Customer Reviews

User

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

User is Blake Nelson's own answer to his first novel, Girl. This time it's a boy, a young man a few years older than the teen Andrea of that book. Mitch is 23, in between menial jobs, not in school, and generally going nowhere. His family involvement is minimal and with no encouragement from those around him to do
anything, he does nothing. User refers not so much to the familiar drugs and booze of twentysomethings but to the use and attempted use of those around him.

The problem is, Mitch isn't even good at it or good at anything for that matter. The thing he does most expertly is smoke a cigarette, as Nelson writes repeatedly,
"He smokes." ..., which would sum up the main character. Broke, bored, and with little personality to get him more than sex with people he doesn't even care about, there is no request for sympathy and none given. Stealing something here and there, bumming a ride, trying to get into a club for free ("I used to work here") all sum up the not-as-cool-nor-fun-as-it-seems life of a slacker.

Nelson has a smooth writing style that makes this a fast read. However, it comes off as a watered down version of the kind of young and the useless stories that Bret Easton Ellis began in the 80s with Less Than Zero. Ellis is both loved and reviled, but one thing has become clear. In the years since Less Than Zero, Rules of Attraction and even American Psycho, he looks that much better compared to the competition.

Not to say that User is going for the same thing. The reference to Less Than Zero on the back cover is ill-advised but undoubtedly inserted to sell the book. (Hey, I bought it!) And that's part of the problem. Don't expect a Less Than Zero for the end of the century. This book basically meanders through the few weeks (or was it months?) in the life of Mitch. There's no real plot and there is no pretension on the flip side. No larger statement that is present in Ellis' work (even though that author prefers the sledge-hammer to the head form of subtlety to get his point across.) As a slice of post-grunge youngsters with nothing to do and nowhere to go (through their own doing I might add) this is harmless enough. It's only occasionally insightful but actually seems less mature. Mitch is a less consistent narrator than Andrea in Girl. There are moments, however, where Blake gets right inside the mind of a twentysomething guy with perfection.

I'd recommend it to anyone interested in novels about the young and disaffected. However, be aware that you could do better. Nelson is a writer for Details, which may tell you as much as you need to know off the bat.

Given that the publication date kept being bumped up and that it was rumored the novel would never see the light of day, I was a bit concerned that Nelson's latest effort, User, would not live up to my expectations. Wrong. Although the tone is different--more mature--than Girl, the subject matter and ear for dialogue are pure Nelson.

Set in the Pacific Northwest at the end of the century, User picks up where girl left off. It is, in many ways, a novel without a point, a story for the sake of a story. We follow Mitch, a twenty-something, directionless, thrill-seeker through a myriad of situations that will resonate with those who lived through the period: sitting in the dj booth, getting tossed out of bars, brushes with heroin, one night stands...

To compare the book to Less than Zer0 (as did Martin on the back cover) is misguided and smacks of laziness on the part of the reviewer. Less than Zer0 was social commentary set against a synth pop sountrack; User is a fun, quick read without lofty ambitions or pretension. Read and enjoy.

I've read all of Blake Nelson's books, and I have to say, far better than Exile and better (but different) than Girl because the author here is more mature...or at least he explores other aspects of youth culture. Whatever. I loved it -- get this book, it's funny and "hip" and very frustrating, if you're a girl, because he writes about guys so well! Very, very accurate. Shame on you Blake Nelson for being so perceptive!

I read Blake Nelson's book Girl a few years ago and thought it was pretty good, so when I bought User I expected an okay read. Unfortunately I was sadly mistaken. User is the worst piece of crap I have ever wasted my time on. Did Nelson want me to hate all of the characters and assume they are all stupid, annoying turds? There was no plot, no character development, no interesting characters. There was however, a bunch of idiots running around saying things like "We just did heroin! We are so cool!" Seriously. Please, Blake Nelson, give me the 2 hours of my life back that it took me to read your pathetic excuse for a novel.

"Girl" became my favorite book seven years ago when I first read it. To me, it is like reading my own diary. I have been looking forward to reading "User" since I first found out about it 2 years ago. The style he uses here, the short choppy sentences, took a while for me to get used to, but it is very effective. The main character, quickly sails in and out of his days with few lessons learned. Obviously, the perfect girl for him is right there, but he keeps looking over her shoulder for something better. It was an interesting way to learn about the male's mind, though I never did get a clear answer. I'm sure that was the point, but it left me a little disappointed.

We all know someone like Mitch Smith, the seemingly shallow protagonist of User who runs after the cool ideal and finds something other and possibly richer than what he set out for. Blake Nelson is a smart and witty observer of youth culture and his writing is as subtlety stylish as the characters he creates. Sexuality, friendship and the often contradictory nature of romantic longing are alive on these pages in their most mundane and rhapsodic incarnations. As in Girl, Nelson shows the bonds between us in the vernacular of everyday life.

Someday some is going to write a dissertation on Nelson's youth obsession. In his other books he writes mostly about over-sensative young people, in this book he goes to the other extreme. These kids are brutal, drugged, sex-obsessed and yet still sweet in that special Nelson way. I like all his books but this is a special favorite.

If you don't know Blake Nelson by now, you should be ashamed. His work ranks among the finest stylists. To get this accurate an insight into guys' minds, Nelson must have either been one of them or have done extensive research. My vote is for the former. User is the inside `Soup' for the soul of boys, accurate, mean, hilarious and everything you want to know but are afraid to find out for yourself.

This book is so totally my ex-boyfriend and his friends from when I went out all the time with my girlfriends. Thankfully I have moved beyond this but it was interesting to see it described. Some parts were funny especially how clueless Mitch and Stuart are but also sort of sad and definetly a look at how men think when they're in their early twenties. The writing style is simplistic but that just makes it more realistic. And the way they talk is very much real life. And the sex scenes are pretty hot. If you're into the harsh reality of sex and relationships you will love it, if not, maybe it's not for you.

Blake Nelson writes in the here and now, nude, crude, and stark, and this is the most fascinating feature of the book. It is more or less nothing but the chronicle of a month or so in young post-slacker's life. The title, I think, is pretty misleading, because the main character, Mitch, is not a heavy drug user, and skag makes its appearance only in the last part of the book, involving him kind of marginally, as an experience to brag about. I felt the focus was more on Mitch's lack of any capacity of expressing the emotions and thoughts of worthlessness that he has learned to bury deep inside. His on-and-off love interest, Amy, appears through the book as, either a possibility for "redemption" from a pointless, hedonistic, disconnected existence, or a symbol of what Mitch really wants (intimacy, a committed relationship) but is afraid to admit, because it would be uncool. The end is totally puzzling and leaves the reader with many options open.