Few novelists pursue their chosen themes with such morbid enthusiasm as Dennis Cooper. For more than a decade his quintet of novels - Closer, Frisk, Try, Guide and now Period - have obsessed over sex, child pornography, drugs and dismemberment. Undeterred even by death threats, Cooper has played out his violent fantasies in these novels with a disturbing purity of vision. His new novel Period marks, as its title suggests, the end of the cycle. He's claimed that it's both a 'disappearing act' and a 'suicide note.' Considering the spectral and sparse quality of the book both comments seem particularly appropriate.

The quintet began back in 1989 with Closer. Yet it was Cooper's 1991 novel Frisk that really stirred controversy, deliberately blurring the line between fantasy and reality and securing its author a place at the cutting edge of contemporary American literature. Period draws out the same themes and concerns as the preceding novels, charting the bored angst of gay West Coast adolescents and their middle-aged paramours as they drift into experiments with drugs, Satanism, sex and ultimately murder. Like grim parodies of Enlightenment anatomists, Cooper's protagonists believe that dismembering the bodies of their lovers will reveal the truth of existence, bringing them closer to an absent God and saving them from the demystified consumer culture that surrounds them.

What has always been so impressive about Cooper's work is his dedication to narrative forms that replicate the violent content of the books. His prose has sought to cut into the flat surface of the conventional pornographic or horror text through the use of flashbacks, narratives-within-narratives, and stream of consciousness techniques. In Period this relationship between form and content reaches its peak, creating a fragmented and confusing novel that refuses easy definition. It's certainly the sparsest of Cooper's books, a skeleton thin, episodic narrative that's like the decomposed body of one of the story's victims. Indeed, the novel is so cut up that the reader has no choice but to follow the advice of the epigraph and 'keep watch over absent meaning'. Shifting between different characters' viewpoints, radio phone-ins, Internet chat rooms and diaries Cooper creates a disturbing hall of mirrors through which we're left to wander without a guide. Although Period's obliqueness is slightly dissatisfying it appears ultimately inevitable, for what else but a self-reflexive 'period' could end this set of books?

Period confirms Cooper's growing reputation as the most exciting and transgressive of contemporary American novelists. However, as last year's publication of Cooper's journalism and essays - in the collection All Ears - has demonstrated, his work has much more scope than this obsessively brilliant cycle of novels. He's currently working on a book based upon the recent spate of American High School shootings and has also expressed a desire to experiment with a novel of physical comedy (he cites the films of Jacques Tatti, Jerry Lewis and Jackie Chan as a potential source of inspiration). Whatever path he may choose his next offering will be awaited eagerly on both sides of the Atlantic.

'Period' by Dennis Cooper is at times horrifying, heartbreaking, or just confusing. Horrifying becauses of it's violent implications and stronghold to truth. Heartbreaking because of the overwhelming feeling of desire and missed chances. His dialogue and syntax keep reading interesting, if not hard to comprehend. He jumps around a lot, but that just adds to the whole darkness of the book. Without having read the other novels in this "cycle" , it takes awhile to figure out what's going on. 'Period' is a book that the reader will either read cover to cover three times, or set on fire after reading the first few paragraphs.

"Period" is likely to anger many Cooper fans due to its spare qualities in narrative, character, form. Cooper has always written about desire, particularly it's darkest manifestations and results. Cooper's books are short, extreme, and demand that they roll around the subconscious of the reader. "Period" is no different, but here everything Cooper has worked toward in the 4 previous novels in this cycle is reported flatly, obscurely, and sometimes causes great aggravation in the reader.

However, interviews with Cooper have revealed that "George Miles" was a real person who left deep emotional marks in Cooper. His mutilation in "Closer," the first in the cycle, seems like an attempt to exorcise the author's feeling for his object of obsession. George's absence (or mere mention) in the next 3 books makes it seem like the author was successful. Those 3 books ("Frisk," "Try," "Guide)all deal in some way with the attempt to vanquish desire. Exploration of the extremes in human thought and behavior distance the obsession over something the author, who is always a character in some fashion in the cycle, cannot have.

Interviews say that Cooper found that the real George Miles committed suicide, years after their relationship. "Period" takes that as a cue to move everything toward death - desire, the author himself, any characters that happen to appear in the midst. This book mirrors Cooper's others, but leaves us in the end only with ourselves and interpretations. The book has a formal structure where the prose is allowed to mirror itself foremost, the other books in the cycle secondly, and ourselves - probably most disturbingly.

Under all the sex, gore, minimalism, and luridness of Cooper's novels is a profound meditation on who we are, what relationships mean, how expression cannot contain reality, and the various meanings of love.

This is strong stuff. "Period" is not the place to start for a novice. But it's one hell of a book-long poem about desire, and therefore a fitting end to the five book cycle. What Cooper does next is already an intriguing subject. He might just be the last American writer with any guts. A master; a masterwork.

