User: Amazon.ca: Blake Nelson: Books

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Review

"A refreshing change from cooler-than-thou hipster lit." -- Pagan Kennedy, author of The Exes

"Blake Nelson has an ear for the cool, confused, brutally deadpan voice of youth. He ably documents its inner monologue." -- Maggie Estep, author of Diary of an Emotional Idiot

"Dark, funny and deadly accurate, User is Nelson's most boldly successful literary effort." -- Douglas Rushkoff, author of Ecstacy Club

About the Author

Blake Nelson is the author of the novels Girl - now a major motion picture - and Exile. His writing has appeared in Details, Jane and The New York Observer, among others. He lives in New York City.

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Customer Reviews

5 Reviews

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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Average Customer Review

4.4 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Kids on Techno, Aug 12 2003

By

drew (Parker, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: User (Paperback)

Someday some is going to write a dissertation on Nelson's youth obsession. In his other books he writes mostly about over-sensative young people, in this book he goes to the other extreme. These kids are brutal, drugged, sex-obsessed and yet still sweet in that special Nelson way. I like all his books but this is a special favorite.

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5.0 out of 5 stars dark and sexy, Aug 4 2003

By

Danielle (baltimore) - See all my reviews

This review is from: User (Paperback)

this is a Nelson's indie book. it is a little darker, a little funnier, a lot sexier than his normal stuff. check it out

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3.0 out of 5 stars I'm a User baby...so why don't you, April 1 2003

By

N. P. Stathoulopoulos "nick9155" (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)

This review is from: User (Paperback)

User is Blake Nelson's own answer to his first novel, Girl. This time it's a boy, a young man a few years older than the teen Andrea of that book. Mitch is 23, in between menial jobs, not in school, and generally going nowhere. His family involvement is minimal and with no encouragement from those around him to do
anything, he does nothing. User refers not so much to the familiar drugs and booze of twentysomethings but to the use and attempted use of those around him.

The problem is, Mitch isn't even good at it or good at anything for that matter. The thing he does most expertly is smoke a cigarette, as Nelson writes repeatedly,
"He smokes." ..., which would sum up the main character. Broke, bored, and with little personality to get him more than sex with people he doesn't even care about, there is no request for sympathy and none given. Stealing something here and there, bumming a ride, trying to get into a club for free ("I used to work here") all sum up the not-as-cool-nor-fun-as-it-seems life of a slacker.

Nelson has a smooth writing style that makes this a fast read. However, it comes off as a watered down version of the kind of young and the useless stories that Bret Easton Ellis began in the 80s with Less Than Zero. Ellis is both loved and reviled, but one thing has become clear. In the years since Less Than Zero, Rules of Attraction and even American Psycho, he looks that much better compared to the competition.

Not to say that User is going for the same thing. The reference to Less Than Zero on the back cover is ill-advised but undoubtedly inserted to sell the book. (Hey, I bought it!) And that's part of the problem. Don't expect a Less Than Zero for the end of the century. This book basically meanders through the few weeks (or was it months?) in the life of Mitch. There's no real plot and there is no pretension on the flip side. No larger statement that is present in Ellis' work (even though that author prefers the sledge-hammer to the head form of subtlety to get his point across.) As a slice of post-grunge youngsters with nothing to do and nowhere to go (through their own doing I might add) this is harmless enough. It's only occasionally insightful but actually seems less mature. Mitch is a less consistent narrator than Andrea in Girl. There are moments, however, where Blake gets right inside the mind of a twentysomething guy with perfection.

I'd recommend it to anyone interested in novels about the young and disaffected. However, be aware that you could do better. Nelson is a writer for Details, which may tell you as much as you need to know off the bat.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars A guttural scream for boys
If you don't know Blake Nelson by now, you should be ashamed. His work ranks among the finest stylists. Read more

Published on July 31 2002 by liz3894

4.0 out of 5 stars Time Capsule for the Post-Grunge 90s
Given that the publication date kept being bumped up and that it was rumored the novel would never see the light of day, I was a bit concerned that Nelson's latest effort, User,... Read more

Published on May 6 2002 by Harvest Moon