Guide (Cooper, Dennis)

I cant say ENOUGH how much I ADORE this..and I hate it, cause is a hard, painfull book to read..but yet so very beautiful. I fell in love with Cooper's work reading "The slts" and went straight to "Guide", and to my surprise it was very different, and still very similar at one point. I think both are very raw, sad, painfull, and plays with different perspectives of life and desire, good/evil, and man's mind, ulterior motives..But "The slts" is much of a "the experiences" book, confusing and much more of actions, while in Guide you can see much clearer Cooper's development of a solid thinking association, that lead us to a lot of concepts, perspectives, thinking, things, leading us to..nothing. Thats why is a hard book, everyone here has its motives and their own "personal lawn", and you cant even say its wrong/right, cause just there isnt something like that, those thinking association constantly keeps you from holding to something..The book show us theres so much more in the deep parts, it never stops, and it takes it to its raw form, words, meanings, relashionships, yet full of every character meaning, which leads us to a lot of interesting things, and yet leads us to zero stuff..and solitude. I love how this book was developed, but its hard to read it, and much more knowing it will end, cause you keep looking for something real to hold on to, but you never get it. At "Guide" I suffered for the boys, but a lot for Cooper too, what a TOUGH thing must be being the creater of those books, yet it is all there, we know it..and someone has to say it. Yes, its violent, but theres violence in the world, all kinda of ***, and is painfull but Im glad there's someone so sensitive as Cooper to talk about all of this crazyness in such a refined/beautiful form, cause it gives voice to all this stuff that happens, in a victim/abuser perspective. And I think it can show us how victims and abusers can mix together, like the victim can be the ultimate abuser of himself as finding someone to do stuff he "thinks" he wants, and how DANGEROUS it is when we cross the thin line of thinking and doing. And in a terrifying, yet charming, funny as **** way, this book can be hilarious, but so sad..Oh, and about the "drug, song stuff", I love it, cause with the solid stuff Cooper show us how "real experiences, reall stuff" can be the truestest things you'll ever have, cause its in pure form and shape, and anything you have to try finding the meanings, can be sad and ridiculously missleading, cause it leads to "lies" (not true/solid stuff) and misunderstandings. Thats why I love the "xyxjxyx" parts! Now Im officially a Cooper's fan, and my tip would be: it can be a tough book to read, hard to get, but it can be beautiful, so give it a try?

I don't think there's anything profound about Dennis Cooper. As far as I can tell from having read this book and "Frisk", he writes the exact same book again and again, just changing the characters and circumstances slightly. Dennis has an agenda, and that's to make you squirm, if not with his nihilistic political worldview, with his graphic depictions of all manner of sexual expression, from remarking on the prettiness of pre-adolescent boys to rape, drugging, and dismemberment."Guide" is, as widely dicussed, probably the most celebrated piece of fanfiction ever written. Cooper gets props for writing a thinly disguised interlude wherein Alex from "Slur" gets picked up, stuffed full of roofies, and used as an amusing pawn in someone's fantasy life. It is extremely funny if you know anything about fanfiction, and has guaranteed him hundreds of sales from Blur fans desperate to pick up anything even vaguely smacking of their messiahs. (I am a fine example of this, as well as being interested in Cooper's oeuvre, and wondering if I could get through another of his books)."Guide" is a little funnier than "Frisk", and that makes it a lot easier to get through. If you are even slightly upset or traumatized by the concepts of gay sex, pedophilia, or sexual violence, you would be well advised to stay away. However, if you think "Naked Lunch" is charming and brilliant, and you enjoy the smellier bits of "Le Chants de Maldoror" or "Our Lady of the Flowers", you'll totally dig "Guide", because it is really funny, if totally offensive to pretty much every slightly healthy member of society.

Dennis Cooper is an incredible writer who dares to go places very few other authors refuse to touch. His books are shocking, grotesque but also masterfully structured, beautifully written and seem even more vital than ever in 2020. If you can stomach the extreme depictions of sexual violence you’ll find an incredible and indelible voice you’ll never forget.

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Mr. Cooper has a gift of making extremely controversial and uncomfortable subject matter compulsively readable. His books are obviously not for everybody, but his genius isn't hard to see if you can stomach the contents.This is brave and important writing.

This one or "Try" are the novels I usually offer to those of my friends who have not read Cooper yet but may be uneasy about some of the content. What is often missed is his pitch-perfect ear for contemporary dialogue, his wit and marvelously graceful prose. Some compare him to Jean Genet. This is fair, and perhaps a nice thought to have when you begin reading his work, but in fact Dennis Cooper is better than that. Better than William Burroughs as well. He is one writer here now who will definitely be read in one hundred years (if people still by then read -- which I think they will).

I just generally love Dennis Cooper, but this book feels grounded and concrete in a way his other books sometimes don't - the people are presented as people, in a community, as opposed to the elegant distanced Genet-esque (Genetian? Genetic?) tone he sometimes strikes.

This book has some very good reviews. I read it from start to finish. There was a story there but frankly I had lost interest by the end of the book. Its a short read but really I did not enjoy the book and I will hesitate in reading anything else by Dennis Cooper.