I intially got into Cooper by mistaking his work for another writer, but found myself happily surprised after reading some short stories he had written.
This book is pretty much standard for Cooper, not to say it is bad. It is always fascinating to read about the sorts of things people think about but never admit to. Or the things which ahppen in life no one wants to talk about. Specifically very dirty sex and murder. And this book will cover all of that.
It's rather hard to explain the plot since I don't think there is one in any normal sense. Dennis Cooper ust isn't that kind of writer. Instead, we have vignettes all orbiting around one character, George Miles, a teenager sort of confused by and removed from the world. This quality he has allows numerous tortures to be enacted upon him and he takes it, not really seeming to feel any deeper sort of pleasure. A character it is easy to project upon by the other characters.
It's been a few months since I've read this, but it still seems fresh in my head. This is the sort of stuff which will seriously affect you, but some will find it too shocking and repulsive for their taste.

I've just finished this book, my third so far by Dennis Cooper, the other two being "Frisk" and "Guide". Cooper seems to be covering the same issues of sadomaschoism, death, murder, homosexual rape, etc...In this book as compared to the other two the reader can see his development as a writer,which in the later books he is more controlled in his prose. This was one of his first books, while the other two were written later. It's a good novel with some similar characters but it left me with a coldness inside.

this is one of the most painful books i've ever read. it hurts to read it, but it's still one of my favorite books. cooper has an ability to show situations that are both horrific and beautiful. that really hit home for me because i think that's how life really is. it's like children singing in hell.
i read this one right after _Frisk_ and liked it a lot better. i could identify more with the George character, than i could with anyone in the other book. the portrait of the kid who gets exploited by everyone around him in different ways is just amazing. i couldn't sleep the night i read it. it's one of those books that makes you sad and contemplative. if you want to do that, definitely pick it up. if not, it might not be a good idea.

For those looking for vintage Cooper, you should be warned that nothing in this book is indicitive of Cooper's usual writing style, or any of the writerly idiosynchrasies that have given him cult celebrity. But that's only because it's a compilation of articles that Cooper did over the years for Rolling Stone, Interview, and other magazines. At best, this book is a cultural pastiche of a time that's slowly fading from the tips of our memories; the period of the late 80s/early 90's in which ennui, AIDS, and a new sort of decadance were laying the groundwork for the rest of the decade. Articles about the death of River Pheonix and Kurt Kobain, interviews with Courtney Love and Keanu Reaves,a rather scathing article about the death of William Burroughs,(the opinions in which I politely disagree)and Cooper's opiniated voice color this compilation with a sort of bleak, but humanistic worldview. Anyway, it's all worth it for an interview with Keanu Reaves (Pre-Speed) in which Cooper gets the then cult figure to talk about drugs he'd like to use...

I've had the honor to meet a wonderful author by the name of Dennis Cooper. This summer I purchased this book, 'All Ears' in a small bookstore in San Francisco. Intrigued by the thought of reading cultural criticisms, I grabbed the book and proceeded to checkout.
That night I opened the book up and began to read. The first story, a story of Cooper and a man who was infected with AIDS, kept me going, and before the night was over I found myself with little more to read.
Cooper is fantastic. Honestly, thats the only world I can think of at the moment.
I plan on buying many more books by Cooper in the near future. It can hook anyone, and if you are into modern-esque essays purchase this book.

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.

I read this book back to back with another that was dedicated to the author. I'd never heard of Dennis cooper so I didn't know what to expect. I was going to give it three stars but then I realized that was only because it was so upsetting. Along with how well written and engrossing it is, that's actually a reason to rate it higher, so I did. It was my own fear getting in the way. The real frustration was the absence of a moral stance. It's like Bret Easton Ellis that way - you have to make up your own mind about what's going on. You realize you're just getting angry because there's no re-assurance provided, you're totally immersed in a world with no ethical designations. This book is one of the more powerful I've read for that. I'd say this is about as transgressive and gutsy as writing gets. Glad I found it.

I couldn't put it down for more than a minute, I read it cover to cover and afterwards i curled up into a ball and cried. It's the most realistic, eye opening and simultaneously humorous and surreal thing i've ever read. passing it up is like passing up air on a sinking ship.

This is my first Dennis Cooper book so it took me several pages to get use to his style of writing. At first I found this choppy style quite annoying; howerver, one I got into the book, it became easier to concentrate on the plot.
I found the book disturbing simply because of the subject matter, child pornograpy, pedophilia, drug abuse, and necrophilia all wraped up in one. I guess my curiosy keep me reading this book to find out how this all would end. I can honestly say that this was not one of my favorite books.

'Try' is my first Dennis Cooper book and, well, it will probably be my last as well. I read it because I thought it would be quality 'shock' literature similar to the works of JG Ballard, Chuck Palahniuk or Irvine Welsh. While 'Try' is chock-full of shock elements I'm afraid I couldn't understand what Dennis Cooper was trying to say. I hoped to be rewarded after enduring pages of serious S&M verbage. But instead the book simply left me confused, and relieved (that I finished it).

