Transgressive Fiction discussion
Name some books.
Julian wrote: "Thanks, Mike and Jack. I had no idea! Now I'll have to track these books down!"No problem.
All of James Ellroy, Bret Easton Ellis, Chuck Pallanuik, possibly "White Oleander" by Janet Fitch. IMO, Vonnegut and Burroughs were at the forefront.
Steve wrote: "Cool, tx :) not heard of those first two.Some I read:
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
(autism sufferer pieces together the mystery of a dead dog)
Iain Banks - Th..."
Yeah all great!
Er anything by Bukowski, Steinbeck has some good stuff; Cannery row for example. Orwell, down and out. Emmet Grogan Ringolevio. Jorge Amado, Captains of the sand. Young Adam by Alexander Trocchi. Alan Sillitoe.
OOofff - publisher is doing a promo on 'Malice in Blunderland', only 77p or $1.24, check the reviews, dark and funny - BOOM!http://www.amazon.co.uk/Malice-in-Blu...
Has anyone read Mygale (or Tarantula in its English translation)? I think it fits here. It's a tiny book (a little over 100 pg), telling a very disturbing story of revenge, intriguing and full of twists. You might have heard about Pedro Almodovar's loose film adaptation "The Skin I Live In". I loved both the book and the movie.
House of Leaves - Mark DanielewskiThe Raw Shark Texts - Steven Hall
John Dies at the End - David Wong
Rant - Chuck Palahniuk
You Can't Win - Jack Black (not the comedian)
(I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ANY OF THESE 5 BOOKS)
Steve wrote: "D. B. C. Pierre - Vernon God Little(Texas teenager is accused of murder)
Hunter S. Thompson - The Rum Diary
(alcoholic journalists in Puerto Rico)
Will Self - Cock and Bull
(2 strange stories: "..."
I really dug Vernon God Little. I'd also recommend 'Skagboys' by Irvine Welsh, I thought it was his best book yet
Ashley wrote: "Snuff!!!!"Yeah 'Snuff' is one of my fave Palahniuk books. 'Rant' is definately my all time favourite.
I'm reading "John Dies at the End atm, I'd recommend it for Chuck P fans
Mark wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Snuff!!!!"Yeah 'Snuff' is one of my fave Palahniuk books. 'Rant' is definately my all time favourite.
I'm reading "John Dies at the End atm, I'd recommend it for Chuck P fans"------------------------------------------------- Loved 'John Dies at the End." ~~Enjoy it : )
I'm reading Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk. Great stuff. A novel disguised as a collection of short stories. Not for the faint of heart.
Haunted was great. Not his best book imo, but I doubt I'll ever forget Guts. I made a list for best transgressive fiction, if you want to vote for your favorite books: http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/19...
Indeed Guts was a brilliant read
A: It's the book you have to read before your die, it does hurt to read but thats what makes it one of my favourite stories
B: I just love telling people 'I read guts' ;)
A: It's the book you have to read before your die, it does hurt to read but thats what makes it one of my favourite stories
B: I just love telling people 'I read guts' ;)
Ashleigh wrote: "I just read a book called in the miso soup by ryu murakami which was compared to a japanese version of american psycho but I think it lacks the obsessive descriptive side of things that Brett Easto..."In the Miso Soup is a good one.
Early work I like:James Joyce's, Ulysses;
William Burroughs, Naked Lunch;
Irving Welch, Porno;
anything by Bukowski and Palahnuik
Hubert Selby Jr., Last Exit to Brooklyn;
Allen Ginzberg, Howl;
(and some of my work is transgressive)
Caroline wrote: "Early work I like:James Joyce's, Ulysses;
William Burroughs, Naked Lunch;
Irving Welch, Porno;
anything by Bukowski and Palahnuik
Hubert Selby Jr., Last Exit to Brooklyn;
Allen Ginzberg, Howl;
(a..."
I'm about to read my first book by Irvine Welsh. What did you think of Porno? Also, have you read Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk?
For BeatGen Fans:"You Can't Win"-Jack Black(not actor)For Palahniuk fans: John Dies at the End - David Wong For Irvin Welsh fans: How late it Was -James Kelman
Mark wrote: "For BeatGen Fans:"You Can't Win"-Jack Black(not actor)For Palahniuk fans: John Dies at the End - David Wong For Irvin Welsh fans: How late it Was -James Kelman"
Loved,Loved,Loved "John Dies at the End" : )
New Member here.... love all your choices, but must voice my opintion...Alexander Trocci- Cain's Book
John King- The Football Factory
Harry Crewes- A Feast of Snakes
Frederick Exley- A Fan's Note
Wil Self- My Idea of Fun
ALL BUKOWSKI
Raymond Carver- He may not seem the genre, but his dreary short story form has not been copied
John Fante- Ask The Dust
Richard Hell- Go Now
All Selby jr.
