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A review by tcgarback
Try by Dennis Cooper
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Critical Score: B-
Personal Score: C
Lacking the horror and eroticism of Cooper’s best work, this one falls into the slush. It reads like a slightly more comprehensible version of Guide—which was published right after this one in the George Miles Cycle—and lacks bite.
The writing basically never moved me. His style works best when it’s blunt, bombastic, and appalling, not when it’s evasive, puzzling, and languid.
Having finished the cycle, I’ll rank them best to worst, and that’s easy to do because the gaps in quality between each are wide.
Frisk: a masterpiece
Closer: good literature
Try: underwhelming but serviceable
Guide: confusing, aimless, and forgettable
Period: far, far too avant-guard for me
Critical Score: B-
Personal Score: C
Lacking the horror and eroticism of Cooper’s best work, this one falls into the slush. It reads like a slightly more comprehensible version of Guide—which was published right after this one in the George Miles Cycle—and lacks bite.
The writing basically never moved me. His style works best when it’s blunt, bombastic, and appalling, not when it’s evasive, puzzling, and languid.
Having finished the cycle, I’ll rank them best to worst, and that’s easy to do because the gaps in quality between each are wide.
Frisk: a masterpiece
Closer: good literature
Try: underwhelming but serviceable
Guide: confusing, aimless, and forgettable
Period: far, far too avant-guard for me