In a nutshell, 'Try' is about a teenager (Ziggy) who is systematically abused both physically and sexually by his two dads. He also is in love with a straight junkie, and has an uncle who perhaps should have specialized as a proctologist for young boys. Ziggy's world is a nightmare but, inexplicably, he takes it in stride. He goes as far as writing a newsletter for sexually abused kids. Suffice to say, while some elements of the story are plausible I found 'Try', on the whole, to be over-the-top.

'Try' is an extremely graphic novel. Even fetish-oriented gay men would probably be amazed (to the point of ecstasy) at the lurid descriptions of rough sexual acts. This book is definitely not for the squeamish.

However I will credit Dennis Cooper for at least being a 'good writer' (ie, his narrative flows well), and for at least 'pushing the envelope' in the sometimes stodgy world of literature. He seems to have the talent to produce fine work. However he did not achieve this with 'Try'.

There are a few cliches to get your head round before reading Cooper and taking him seriously. One is the idea of the countercultural writer or punk poet. He is both of these, to an extent, but nothing like exclusively. If he borrows weight from any quarter it's in that he's gay and tackling the very established, even passe form of the pychological novel (see that blurb about Austen on the jacket). Anyone who knows Genet, though, will see the influence straight away - a writer besotted with the erotic and mythopoeic property of words, while staying far from any traditional level of erudition that could be used to boost his reputation or advance an idea of his 'level'. He is, in fact, a perfect modern incarnation of (or caterer to) Baudelaire's 'hypocrite lecteur'. He's 1% artist, and his books are 1% art, but don't underestimate that fraction's potency. Writes from the heart like no-one i know.

Dennis Cooper, before turning to novels, wrote several books of poetry and short-short stories. The good news about The Tenderness of the Wolves is its super final story, a longer piece called "A Herd", where Cooper begins to explore dark areas, including mutilation, rape, and sadism, which he later returns to in his novels. "A Herd" is haunting and brutal, verging on shocking on a first read. His exploration of these difficult topics is strong, yet subtle. Also included in this book is "Being Aware," among the best of all Cooper's poetry. Unfortunately, beyond that, the poems are a marked dropoff, distinctly less interesting than in Cooper's earlier book, Idols. He covers the territory of bored, sexually peaked teenagers better than anyone, but these poems don't show more than flashes of true insight. In addition, if anyone wants to read a truly overblown analyzation of Cooper's work, check out the introduction to this book, written by! noted novelist and essayist Edmund White.

I picked this one up at my school library where I work, after it had been sent there for one of my co-workers (a Dennis Cooper fan) to review in some journal. He'd passed on it and told me that it was "puerile." I happen to loathe Cooper's novels myself, so since this is in a series edited by him, I thought I'd give it a read. I assumed anything a Cooper fan didn't like would be okay by me. Wrong! Even though my co-worker and I disagree on many things, Jeppesen's book is indeed puerile, not to mention utterly childish garbage. I'm amazed how indulged many of the more pretentious writers are today, usually by publishers (and readers) who wouldn't know good writing if it smacked them in the face. In fact, the more pretentious they are, the more they're indulged, and Jeppesen is one of the most pretentious I've come across. Even his author bio is pretentious, since he won't reveal the Eastern European country where he lives. (How mysterious! How über cool!) Who does he think he is, Salmon Rushdie or J.D. Salinger? I have no doubt that, since Cooper now has his own imprint, he'll continue to foist immature carbon copies of himself on this publisher, who's been foolish enough to release Jeppesen's book. Also, I'm sure that almost all of the books Cooper recommends in the future will be by men. Do yourself a favor and forget this one. It's even more self-indulgent and affected than Cooper's own writing.

So what do you get when you buy a book published by a has-been rock performer, edited by an absurdly overrated cult novelist, and written by young American trendoid with more pretensions than talent who lives in what is ponderously described as an "undisclosed Eastern European country"? A mindless, empty novel that manages to say absolutely nothing about its obstensible subject, cults, and that you forget the moment you finish it (if you can manage that). Spare me.

I always try to finish a book once I've started it, but "Victims" was certainly a chore. It's a vapid exercise in pretension, ovewritten in a style that verges on the purple and that sheds absolutely no light on its subject, cults, or on literature in general. Yet no sooner had I forced myself to finish it than I read a very positive review comparing it to Henry Darger and Adolf Wolfi. Puh-leese! These guys had some substance to them. And they'd never have the gall to say in their author bio, as Jeppesen does, that they live in an "undisclosed" Eastern European country. I can't see the point in keeping this information undisclosed apart from Jeppesen trying to give himself a mysterious aura that his text fails to do. So the positive review baffled me, until I came to the end of it and saw that the reviewer also reviewed (also positively) Dennis Cooper's twaddle, and Cooper is the editor of the series that "Victims" is a part of. Hmmmm. Very interesting. Is there some sort of connection here?