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Apr 01, 2008

Chris rated it:

It appears that 2008 is going to be the year I plunge blindly into the ever-growing morass of uninspired and weak drivel that is gay literature. Every other book I pick up concerns one recurring element; completely unbridled homosexual revelry. And I’ll be honest; I’m disappointed. One would think that in all that time that the homosexual minority is busy being shunned, alienated, and whatever else they gripe about in their heart-wrenchingly ‘honest and unbiased’ tales of ostracism (generally More...

7 comments like (9 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Jason rated it:

i read the ultra-dark gothic erotic thriller exquisite corpse for the first time in a mad 24-hour fever dream, while hopped up on vicodin and cold medicine; and maybe this is the best way to get through the book, in fact, in that this atmospheric yet disturbingly violent tale takes some getting used to. don't get me wrong; i love this book! be aware, by the way, that author poppy z. brite has gone through a big change in her career since then; she's now much more known for a series of funny rela More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2008

Katya rated it:

I very, very rarely quit on a book halfway through. I always feel guilty and have to slog through it just so I can feel like I gave it a fair chance. This was one of the few books I couldn't stand to finish. Now, I'm not squeamish, so the gore and sociopathy described in the book didn't bother me at all. What did was the lack of dimension in the characters (Brite seems to think that writing characters who are evil and disturbed will automatically give them some sort of depth - it doesn't) and th More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2011

Paul rated it:

Why didn't I review this one before? Probably because I'm a leetle bit embarrassed - okay, more than a leetle bit embarrassed - to have read it at all. I remember reading this on a jolly family holiday in Dorset, a short walk away from Thomas Hardy's cottage. Georgia was making sandcastles and bouncing on trampolines and there was I reading about gay serial killers who eat their victims and then each other. It was inappropriate. No other word.

As stupid books go this was insanely gru More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

May 21, 2008

Sloan rated it:

Favorite book of all time. Lucky to have read it because I stumbled on to it by accident. I was looking for a book at a book store in Nashville. I read the jacket and was intrigued by the serial killer meets serial killer plot. I was even more interested when I saw that it was written by a women. But when I opened it and saw that the author dedicated the gruesome book to her mom I had to get it. I wasn’t disappointed. Some of the most shocking things I have ever read. Shocking in a gross, murder More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 22, 2007

Noah rated it:

Poppy Z. Brite's hardcore horror opus is not for everyone. This story, while very compelling and dark, also features some rather gruesome imagery and is not for th faint of heart. That said, we end up with a really strong character study of four men, in two relationships. One is the soon to be victim and his ex, the other, two serial killers. If that sounds like a good hook, it is. However, this is not really a thriller, so if your looking for a smash bang ening, look elsewhere. Still, for those More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

May 11, 2010

Kate rated it:

I made it through the entire book. I feel dirty. I guess thats a good thing. While this book is not for everyone,(possibly me) the writing is solid, with the exception of some pov problems at the end, and the characters are well drawn. Exquisite Corpse is definitely of its time (mid 80's) I'd forgotten how horrified people were about AIDS and serial killers. Both subjects seem thoroughly explored even overdone today. But I do see why its become a classic of its genre. It captures a moment in tim More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 26, 2008

Brian rated it:

I first read this book aout ten years ago. I had read two other books by Poppy Z. Brite, and was a big fan of them (Lost Souls and Drawng Blood). Exquisite Corpse took me into a place that was darker than I had ever been, and disturbed me like no book I had read up to that point. The writing, as always with PZB, is first-rate. She is extremely talented, and a master of her craft. The book manages to be both violent and sexy; the super-graphic blood and gore may prove to be turn-off for some More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 12, 2012

Michael rated it:

When I read this book, I can only say that it went far and beyond my expectations. Now, I myself love horror/serial killer themed books, and with that being said it is pretty clear that I have a morbid and disturbed mind. . . only just a tad. 'Exquisite Corpse' is not a light read in the least bit, nor is is a book to fully be enjoyed. Poppy writes (as her title implies) in the most disturbingly exquisite way.

Now most readers, and reviewers of her book on here complain that is was dir More...