John Rechy- City of Night
John Genet (all his weirdness)
All Kurt Vonnegut- his views and concepts were shocking.
Irvine Welsh- TRAINSPOTTING (Filth was wicked as well!)
Wow, these are awesome suggestion guys. Great to finally find some good reads.My recommendation would be "Ham on Rye" by Charles Bukowski.
JG Ballard--Crash has of course been mentioned, but I'd add the story collections Vermillion Sands and certainly The Atrocity Exhibition, and the novel High Rise, and his later crime novels: Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes, Millenium People and Kingdom Come.Surprised no one's mentioned Philip K. Dick: Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said and A Scanner Darkly are favorites.
For fantasy writers Michael Moorcock would fall in to this discussion. Can't get more transgressive than Behold the Man and its companion Breakfast in the Ruins, but also the Jerry Cornelius and Elric books, Gloriana as well.
Thomas Pynchon's another author I'd recommend. Gravity's Rainbow is a must read,I mean if you want transgressive its Pulitzer was pulled that year because it was considered too controversial a choice.
And I'm glad others have mentioned You Can't Win. Somebody also asked about Camus, and I'd say the Plague is a good choice.
David wrote: "Wow, these are awesome suggestion guys. Great to finally find some good reads.My recommendation would be "Ham on Rye" by Charles Bukowski."
Love Ham on Rye. Great book.
This seems to be the best place to recommend Blindness by José Saramago. I recently saw it on a list of the ten most disturbing books of all time. I wasn't sure it belonged on there, even though it had very grphic violence and sexual violence, the themes were quite touching, the characters well rounded and beautiful. The book gets very graphic in places (I think some images will stay with me forever)but the ending was quiet yet very powerful.
Hey folks.... I've got a ridiculous amounts of t.g. Fiction books. Seems to be my style. Read all the Beats, Brett e.e, and main books. Who can tell me what I'm missing? Got Welsh, thompson and the other low life dope books! Who can look over my books and tell me what I am missing? The essentials? Much appreciated!
Chris wrote: "JG Ballard--Crash has of course been mentioned, but I'd add the story collections Vermillion Sands and certainly The Atrocity Exhibition, and the novel High Rise, and his later crime novels: Cocain..."High-Rise is great. A real transgressive classic.
Glad to see "Vernon God Little" getting some love, here. You guys have mentioned some truly great books. Give "Dermaphoria" by Craig Clevenger a try. Also, though there was a huge hoax, I still find JT Leroy's novels to be powerfully well written. I'd be honored, as well, if any of you might consider picking up my own novel, "Stealing Ganymede."
HI - I want to say upfront that I'm an author, and my intention is not to self promote here...but I am really curious about whether your group would consider my book transgressive. It's called OUT, and it's definitely speculative fiction, but it deals with a world where same-sex couples are the majority while opposite-sex couples are the minority. I can post a link if you're willing to take a look, but I don't want to overstep, so....could someone let me know if a) that sounds transgressive and b) if I should post a link? Thanks!Laura Preble
Laura wrote: "HI - I want to say upfront that I'm an author, and my intention is not to self promote here...but I am really curious about whether your group would consider my book transgressive. It's called OUT,..."I've got to tell you at first glance your plot reminds me of something I came across on a critique site with works-in-progress. In that case, the author had a clear, but crazy, right-wing agenda and the book was a fantasy in which gay marxists (yup) in a totalitarian dystopia were running the show, also of course, too, the bible was banned.
I have the feeling, yours is not quite like that, and may even be an ironical reversal written to get people to see that all discrimination is wrong (although since most of us know that already, it's not a transgressive idea).
But is your work transgressive? Is it "like" some of the other work being described? My guess, without having read it, is probably not. Transgressive fiction is not about people living against the rules of a different world, but about people transgressing in this one.
Work can be ironic, dystopic, speculative, without being transgressive.
Update: Having looked at your Amazon book page, while transgressive fiction sometimes appeals to YA, with a few exceptions it's not usually written with them as a target audience, and probably not what most parents would want their kids to read. Yours (again I haven't read it) sounds like a dystopian, teenage love story. The fact that some reviewers have found it offensive, doesn't make it transgressive.
