged life being led. Comparable to the novels of Jay McInerney and Bret Easton Ellis, Gallagher's story of a young man's love/hate relationship with our pervasive youth culture and rock'n'roll celebrity as he tries to get a foothold in the adult world is funny, insightful, sensitive, and bold. Recommended for fiction collections, this should be on top of the MTV generation's reading list.?David Nudo, "Library Journal"
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Washington Square Press (February 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671551671
• ISBN-13: 978-0671551674
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #639,374 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Thinly-veiled auto-hagiography, October 28, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Teeth (Paperback)

Since Hugh's legendary college essay, I kept track of him; mainly due to the fact that we were the same age and I identified with him. Identification became admiration when he landed a "One to Watch" in Sassy and a job at Dirt ("Dusted" in this novel). A few issues into Dirt though, it became clear that Hugh was not growing as a writer; no one was editing him, his writing grew self-indulgent and in some cases just plain trite.

So apparently a few years later some pop culture hanger-onner weaseled him a book deal with yet another apparent no-editing clause, and the results are embarassing. Among the thinly-veiled psuedonymous characters are Mark Lewman, Andy Jenkins and Spike Jonze of Dirt Magazine along with others from Big Brother and the Beastie Boys (Rage Against the Chili Pepper), all self-consciously parodied in a way that Hugh just doesn't have the right or strength of character to do. Open Letter to Hugh: No one else cares about Spike's Speigel fortune, and if you were him I doubt you'd have sunk your family's money into a laudable but dying pop culture experiment either. Being only a staff writer at the time, it's not even yours to forgive, so why spend the better part of a novel doing so?

Playing off recognizable real-life friends and cohorts as pseudonymed whiners and weaklings to Hugh/Neil's unchecked brilliance is too sloppy and immature to believe; I still wonder if the narrator is supposed to be reliable, but the similarity of these 'fictional' events and true events lead me to believe that this was Hugh being "earnest." I'd love to hear the Dirt Triumverate's opinion of this novel; maybe they know something about Hugh that makes these adolescent shenanigans tolerable. Unfortunately I don't, and I won't be following this career any more.

P.S.: I've -got- to assume that Gore Vidal's back-cover blurb was tongue-in cheek.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Talkin' bout my generation..., September 9, 2000

By 

J. England "jazzy9230" (Tucson, AZ) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teeth (Paperback)

Hugh Gallagher brings together his family woes, writing career, and pop culture impressions in this novel to set the stage for what turns out to be a pretty accurate depiction of generation X. I disagree with those critics who feel that the use of thinly veiled famous rock bands (Rage Against the Chili Pepper), actresses (Gertie a.k.a. Barrymore), and rock tours (Chockapolacka a.k.a. Loolapalooza) shows a lack of originality from the author-it's called poetic license-and the blatant satire is really hilarious. Sure, the writing is often bland and repetitive (how many times will Neil's string of miseries be outlined for the reader?), but I enjoyed the quirky parallel between the status of Neil's teeth and the state of affairs in his life, i.e., his mouth turning into a festering pit as he hits a depressed, drugged-up, rock bottom.

I bought this book after the author himself told me about it at a rooftop party in New York years ago, and I regret that I didn't read it sooner. Gallagher has some fine-tuning to do, but will probably continue as a fine writer in the future.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Spend your money elsewhere., July 2, 1998

By 

O. Brown (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teeth (Paperback)

Either poor Hugh did not have the benefit of an editor, or whoever was riding herd on this boy was absent when they handed out red pencils! This is the most overwritten, plotless book I've had the pleasure to read in years. I couldn't put it down - I felt glued to each page with dental adhesive.

Perhaps Gallagher's crowning glory was his college entrance essay, much read on the Internet, and quite amusing. But he has not yet shown himself capable of handling forms larger than a few paragraphs in length - leastways, he doesn't with Teeth. I ground mine in frustration on nearly every page. Perhaps his sloppy writing was meant to reflect an equivalent sloppiness of intent in his generation? That's the most charitable estimate I can provide.