3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't be without Without Wax, August 28, 2008
This review is from: Without Wax: A Documentary Novel (Paperback)
The real magic of William Walsh's Without Wax (Casperian Books) is Walsh's ability to make the reader have so much empathy and sympathy for the protagonist, Wax Williams - a man with an eighteen-inch (flaccid) penis. I like Wax. I just do. It didn't feel like Walsh beat me over the head with attempts to reveal Wax's character, but from the opening pages I found myself rooting for the guy. He seemed vulnerable to me . . . and human.
Two big sources leave us vulnerable according to Without Wax. What leaves us vulnerable? Well, sex and money. Both play a role in making Wax the unhappy man he becomes. Because sex is so taboo in our culture, most of us stumble into it and its mysteries on our own -- without guides. Guessing that everybody does it, Wax shaves his pubic hair as a young boy. This simple misunderstanding leads to fears by adults of his underdevelopment, which eventually leads to his overdevelopment. If he'd had someone to mentor him, maybe he never would have shaved - though, sadly, then we wouldn't have Without Wax.
It's the mystification and demonization of sex which fuels the porn industry, which is prevalent in the novel, but also prevalent in the real world. Without Wax examines how our relationship to sex has left most of us creeping around the subject - and sometimes creeping into peep booths or locking the doors to our rooms and watching porn. We have few healthy outlets for our curiosities and fantasies, so we have to turn to this seedy industry.
Of course, money plays into this, too. Wax's endowment leaves him ripe for exploitation -- by his parents, by his manager, and by nearly everybody who sees his gardenhose-length member.
Though I wouldn't have thought it at first, this novel says a lot about our society. Our relationship to money and our relationship to sex put Wax in the predicament he finds himself in. It puts many of us in the odd and sometimes unnecessarily shameful positions we find ourselves in.
In any case, this is a book that centers on a porn star and the porn industry, and it left me more intellectually stimulated than it did sexually stimulated. That's pretty cool.
(I'll admit, though, that there were some passages that raced my heart a little bit.)
I guess this isn't really a review - it's just me rambling after having finished the book. I did really like this book, though. I read it in a weekend - which is pretty darn fast for me. It's rendered in an interesting way, which includes interviews with characters, second-person narratives, a complete movie screenplay, and court depositions. A very cool read to say the least, and another unique feather in the cap of Casperian Books. Motor City Blues, The Tea House, End Credits, and Without Wax are each very different from the other, and yet all four have their own strengths.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Waxing Nostalgic, October 8, 2008
This review is from: Without Wax: A Documentary Novel (Paperback)
In doing some research on this novel, I came across many different meanings attributable to the title of the book, but the one that intrigued me relates to art.
When making a stone sculpture, sculptors would often use wax to fill in a mistake. A great sculpture was, therefore, one "without wax." The phrase has become synonymous for perfect, flawless. It is also the root of the word sincerely. Sin - without and Cera - wax.
I found this incredibly applicable to this work, not because it is a perfect novel (what novel is?), but because author Walsh has created an immensely likable, utterly sincere titular character, Wax Williams, an adult film star known for his huge endowment. Now, I'm sure John Holmes will spring immediately to mind but while Wax' back-story is not the most happy to be found, it is certainly not tragic, and therein lies the charm of this novel.
In writing a novel about pornography, it would be easy to fall into the trap of turning the story into an indictment against the industry it portrays. An author could load it down with heartbreaking, abusive histories for the characters or worse, create hackneyed stereotypes. Yet, like a documentarian and true to the structure of the book, Walsh views it all through the lens of the "camera," and never imposes his own moral or ethical judgment on the characters. The result is impressive, with characters that actually do seem like full human beings.
The plot revolves around Wax who is filming his swan song, what was intended to be a video featuring only Wax and a latex doll. Wax has saved his money, invested wisely and is ready to retire. This isn't to say that Wax is bitter about his life. Quite the opposite. Wax is an even-keeled uy, a star not only because of his attribute, but because he's genuine, a quality which makes his fans feel like they have a special connection with their idol. In short, Wax has "it" and the "it" is far more than what is between his legs. But, when it turns out that the man who created Wax' persona--manager Lyle Mammon--is the financing behind the final video, Wax find himself entangled again with a man he wanted to get away from. Then his retirement might be derailed when a young man who damaged himself using a Wax Williams toy files suit against Wax and his former manager.
Walsh expertly crafts the novel in the non-traditional format, writing it as if it were indeed a documentary. He uses "clips" of interviews, video scripts, testimonials, court depositions and even traditional prose. Surprisingly, very little of the story is told from Wax' perspective, which adds a nice little bit of tension to the piece as we're never quite sure if our hero will be alive or dead when we get to the last page. While one would think this back and forth between styles would make for a schizophrenic novel, Walsh stays committed to whichever style he happens to be writing, and each section flows easily into the next because the subject never veers far from the story of Wax.
In employing this literary conceit Walsh wisely allows the reader to get multiple perspectives on each character. For each person who adores Wax the celebrity, we also get the personal reminisces which give Wax the depth he needs and show him to be someone who may not be a sad person, but someone ready to move on. So, instead of a a man without wax, we get a man who has his fair share of wax. Likewise, for every person in the novel who finds Mammon, a manipulative user who exploited Wax, we have characters who give us examples of Mammon's humor, revealing someone with no illusions about himself. While Mammon could have easily have been made into a cartoon, we get a character with a surprising amount of depth.
Now there is a fair amount of manipulation of Wax. Everyone uses or wants something from him. But Wax knows what he is to others and accepts it. The manipulation runs throughout the book and hits home when the female doctor who is going to help Wax with one aspect of his retirement enters the picture. But it isn't done with a sledgehammer. Walsh does it all subtly, and we are never manipulated into feeling sorry for Wax. No character is demonized for the benefit of another. Quite masterful.
Now, if I have to point out one problem I did have with the novel it would be in the relationship Wax has with his very first screen star, the beautiful Renee Salmon. We are told throughout the story that Renee and Wax were the loves of each other's life, but we never are really shown this. Of all the characters Renee is the least developed. As a result, the impact of them not being together never really worked and the event that Renee goes through near the end falls flat. This, however, is a minor, minor quibble.
For those who have problems with non-stop talk/honest depictions of sex, this book might prove too much. The talk is frank, but never exploitative. It is used well, a shop-talk aspect of the book revealing of the characters. It's realistic and natural and about as erotic as listening to accountants talk debits and credits.
Perhaps the most artful part about Without Wax is that it functions exactly like a documentary. When you are done, you feel you've made a connection with these people. You've come to know them or love them or despise them. But what one also walks away with is the nagging feeling that you don't really know them. And in a novel that is as much about celebrity and objectification as it is about the industry, that's a remarkable feeling to be left with.
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