Being an avid reader I pride myself in exploring innovative writing styles and new types of books. The last book I read is Jerry Stahl's Plainclothes: Naked. I stumbled upon it in the Blog of a friend. He wrote: "I sat down around 11 in Barnes and Noble to read Jerry Stahl's Plainclothes: Naked. Truly disturbing and a fantastic read, i recommend it if you are 1) crazy 2)smart 3) suffering from delusions that you've got a f***** up love life." How could I resist?
Knowing that he has great taste in books and that he is a harsh critic I decided to give it a try. I was not prepared for this book but I loved it. I plunged head first into a new genre I have learned is called crack noir. The name alone of this genre stirs my interest.
I had to read the first few pages of the book three times because I could not believe the sentences that my eyes were reading. To put it simply, I was shocked. The book begins: "Tina couldn't decide between ground glass and Drano. She'd already sprinkled a pinch of smashed-up lightbulb--an easy reading 40-watter-- in Marvin's Lucky Charms..." Tina, one of the main characters was trying to kill her husband with a broken lightbulb in his cereal but, just to make sure, she poured in Drano as well. Needless to stay, she succeeded in her project.
What follows is a turbulent story of a codeine-popping police officer, transgender surgeries in hotel rooms, a police chief drunk with a super ego complex and two junkies (one of whom is in America's Most Wanted) and a controversial picture of the President of the United States. I couldn't stop laughing even though I was completely stunned by what I was reading.
This book was thoroughly enjoyable. It was funny, witty and smart. But, what did I learn from this book? Despite its rather disturbing humorously developed content, there are some serious aspects to this book. It is a social critique that takes aim at the corrupt system and mechanisms of government. It shows us how easily a person can be turned and corrupted, how easy it is to blackmail and how easy it is to give in. After all we are but humans.
Stahl also negotiates the pecularities and grey areas of love through the interaction of the main characters: Manny, a police officer, and Tina, the Drano killer. Their love story is complex and explores the extreme costs of love and the danger and difficulty of establishing trust. Yet, through all of it, there is a certain quality to their love that allows it to survive and flourish even as their lives are dismantled.
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