- Paperback: 96 pages
- Publisher: Nick Hern Books (April 1 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1854599844
- ISBN-13: 978-1854599841
- Product Dimensions: 19.9 x 17 x 0.9 cm
- Shipping Weight: 141 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,167,755 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
If there's any justice, it is only a matter of time before the work of the curiously-named D B C Pierre becomes essential for anyone interested in cutting-edge writing today. Vernon God Little is a book that has a totally individual (and very quirky) identity, from a writer with a finger on the pulse of contemporary society (particularly its less comfortable aspects). Pierre is also a satirical writer in the vein of such talents as Terry Southern, and there is a manic quality to his work that makes the experience of reading him both disorienting and exhilarating. As a first novel, this is a remarkable achievement.
Teenager Vernon Gregory Little's life has been changed by the Columbine-style slaughter of a group of students at his high school. Soon his hole-in-the-wall town is blanketed under a media siege, and Vernon finds himself blamed for the killing (rather than the real culprit, a friend of Vernon's). Eulalio Ledesma is his particular nemesis, manipulating things so that Vernon becomes the fulcrum for the bizarre and vengeful impulses of the townspeople of Martirio. After a truly surrealistic set of events, Vernon finds himself heading for a fateful assignation in Mexico with the delectable Taylor Figueros (everyone in the book has names as odd as the author's).
By setting his novel in the barbecue sauce capital of Central Texas, Pierre ensures that his narrative is going to be some distance from naturalistic writing. And as a scalpel-like satirical incision into the mores of contemporary America, reality TV and media hysteria, Vernon God Little often reads like a fractured modern-day take on such novels as John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. --Barry Forshaw --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
Pierre takes a freewheeling, irreverent look at teenage Sturm und Drang in his erratic, sometimes darkly comic debut novel about a Texas boy running from the law in the wake of a gory school shooting. Vernon Gregory Little is the 15-year-old protagonist, a nasty, sarcastic teenager accused of being an accessory to the murders committed by his friend Jesus Navarro in tiny Martirio, "the barbecue sauce capital of Texas." Vernon manages to make bail and avoid the media horde that descends on the town after the killings, but he's unable to get to the other gun-his father's-which he knows will tie him to the crime, despite his innocence. His flight path takes him first to Houston, where he unsuccessfully tries to hook up with gorgeous former schoolmate Taylor Figueroa; the crafty beauty, promised a media job by the evil Lally, who's also duped Vernon's mom, follows him to Mexico and efficiently betrays him. Most of the plotting feels like an excuse for Vernon's endless, sharply snide riffs on his small town and the unique excesses of America that helped spawn the killings. Unfortunately, Vernon's voice grows tiresome, his excesses make him rather unlikable and the over-the-top, gross-out humor is hit-or-miss. Pierre's wild energy offers entertaining satire as well as cringe-provoking scenes, and though he can write with incisive wit, this is a bumpy ride.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
It's hot as hell in Martirio, but the papers on the porch are icy with the news. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
It's hot as hell in Martirio, but the papers on the porch are icy with the news. Read the first page
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Concordance
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Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astonishing! Among the Best!,
This review is from: Vernon God Little (Paperback)
In the grand tradition of Mark Twain's "Tom Sawyer," S.E. Hinton's "The Outsiders," J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," and Rikki Lee Travolta's "My Fractured Life" D.B.C. Pierre has created a astonishing story based in scheme and off centered sensibilities of unbalanced youth. "Vernon God Little" raps us up in the world of fifteen year old Vernon Little of Maritiro, Texas in an adventure to rival the mishaps of Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye" or Hinton's "The Outsiders" but with the dark humor of Twain's classic "Tom Sawyer" and Travolta's modern "My Fractured Life." The subtlety of the dark humor may be lost on some, but for those who enjoy such play in the dark recesses of the mind, "Vernon God Little" will be a dark delight.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lively and Entertaining,
This review is from: Vernon God Little (Paperback)
As with My Fractured Life, Vernon God Little has some salty language and a few adult situations. If you don't mind such things, the story itself is lively and entertaining. Probably best recommended for adults and teens and not younger children. It's a fun and pleasing way to spend an evening or afternoon or two.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
What a story!,
By A Customer
This review is from: Vernon God Little (Paperback)
I was recommended this book by a friend and had no idea what I was getting myself into. This is one incredible tale. Definitely not your usual "coming of age" tale, this is one book you MUST read. I had literally no idea where the story was going from one minute to the next and simply couldn't put it down! Great read for the summer or anytime. Also would recommend Jackson McCrae's THE BARK OF THE DOGWOOD.
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