Susannah answers “Is anyone else having a hard time reading...”

Divine-Asia asked this question about Tampa:

Is anyone else having a hard time reading Tampa? I read Nolita and it never felt as icky as this novel. I constantly have to put it down for long periods of time to recover from the graphic sexual details of the main characters desire for teenage boys.

Susannah I'm late to answer, but your feelings are completely valid on this one. It's supposed to be horrifying and not everyone can stomach that. Lolita distu…moreI'm late to answer, but your feelings are completely valid on this one. It's supposed to be horrifying and not everyone can stomach that. Lolita disturbed me more for the subtext of what was happening rather than the language itself (if that makes sense) and the other book which Tampa is often compared to is American Psycho which caused me to sleep with a nightlight for a week. All three are emotionally difficult reads, and you have every right to feel that way.

That said, I'm only 50 pages in and it's oddly compelling-- though, I watch a lot of Law and Order SVU. Also, I found the typo of "Lolita" as "Nolita" in your original question to be so charming. Nolita is a fancy neighborhood (North of Little Italy) in New York, and now I'm devising jokes in my head about reading "TriBeCa" or "The Lower East Side" :) (less)

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