Customer Reviews

Ugly Man: Stories (P.S.)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I don't quite understand the one star review that a reviewer placed on this book. Wouldn't a supposed "long time Cooper fan" have some inkling of what to expect, some idea of what subject matter might be discussed? Apparently not. No long time fan of Cooper will be offended by this book. It is a brilliant book, Cooper's funniest. It would be hard for me to pick a favorite from this collection, therefore, I won't. Many fans have sensed Dennis Cooper's humor from early on (like, for example, "Try" and, later, "The Sluts"). The humor in "Ugly Man" is quite clear and a part of the forefront of the book. And, no, the subject matter might not be for everyone. But, then again, a lot of great literature isn't for everyone. In short, this book is not, as the aforementioned reviewer stated, 'deranged'. To say that and to simultaneously claim to be a fan of Dennis Cooper is, well...deranged.

--Jesse Hudson

All I can say is that Dennis Cooper is a genius and this collection is a testament to that statement, quality Cooper fiction. It is a must buy!! I <3 Dennis Cooper

If you buy just the one short story that gives the collection its title (for a $1.99 in January of 2012), you will probably feel cheated, as I was. It is a single story, as expected, but rudimentary to say the least. I thought I was reading a synopsis of a story instead of the whole thing. I took exactly 90 seconds to read, and had no development whatsoever. I am not sure I will pursue reading this writer further.

This is the first work by Dennis Cooper I have ever read and I think what has struck me most about it is how Cooper manages to make material I would normally think of as something I'd have no interest in reading about into fiction that is completely readable and, yes, even enjoyable. I can see where the topics and means and portrayals and blah blah blah would make some of the more sensitive readers around here uncomfortable, and I'm most certainly not saying that this is a book that everybody will appreciate in the same way I have. But all of that being said, I thought it was great, I had a great time reading it, and I will definitely be looking to read more Cooper in the future.

Before I get started on the review, I must first give major props to P.S. publishing for the great additional material/extras they include in their prints. I truly enjoyed the Dennis Cooper interview and extras after the stories.

As an experienced Dennis Cooper reader, I was not shocked or surprised by the subject matter of many of these stories. Some of the stories, such as "The Fifteen Worst Gay Porn Web Sites" I found humours but unimportant - I believe the collection would have been fine without it. Still, those who find nothing interesting or important about the collection I must question. The final story, "The Ash Gray Proclamation," for instance, is an incredibly well-done ironic story about race-relations (particularly Arab-American relations), as well as gay/straight relations, rural/urban relations, and socioeconomic/caste relations. It tackles, sardonically, some of the most important and classic yet contemporary social issues - though, I can understand how Cooper's style might overshadow these points and make some readers uncomfortable, unwilling, or unable to dig deeper (no pun intended). I also found the story "The Anal-Retentive Line Editor" an hilarious piece of meta-fiction, which I believe will be particularly loved by the gay bibliophiles out there, but also very much appreciated by any in the publishing/editing world. A ll-in-all, I found the collection to be intriguing: it includes many of Cooper's signature themes and motifs but also branches out to include larger social issues. I did not appreciate it or enjoy it as much as his George Miles cycle, but I did appreciate it enough to recommend to serious readers.

If you feel like shelling out for a lot of material that was previously available for free on DC's old website (which was either hacked or taken down, I can't remember), then by all means, indulge. Some of the new material is intriguing; much of it feels like preparatory sketches rather than finished, polished work. The metaliterary conceits quickly grow tedious. What drives Cooper's best writing-- his ability to be profane and profound at the same time-- is missing here.

So I am giving this book two stars because I did read the whole thing but I have to say that this collection of short stories by Cooper is a bunch of trash. I have enjoyed other books by Cooper but this is just a sad collection of garbage created for the sake of shock value. I understand that Cooper tends to write about subject matter that is taboo but the stories in this book seems forced and unintentionally comical. It is filled with just what you would expect from Cooper; tales of pedophilia, mutalation, murder, self-loathing teens, bad grammar and typical nonsense. There's nothing new about this recipe of his. It's time for Cooper to move on or hang up the wig.

These eighteen short stories take a dark amusing look at sex, gore, and gory sex. Ironically the title story is an extreme short yet gets the message across of gore, death and sex. involving a dying diseased person turning hookers into "angels of mercy". Other entries are grosser though there is an ironic humor to most. "Jerk" for instance is an apropos description of a puppeteer. The title of the weird "One Night in 1979 I Did Too Much Coke and Couldn't Sleep and Had What I Thought Was a Million-Dollar Idea to Write the Definitive Tell-all Book About Glam Rock Based on My Own Personal Experience but This Is as Far as I Got" seems longer than the entry. There are also longer contributions starring sadists who are also "ugly men" torturing, mutilating, and raping teenagers. Those tales that are explicit stone serious are not easy to read; nor are the "scripts. On the other hand, those with a mocking edge like "The Anal-Retentive Line Editor" are super as where else can you find a running war between an editor and a writer over the latter's gay erotic thriller. THE UGLY MAN is typical Dennis Cooper as the author will tickle his fans with his pickle while also shocking the sh*t out of newcomers with his quirky look at death, gore, and sex.

Harriet Klausner