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Nov 12, 2011

Charles Dee rated it:

The author writes on her website that both her U.S. and British publisher turned down this, her third novel, due to its shocking and controversial subject matter. I can't help but think both firms also considered it something of a mess.

Brite wrote her vampire novel, Lost Souls when she was nineteen. It's gloriously overwritten and steeped in perverse atmospherics. Then came Drawing Blood, a gay romance with supernatural elements, considerable amounts of blood, and a happy ending. Here More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Aug 06, 2011

Marissa rated it:

Frankly, it's a terrible book that's extremely well written. It's been at least 5 years since the last time I read Exquisite Corpse, but it's the kind of book that sticks with you. It's brutal and deals very bluntly with nightmarish topics like cannibalism, necrophilia, murder, the careless spread of HIV/AIDS between characters and so on.

I have to admit that I found the whole book fascinating. The first time I picked it up I was 17 years old. And it was horrible. I hated it and I love More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 07, 2011

BarkLessWagMore rated it:

Poppy Z. Brite's EXQUISITE CORPSE is darker and infinitely more disturbing than any of her previous works. This is an unflinching, unapologetic love story between two cannibalistic serial killers.

Brite's writing is done so well you can almost smell the scents of the decadent French Quarter. Her dialogue is clear, cutting and painfully honest, her imagery so vivid when that first slice is made into the delicate human abdomen you feel your own guts begin to churn. The story is made all t More...

2 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 30, 2011

Taylor rated it:

Andrew Compton is a London serial killer who fakes his own death to escape prison. He finds himself in New Orleans, in the backyard of his American counterpart, Jay Byrne. After a delicious courtship dance, the two set their sights on a beautiful Asian drug-dealer named Tran. Luke Ransom, Tran's misanthropic ex-lover, may be the only one capable of saving Tran from being their most exquisite corpse ever.

This story--well, this tale of interlocking love stories, with two of the principl More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 22, 2010

Stephie rated it:

Well this was certainly not a joy to read. I spent most of the book being disgusted by the hideous main characters and the graphic descriptions of their victims' murders. Unlike American Psycho, where you'd read a particularly gory bit, but then have a chapter about Huey Lewis and the News to recover from it, there is no recovery time in 'Exquisite Corpse'. You get through one vile murder, and then before you know it, it's on to the next.

I agree with another reviewer who said that th More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 22, 2009

Bryan rated it:

Gay cannibals in love! So okay, this is some warped stuff, but if you can get over the serial killing, cannibalism, and necrophilia, all rendered in loving detail, it's a compelling little read.

I don't know that it's aged especially well since it was published in 1996. A lot of Poppy Brite's stories from that period explore themes of homosexuality and gay sexuality, and subsequently there's a certain "OH MY GOD LOOK HOW WE'RE HAVING TEH UBER GAY SEXSSS!!!" exuberance that s More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Rachael rated it:

I can't say if this is a "good" book but I can say something; this book is really really messed up. I felt so dirty after reading it that I had to put it under my bed where I couldn't see it anymore. Happily, however, it brought me and my friend April together because she loved it and was excited to hear that I had read it. I've had a hard time breaking it to her over these years that I regret reading it since I think it would break Aprils fragile heart into tiny pieces and no one want

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 16, 2011

Katie rated it:

Hmmm, I almost don't know what to say about this book. It's really hard to say you loved a book like this. It's sick to the core, perverted, shocking and the two main characters are just awful. However that is what I expected and I got what I expected and more with this story.
I don't really understand the bad reviews on this book myself. For example when I read the reviews for under the skin, by Michel Faber everyone was raving about it! About how scary and twisted it was and they loved it More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 28, 2007

Lin rated it:

Well, this is quite something, isnt it? Probably one of the most disturbing books I've read, I actually had to put it down a few times. Graphic accounts of necrophilia and cannibalism make this book something... well, unique, we'll say. Regardless, I enjoyed it. It's disturbing, but sometimes disturbing is good (it's why movies like Saw are so popular, one imagines). But if you're easily disturbed, I can't recommend this one to you!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 28, 2011

Lilyan rated it:

Um.. I don't know. 9 out of 10 books on my shelf are fantasy, other than that I mostly go for lighthearted chick flicks or comedies. That's why I found myself intruiged when I read the back cover summary. I don't like gorish details wether they are in books or movies but something about this book called to me. When I got back home I directly checked the reviews for the book and I was instantly mortified of having to read it (I'm a bit of a wuss really :P I close my eyes at horror scenes). I did More...

