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tometrinket 's review for:
The Voyeur's Motel
by Gay Talese
I have to admit, I expected a lot more from this book. As I heard about it a long time ago, I already forgot where from, I imagined me being in for a treat. What I wanted was a deep dive into a voyeur’s mindset, the inner workings of his brain sprinkled with some juicy true stories of things that he witnessed. What I got was more like the proof of just how boring most people’s sex lives were. XD
‘The Voyeur’s Motel’ surely has an interesting premise, and I actually like the way the self-proclaimed Voyeur Gerald Foos wrote his journals, his research into human sexuality. What I didn’t enjoy that much was the author’s parts, Gay Talese had a bored tone throughout the book. He lacked a certain passion for the subject, and it kinda showed. By no means do I think that Gerald Foos was perfect, far from it, he was a very unreliable witness, and even after the book, I’m not sure I even believe any of it happened. But nonetheless, I found his journal, his lists and his ‘findings’ quite fascinating and I find his slightly narcissistic approach to life quite entertaining. I guess I wish he could’ve just published his journals in their raw form, I could do without the comments from the author.
I guess I didn’t give this three stars out of five for the same reasons many gave this 1-2 stars, cos of my own voyeuristic tendencies and questionable morals at best. I don’t think what Gerald did was right, no it wasn’t, it was very wrong and no amount of justification would make it right. But I also don’t think it’s icky enough of an act that I wouldn’t be as curious to read it as I am to zoom in on roadkills even though I know what it’s going to look like. Morbid curiosity plagues all, sexual curiosity even more. Tell me you don’t stop and listen to your neighbors when they fight or have sex. I know I do.
‘The Voyeur’s Motel’ surely has an interesting premise, and I actually like the way the self-proclaimed Voyeur Gerald Foos wrote his journals, his research into human sexuality. What I didn’t enjoy that much was the author’s parts, Gay Talese had a bored tone throughout the book. He lacked a certain passion for the subject, and it kinda showed. By no means do I think that Gerald Foos was perfect, far from it, he was a very unreliable witness, and even after the book, I’m not sure I even believe any of it happened. But nonetheless, I found his journal, his lists and his ‘findings’ quite fascinating and I find his slightly narcissistic approach to life quite entertaining. I guess I wish he could’ve just published his journals in their raw form, I could do without the comments from the author.
I guess I didn’t give this three stars out of five for the same reasons many gave this 1-2 stars, cos of my own voyeuristic tendencies and questionable morals at best. I don’t think what Gerald did was right, no it wasn’t, it was very wrong and no amount of justification would make it right. But I also don’t think it’s icky enough of an act that I wouldn’t be as curious to read it as I am to zoom in on roadkills even though I know what it’s going to look like. Morbid curiosity plagues all, sexual curiosity even more. Tell me you don’t stop and listen to your neighbors when they fight or have sex. I know I do.