Customer Reviews

Throat Sprockets (Cutting Edge)

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4 star:		(1)
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_Throat Sprockets_ by Tim Lucas is the darkly decadent and disturbing story of a man who becomes obsessed by a movie which exhibits a fixation with the female throat.

Perversely erotic, _Throat Sprockets_ chronicles the man's increasing fascination about the film and its subject matter while reminding us of our society's often obsessive behavior in response to images and ideas found in the media.

It's hip... it's cutting-edge... it's haunting... it's J.G. Ballard's _Crash_ with a different fetish focus. Highly recommended for those with a taste for off-beat, alternative fiction.

Tim Lucas has been editor and publisher of Video Watchdog for a long time. This novel, his first, shows his obsession with film as well as the horror genre. A surprising read - very out-of-the ordinary.

This novel tells the story of a fetish turned obsession turned lifestyle. The narrator's life is turned upside down by an X-rated movie called, you guessed it, Throat Sprockets. Changes in his inner landscape lead to changes in his everyday life--his wife leaves him, but his career in advertising takes off, fueled by images from the movie. At first, he feels isolated and indulges his obsession in private. As time passes, however, he comes to realize that others share his fascination with the film. A cult favorite, it eventually inspires a trend that dominates popular culture.

Lucas understands that certain movies resonate in our subconscious long after the theater lights come up. Think about your favorite movies. Why do they affect you the way they do? Why do you see things in them that others don't? Lucas explores this phenomenon with an unwavering eye--imagine a combination of Nabokov's Lolita and Percy Walker's The Moviegoer, only more harrowing. Lucas pulls out all the stops, delivering an intense, involving read.

Throat Sprockets is the most poorly written book I have ever loved. Lucas has no feel for the English language. It is no wonder that this is his only novel. His over use of film terminology and trivia grates on my nerves even though I studied film myself and am thus familiar with the words.

So, why have I read the darn thing twice??