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Aug 18, 2010

Tom rated it:

This was was my first Poppy Z. Brite novel and for the most part I was satisfied. The book is gruesome and I found myself having to take breaks during the very gory parts, it is definitely not for the faint of heart.

The book delivers on horror in spades. The main characters are based on real world serial killers Jeffrey Dahmer and Dennis Nilsen and so just when you're thinking to yourself, thank god this is fiction, you realize that there are plenty of real world monsters and tha More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 09, 2007

Wysterria rated it:

this book was good, but not for anyone who has a weak stomach. it focuses on two main characters, both late 20's ish men who prey on young boys and who are also necrophiliacs/cannibals...if you don't like vivid descriptions of dead and rotting flesh in a sexual way, as well as detailed man on boy sex, you won't even remotely tolerate this book. not that i like that stuff necessarily. but i will read it. heh.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 15, 2009

Roxie rated it:

This book was like reading a car crash it was all going to go very wrong very quickly and yet you had to keep reading it. It's probably up there with the most disturbing book to read its quite a bit gory and Poppy doesnt really spare the details.

However it is a really good story and quite cleverly written as Brite based it on two real life serial killers and i guess the point of the book would be what would happened if you put two similar people together who are also serial killers. More...

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Sep 17, 2007

Jose rated it:

If you are not easily offended by extremely graphic violence and homosexuality then do read this book. The author describes the numerous acts of sex and murder so vividly I couldn't stop reading. The story about two serial killers is definitely worth checking out. On the other hand if you are very easily offended send me your address so I can mail you a pacifier. Baby.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Sep 16, 2009

Indi rated it:

Picked this up on Phuket from a little, very disorganized bookshop. Could find virtually nothing but romance novels, which are just not my gig. I'd read one Poppy book before, I think Drawing Blood? I recall liking it. I don't quite remember.

Anyway, I was pretty disappointed by this and amazed at all of the positive reviews it gathered by critics. It's gore-porn. That's pretty much it. Two serial killers fall in love and... well, do what serial killers do. I didn't find the "cha More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 05, 2010

Melissa rated it:

Exquisite Corpse tells the story of four gay men. Andrew, an HIV positive, notorious serial killer (he killed 23 young men in 10 years) imprisoned in a London jail, escapes and flees to New Orleans. Jay, a predator of young gay men living in the French Quarter in New Orleans. Tran, a young Vietnamese man, who was recently kicked out of his parents' home when they found out his sexual orientation, seeks refuge at Jay's home. And Luke, Tran's ex-lover, who is HIV positive and still desperately in More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 31, 2011

Sadia rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

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Aug 07, 2007

Martha rated it:

This was my first introduction to gay/lesbian literature, because it is very graphic and intense. This little book, I think around 240 pages, packs a huge wallop. The writing is mature and eloquent and it made a sufficient impression on me.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Trin rated it:

Disturbing and, in my mind, fairly pointless. (This is in spite of the part of me that hears "serial killers in love" and thinks, "Aww! Cute concept!") However, I am proud to say that I was able to eat an entire burrito while reading it.

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Feb 22, 2008

Hentai rated it:

This book is leaving me breathless! The detail is sublime, the way she gets into everyone's head is amazing. I find myself excited and almost moaning in pleasure as they kill and then crying as they finally reach the climax!

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 09, 2010

Andy rated it:

I picked this up as I've read a few of the others collected in the series of horror and supernatural titles published by Gollancz with matching jacket designs (Tooth Fairy, Ghost Story, Something wicked this way comes). This is a very different beast from any of those.

The story recounts the meeting of two young male homosexual serial killers with a predilection for rough sex, murder, torture, necrophilia and cannibalism. All of which is described in fairly vivid detail.

More...

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