Dermaphoria

by Craig Clevenger

book data

236 ratings, 3.69 average rating, 30 reviews (more data...)

rating	frequency	%
5		23%
4		36%
3		28%
2		8%
1		2%

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published

September 8th 2006 (first published 2005) by MacAdam Cage

binding

Paperback, 214 pages

isbn

1596921021 (isbn13: 9781596921023)

description

Bailed out of jail and holed up in a low-rent motel, amnesiac Eric Ashworth's only memory is a woman's name: Desiree. With steadily increasing doses o...more

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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 365)

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01/23/09

fbuser1084190943 rated it:

Read in January, 2009

Craig Clevenger is a brilliant writer, and I'm quite excited to read a great follow-up to "The Contortionist's Handbook". "Dermaphoria" just wasn't that "great follow-up"; a fellow reviewer remarked that this book was a classic example of "the sophomore slump", and I'd have to agree.

"Dermaphoria" doesn't break any new ground; it's almost a carbon copy of "Contortionist's..". The protagonist in this one is an intelligent ch...more

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01/23/09

Snotchocheez rated it:

Read in January, 2009

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05/18/09

Glenn rated it:

Read in May, 2009

3.5 stars if I could. For those not familiar with Clevenger, his first book "The Contortionist's Handbook" became somewhat of an underground sleeper hit in 2003. I gave that 4 stars, so liked that a bit better than this one, as it made me think more, and had more of a psychological aspect to it. Clevenger is a writer similar to Chuck Palahniuk and Will Christopher Baer - if you like either of these authors you'll probably like Clevenger. The Goodreads book description gives a precise s...more

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01/12/08

Paul rated it:

Read in March, 2008

"Wow", he says, with the realization that this is more than a little understated as way to begin a review but... Wow! With prose dense, intricate, and hallucinogenic as anything Burroughs wrote on a thoroughly lucid day, this book is most definitely not light reading for a summer day or your something to skim morning commute. As with his previous novel, The Contortionists' Handbook dysregulation and Amnesia are the pilots at the helm of this turbulent ride of a novel. In many ways, ...more

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08/28/07

Jason Pettus rated it:

Read in August, 2007

(The much longer full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:].)

Okay, I confess: that of all the different types of underground artists out there, I have a particular affinity for the weird quiet ones on the edge of every scene, who frequently engage in cutting-edge experiments just for the sake of engaging in them. For example, when I was involved with the performance-poetry community of the 1990s, I tended to spend a lot of time wi...more (The much longer full review can be found at the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com:].)

Okay, I confess: that of all the different types of underground artists out there, I have a particular affinity for the weird quiet ones on the edge of every scene, who frequently engage in cutting-edge experiments just for the sake of engaging in them. For example, when I was involved with the performance-poetry community of the 1990s, I tended to spend a lot of time with the people who would drag weird abstract "musical instruments" on stage with them; who would slip the cadences of formal poetry into their work and then not tell anyone, just to see if anyone would notice anyway. And even better, of course, when that artist is quirkily attractive, always jittery in a way that could be innocent or guilty (depending on what substances they've ingested earlier in the evening, I suppose), a literal walking example of what many of us think when we hear the phrase "Life In The Big City."

I just got done with a new book by such an artist, in fact, the profoundly dense and sometimes outright perplexing dermaphoria by San Franciscan Craig Clevenger, whose first novel The Contortionist's Handbook became an accidental sleeper hit in 2003. It is a book along the same vein as Memento, Me and Kev, The Prestige and others, where a dark tale is told in a puzzling manner, slowly releasing bits and pieces of information until the entire story is finally revealed by the end; and this is a type of book I love, to be honest, for the same reason I love hyperfiction and the like, although acknowledge as well that it's not everyone's cup of tea. And similarly, Clevenger wields a personal writing style here that is deliberately over-the-top self-conscious, deliberately showy and obtuse; and again, you're either going to like it like I did, or detest it and have it get in the way of you enjoying the novel whatsoever. That's the whole point of being wildly experimental, after all; to throw off the shackles of popularity, to know in advance that the project will appeal to only a slim amount of people, but that they'll be profoundly moved by it instead of a zillion people shrugging their shoulders and going, "Meh."

Much like Memento (and several other high-profile stories that have come out this year)...(less)

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01/02/09

Andrew rated it:

Read in December, 2007

This book reads like some kind of drunken dream. I love it for it's sparseness and the utter loneliness the main character suffers. I don't remember many exact quotes, but when I think back on it, I don't see it as words - I see it in dark, shadowy images filled with anxious, sweaty, dusty interiors. Kids, don't do drugs.

