Vernon God Little - DBC Pierre
Vernon Gregory Little is a foul-mouthed high schooler who has a talent for being in wrong place, all the time. After his best friend goes on a shooting spree at the school and kills himself, Vernon finds himself as the town's scapegoat, and the more he tries to figure things out, the worse it gets. It's a little like a Ben Stiller comedy-of-errors movie, only rated R.
It's the sort of book where you really don't sympathize with any of the characters. All the adults in Vernon's life have serious problems: from Eulalio Ledesma, the CNN reporter who wants to cash in on the town's tragedy, to his horribly unprepared attorney, to his mom and her gaggle of tongue-wagging friends. You almost feel sorry for Vernon, except you really wish he'd just come out and tell you what happened the day of the shooting.
The language in the book is pretty horrid, but you're supposed to expect that from this character. But it's strange, the way he uses "powerdime" for "paradigm" or gets other words and phrases completely wrong, and then spits out sentences like: "A strip of buffalo leather scrapes into the room, wrapped around the soul of Sherriff Porkoney." It's hard to imagine somebody like Vernon thinking in wild, colorful metaphors, but he does it again and again.
Overall, the book was entertaining in parts, and painful in others. It kept me reading, wanting to find out whether he was going to finally get out of the mess, and whether any of the other characters would be brought to justice. But I wouldn't necessarily call it an enjoyable book. If you love dark humor, you may get a kick out of this book.
Fed to jhliu's brain | July 26, 2004
