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6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Haunting, unshakable, and surprisingly intelligent, August 14, 2000
I read this novel some time ago, and have been haunted by it ever since. What follows is an urgent, desperate, unsuccessful attempt at exorcism through analysis:At first glance, it looks as if Brad Gooch's _Z0mbie00_ is yet another attempt to delve into the self-consciously transgressive homosexual S/M demimonde, the territory of James Purdy and Dennis Cooper, as well as moderately successful imitators like Scott Heim, Gary Indiana -- and, until fairly recently, Brad Gooch. But this fictional territory has grown barren; in Cooper's latest novella _Period_, the hip, postmodern sadomasochistic tendencies are as bland and blase as MTV's _Real World_ or CBS's _Big Brother_, without the faux-voyeuristic kick. The problem with the transgressive school of Gay fiction, is that scenes of wild, sadomasochistic sex -- Gay or straight -- no longer have the power to shock us. They've been staples of religious-right propaganda for years, precisely because they could "epate le bourgeoisie" a bit. Now that absolutely _everyone_ seems ready and willing to be used, abused, and humiliated practically at the drop of a hat, it's much more difficult to celebrate the S/M dynamic as a transformative, trangressive act of rebellion against a production-driven economy of desire (as Michel Foucault did). Surprisingly, Gooch's latest book, a tersely written bildungsroman about a self-proclaimed "zombie," still has the power to transgress and to shock, though not in the same visceral manner that this kind of Gay fiction has usually attempted. Even though Gooch inserts all the requisite graphic scenes of ritualistic abuse (some of them quite erotically written), he gives the novel a subtle, disturbing intelligence of his own that transforms the more shopworn aspects of this literature. Throughout the book, Gooch deconstructs the binary of "slavery" and "liberation," first by placing the narrative in the hands of a character who actively asserts his zombie-like passivity, and then by confronting the historical mirror-image (or is it a photonegative?) of the protagonist as he comes to grips with his "zombie" identity. The eventual collapse of the terms produces an intellectual jolt, shattering our received ideas about the nature of oppression. No less shocking, though, is the novel's emphasis on spirituality. Gooch gives his "zombie's" adventures the quality of a vision quest, or of a spiritual pilgrimage -- complete with an almost monastic retreat in the end. Occasionally this gives Gooch an opportunity to indulge in satires of piety run amuck (as when the "zombie" and an abusive master named Control Freak attend a thinly fictionalized "Promise Keepers" rally). But for the most part, though, Gooch's attitude toward spirituality is surprisingly reverent. The protagonist's search for a cosmic sense of self is real and poignant; Gooch takes that search every bit as seriously as his protagonist. _Z0mbie00_ is not wholly without its problems. As with most first-person novels where the narrator pulls double duty as the protagonist, the narrative voice isn't always consistent or believable. The chapter on the Promise Keepers rally, though delightful, seems extraneous, and the ending leaves much to be desired. Still, Gooch's novel stakes out bold new ground for transgressive Gay writers, one that reclaims the transformative power of S/M fiction through a more subtle, humane authorial intelligence, as well as a new awareness of spirituality within the S/M world view. Four stars.
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