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12/17/08

Austin rated it:

This one was quite incomprehensible, mostly due to Clevenger's style, which hinges upon surreal prose as well as heavy use of metaphor and simile. When compared to his first novel, "The Contortionist's Handbook," this one suffers the horrible fate of falling into the Sophomore Slump category.

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02/26/09

Erin Beck rated it:

Not as good as contortionist handbook but sort of the same lost, confused, amnesiatic, possibly on drugs, main charactor. I felt at times the author was trying way too hard to create a beautiful line that it ended up sounding pretentious. Like chewing up light bulbs and firefly's to recreate the feeling of heartbreak in his mouth.

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02/19/09

devin strauch rated it:

Read in January, 2007

Beautiful. Such beautiful writing. That's all I can say.

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11/21/08

Catherine rated it:

like a chuck Palahniuk novel but not as good.

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07/26/07

Chris Mears rated it:

(review of isbn 1931561753)

bookshelves: thriller

Read in March, 2007

I really wanted to like this book especially since I enjoyed The Contortionist's Handbook. Craig Clevenger has an interesting voice, but I feel like he didn't reach his potential with this one. The story was too simplistic for the language he was using. I found the entire read hard to navigate but then when I think back, I'm amazed that so little actually happened. I'll keep reading Clevenger's works and just hope that this was just a typical sophomoric effort that was trying to hard to liv...more

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10/10/07

Kurt rated it:

Read in October, 2007

recommends it for: anyone and everyone

another great one from Clevenger: the chain, the organization, from the point of view of another link (re: Contortionist's Handbook). Rather, another protagonist getting by with intelligence and drugs, wrapped up in the chain, looking for the patterns (equations in CH, chemical compounds in this one) that will explain things. Same great writing, but more lyrical this time. According to his website, a third story is in process: whatever it is, I'll read it.

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07/28/08

Sarah Jane rated it:

bookshelves: fiction, underwhelmed

Read in August, 2008

I gave this book a 50-page chance, after which I skimmed through the rest. From the recommendations I was given, I was expecting some sort of literary masterpiece, a descriptive adventure perhaps. Instead, I found it to be a rather bland novel in which nothing much of interest occurs. I'm glad I didn't spend more than an evening of my time with this one.

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02/04/08

Mark Taylor rated it:

bookshelves: read-in-2007

Read in January, 2007

This book is very Burroughs-ian. I loved it. Like Paul Auster's Travels in the Scriptorium, this book also features a main character who wakes up in a mysterious room, not knowing who he is. Over the course of the book, he puts it all together.
Craig did a bang up reading on my show.

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09/28/07

Joel rated it:

Read in October, 2007

This book may cause you to scratch your head at the beginning, but that is kind of the point. It all comes out in the end, though, as you and the main character discover just exactly what happened to him and just what is so important about the name "Desiree". Another great read for anyone looking for something completely different.

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10/17/08

Jennifer rated it:

Read in October, 2008

recommends it for: bizarros, people who like dark, mysterious fiction

The sentence level writing and descriptions are definitely the highlight of this book, especially the (many) sections about insects. I enjoyed the mysterious beginning though somewhere around the middle the paranoia of the narrator began to get a bit irritating but the book does build to something worth revealing.

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01/17/08

Patrick rated it:

bookshelves: 2006

Chemist designs a new wildly popular street drug that makes your skin feel really good or something, then he has to win back his girlfriend and not go to jail or get killed by his bosses and stuff. "Hallucinogenic" writing that is not as good as his first novel, "The Contortionist's Handbook."

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09/17/08

Christina (Boupie) rated it:

bookshelves: 2008-books, irl-book-club, mystery

Has a copy to sell/swap — Read in September, 2008

This is not my type of book but I did enjoy it as a quick read. I like the way it reveals who he is as time goes on. It is a new twist on the mystery novel. I did not like the ending though. If you like books by Philip K. Dick you will like this. Contains lots of sex and drug references.

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12/17/07

Robb rated it:

bookshelves: 2007

He is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors... He has a power for keeping the reader interested and wanting more.

This book was great, trying to piece together the story, not knowing what facts to trust, and what not to.

It was just excellent.

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12/16/07

Jim rated it:

bookshelves: crime-mystery-list

Read in August, 2007

Not a great book like "A Contortionist's Handbook", but still fascinating read. This book is more dipped in the drug culture than the forementioned book, so that kind of threw me a curve. It is rich in poetry, surreal and somewhat hard to follow.

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