I appreciate you taking a look. I'd actually never heard of the term "transgressive" before, so I was really interested to see what you think.
Do you guys think experimental fiction might qualify as transgressive? Can the transgression be abut transgressing format, too, and not just social taboo? I'm wondering if something like Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves or The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall might be of interest to some people.
J. , Not sure what either of those 2 would be "labeled" by the people doing the labeling ;but I love "Transgressive" stuff and I read and liked both books you just mentioned. ( The Raw Shark Texts is a great suggestion) : )
Transvision Zack wrote: ""Closer" by Dennis Cooper"Mysterious Skin" by Scott Heim
"Less than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis
Those are 3 of my favorites."
I've read Less than Zero. Out of Mysterious Skin and Closer, which one should I read next?
morvern callar is one of my all-time faves.
Dean wrote: "Transvision Zack wrote: ""Closer" by Dennis Cooper"Mysterious Skin" by Scott Heim
"Less than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis
Those are 3 of my favorites."
I've read Less than Zero. Out of Mysterious ..."
Mysterious Skin.
Marita wrote: "Dean wrote: "Transvision Zack wrote: ""Closer" by Dennis Cooper"Mysterious Skin" by Scott Heim
"Less than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis
Those are 3 of my favorites."
I've read Less than Zero. Out o..."
Great, thanks Marita
Jo wrote: "Ooo i loved God Hates Us All! Love Californication too."Yesss I love Californication! Though I couldn't finish the book.
Dean wrote: "Marita wrote: "Dean wrote: "Transvision Zack wrote: ""Closer" by Dennis Cooper"Mysterious Skin" by Scott Heim
"Less than Zero" by Bret Easton Ellis
Those are 3 of my favorites."
I've read Less t..."
You're welcome.
Sorry, as I mentioned this months back on this thread. My novel, Loisaida, fits the transgressive category. (Probably my dystopian novella, The Death Trip too). If anyone wants a freebie with a commitment to write a review -- good, bad, or indifferent, message me here at Goodreads.
Hmmm... this discussion seems to have covered most of what I had in mind.I might add a couple authors/titles: Heather Lewis, Marquis de Sade, A Clockwork Orange, F/32, Distorture, The Adventures of Lucky Pierre: Directors’ Cut
Can't decide if I think Haruki Murakami fits in the transgressive category--anybody else have an opinion on this?
Out of the Shadows and into the Darkness by Senta Holland. BDSM but most definitely NOT as you know it...
I wanted to name some books but there are some many , so I thought maybe I should name the writers whose books I've have read. Here are some names, who I think fit the requirements of the thread. Check out their books..Will Christopher Baer , Blake Butler , Craig Clevenger , Stephen Graham Jones ,
Matt Bell , Benjamin Percy , Dennis Cooper , Amelia Gray , Roxane Gay ,Lindsay Hunter spring to mind right now..though there are many I think I've missed.
Hi guys, I guess my novel "The Rusmolovo Diaries" might fit into this category, if you are interested in a free copy I'll send you one for an honest review
Awake in the Mad World and Little Human Accidents.This guy is insanely good.
E.V. wrote: "Hi guys, I guess my novel "The Rusmolovo Diaries" might fit into this category, if you are interested in a free copy I'll send you one for an honest review"I am also interested in a free copy and will definitely review!
Hi everybody, I have a book that definitely fits this category and I'd love to hear what you all think.
It's called The Last Time I Died and is being released by Tyrus Books in January 2014.
FWIW I just got this blurb from Sara Gruen...
"THE LAST TIME I DIED is a maelstrom of brilliant prose—dark, delectable, devastating, and utterly, utterly compelling. If this is Joe Nelms’ debut, watch out, world. Chuck Palahniuk fans will love this book."
- Sara Gruen,
#1 New York Times Bestselling Author of Water For Elephants
Happy to send free review copies.
You can see more here: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/18...The Last Time I Died
Transgressive Fiction
Books mentioned in this topic
American Psycho (other topics)The Last Time I Died (other topics)
Little Human Accidents: Chaos Poems from the Brink (other topics)
Awake in the Mad World (other topics)
The Adventures of Lucky Pierre (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen Graham Jones (other topics)Matt Bell (other topics)
Blake Butler (other topics)
Will Christopher Baer (other topics)
Craig Clevenger (other topics)
More...
Marita, downloaded it from Amazon, so w..."
Cool, hope you like it. And, thanks.