*The Exquisite Corpse by Alfred Chester (Simon and Schust...

*The Exquisite Corpse by Alfred Chester (Simon and Schuster, 1967)

 

The Exquisite Corpse is an audacious and fascinating, but failed, attempt to push the boundaries of literary fiction to the extreme edges (or beyond) of obscenity.

It is designed  to work in the manner of the folded-page drawing game whereby a picture of a human body is created by juxtaposing parts randomly drawn by various artists.  In the novel Chester moves arbitrarily from one chapter to the next by introducing a new character,  or a different version of an already introduced character, and in this way attempts to create a whole that is larger and more meaningful than the sum of its many parts.  Unfortunately, Exquisite Corpse doesn't achieve that goal, but individual chapters provide a unique and stimulating reading experience.  Chester embraces -- nay, celebrates -- many subjects not often encountered in conventional, mainstream fiction: sexual aberration (homosexuality, transvestitism, necrophilia, bestiality, S&M), colostomy bags (erupting), and many other taboos.  His smart, funny, and oddly humane writing make all of this almost palatable, and often quite amusing, yet one wishes all the sex and gore amounted to something a bit more powerful and resonant.