The Logic of the Lure

by John Paul Ricco

The attraction of a wink, a nod, a discarded snapshot—such feelings permeate our lives, yet we usually dismiss them as insubstantial or meaningless. With The Logic of the Lure , John Paul Ricco argues that it is precisely such fleeting, erotic, and even perverse experiences that will help us create a truly queer notion of ethics and aesthetics, one that recasts sociality and sexuality, place and finitude in ways suggested by the anonymity and itinerant lures of cruising. Shifting our attention from artworks to the work that art does, from subjectivity to becoming, and from static space to taking place, Ricco considers a variety of issues, including the work of Doug Ischar, Tom Burr, and Derek Jarman and the minor architecture of sex clubs, public restrooms, and alleyways.

205 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2002

Reviews

[isaac dwyer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Profoundly cursed by the deconstructionist, post-modernist poppycock language of the late-nineties/early aughts, the premise of this book was good enough for me to pick it up. It had just enough flavor for me to finish it, but most folks should not be bothered.

We have Jeffrey Dahmer, we have tales about cruising in dark rooms, we have Derek Jarman. We have an occasionally brilliant feisty section every few dozen pages. Alas, it is drowned out by the chorus of applesauce that presumes it is smart enough for the reader to thirstily nod along through a butchery of Deleuze.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

the most well crafted and intellectually engaging text on not only queer visualities but also the queering of relationality, embodiment, community, and many existential questions to be written: this is no exaggeration. this must be read. it must be reckoned with.

[Frank Karioris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am very torn about this. On the one hand, there is a lot of interesting things in this book. On the other, there is too little direction and too much decisiveness (particularly for the notions held within). As a person who studies relations/relationality, I really want to figure it all out, but I question the relations that brought Ricco to this book. Particularly, I ordered a used copy and it is inscribed by the author: "To Terry, For all your support, friendship, and guidance." A book given is given away; it may be the best description of the non-relational relationality that Ricco is seeking to elucidate in the book.

Now, with that all said, the book is still good enough that I plan on reading Ricco's second book, for certain. And hopefully soon.

[Kathryn]

6 stars!