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A review by ghostboyreads
Flunker by Dennis Cooper
4.0
"Things have changed and so have I, maybe for the better, maybe not; I'm still trying to figure myself out all over again. I just wish things were different, I wish things could be definite..."
Flunker, is, as described by Dennis Cooper himself, a collection of B-Sides, and, it certainly does feel that way. That's not to say that this book is any less brilliant than his other work, or that it lacks the impact of Cooper's other stories, it just means that, this is perhaps the worst starting place for those who are just discovering this author. This is, much more, a release for Cooper's ardent fans. Flunker is highly experimental and insanely transgressive, perhaps even more-so than Cooper's usual offerings. Maybe Flunker isn't the best Dennis Cooper novel, perhaps it's not the most enticing, but good God, it might just be the single most interesting, strangest, and weirdest thing the man has ever penned. Flunker is a limitless, explosive piece of fiction, it is a text that deserves studying.
What I love the very most about Flunker, is that you can actually track the evolution of Cooper's work, each story feels so very rooted in a specific era of his writing career. Flunker is absolutely beautiful and devastating, it's a complete sucker punch to the gut, it's one of those books that, in all its ruinous glory, sticks with you long after it's over. It's a truly fearless text, an imaginative, propulsive wild-ride that is unlike anything else you've ever experienced. This novel is proof that Dennis Cooper is one of the most important authors of our time. The sheer range of this novel, the intense, feverish differences in writing styles across the stories, God, it's extraordinary. As a side note - "From Here On" is the best story in this entire collection and ranks amongst the best of Cooper's stories ever.
Flunker, is, as described by Dennis Cooper himself, a collection of B-Sides, and, it certainly does feel that way. That's not to say that this book is any less brilliant than his other work, or that it lacks the impact of Cooper's other stories, it just means that, this is perhaps the worst starting place for those who are just discovering this author. This is, much more, a release for Cooper's ardent fans. Flunker is highly experimental and insanely transgressive, perhaps even more-so than Cooper's usual offerings. Maybe Flunker isn't the best Dennis Cooper novel, perhaps it's not the most enticing, but good God, it might just be the single most interesting, strangest, and weirdest thing the man has ever penned. Flunker is a limitless, explosive piece of fiction, it is a text that deserves studying.
What I love the very most about Flunker, is that you can actually track the evolution of Cooper's work, each story feels so very rooted in a specific era of his writing career. Flunker is absolutely beautiful and devastating, it's a complete sucker punch to the gut, it's one of those books that, in all its ruinous glory, sticks with you long after it's over. It's a truly fearless text, an imaginative, propulsive wild-ride that is unlike anything else you've ever experienced. This novel is proof that Dennis Cooper is one of the most important authors of our time. The sheer range of this novel, the intense, feverish differences in writing styles across the stories, God, it's extraordinary. As a side note - "From Here On" is the best story in this entire collection and ranks amongst the best of Cooper's stories ever.
"Perhaps you will join me in thinking yourself no longer in the presence of a corpse named Charles, but comporting briefly with some horrid mutant, perhaps some fluke of a creature whose lack of specificity is nauseating to contemplate -- the abhorrent spawn of some countryside pervert and a deer -- one of those stumbling fawns one spots sometimes in nature -- helpless wisps of deer-like matter found wanting by their mothers for reasons only animals can grasp then all but coaxed towards the nearest hungry lion."
The writing feels so damn obsessive, and this is absolutely not a complaint - it is, in fact, the highest praise I can muster. If you're obsessed by nothing, then what are you but mediocre and boring, right? Here, Cooper writes about everything he usually writes about, it's just, he tackles it all in such a staggeringly different way. It's all so typical of his work, haunting and drenched in sadness, a maddening circus show doused in gasoline, set ablaze before our eyes - it's nothing but pained screams, yet, it feels so very different from his other work. The stories are more jagged, more raw. Flunker is moving, an incredible achievement. As violent and as disturbing as the greatest horror novels, a masterpiece, providing you already love the author.
"One day a neighbor saw Dimitry walking down the hall without his shirt and asked if he'd pose naked for some pictures. Dimitry said no, so he said, fine, then I'll just kill you and take the pictures afterwards. So Dimitry posed. This was the child's story, anyway."