Dermaphoria

No review or details?

Any review or details I made would pretty much shame the book. But for those who really want to know, I shall make an attempt *SPOILER*

The book is about a chemist. He wakes up after an explosion and his memory is blasted as well. He remembers very few things as solid, names, places, but can not put them in chronological order, nor is he sure of the events if they ever even took place. He spends his time trying to recapture the memory of a woman who may or may not ever existed named Desiree, which turns out to be the name of a drug he may or may not have created.

Clevenger's describtion of everything is amazing. The way memories blend, shift and clash are so vivid that it's like they were happening within your own mind.

*SPOILER OVER*

It's a brilliant book that demands more than one reading. If I didn't already have a topic for a senior thesis, I'd find something to do with this book. Hell, I might just throw parts of it in there just for funsies.

And yes, I already read Contortionists Handbook. It was good, but this. This was wonderful.

I did a report on this book for my forensics class. I thought it was a great story. Not only that but its beautifully written. Hlf the book is underlined just cause I like the way it sounds. "If I could stop the setting sun I would sit in this moment for days on end" or the way he describes the fireflies in the photographs he takes with his father- the stars- the fountain in the scene where he's at the park. I liked Dermaphoria much better than The Contortionist's Handbook. But I think I only read that one once... I might have lost it.

Now that you mention it, he never really describes the main character too well. But I like that. It means you can add whatever physical features you want on him.

both characters in my mind were tall skinny with reddish brownish hair who wore alot of brown/grey/tan colored clothing...

Its interesting how this didnt take away from the books at all...usually the inability to visualize storys takes me out of the world of the book and i end up not processing everything right.

yeah.  a pretty near flawless book, that one.

yeah it was definitely a weird book that requires more than 1 read. I've read it once and I don't think I am going to read it again, it didn't grasp me that much. I think his previous book was better.

i thought the book was by far superior to his first, though he did say prior to its release that he'd probably lose some fans over it, though hopefully gain a few new fans.

as for not finding a copy in your area..

amazon is a pretty big store.  it's everywhere.  yeah, i use amazon.  (though there is nothing like walking into a store and buying the book you want directly, a feeling you dont readily get when  you order online.  a few simple clicks and it's on its way, but no real feeling there.  ho hum.)

minor spoilers.

Finished dermaphoria and it’s a really good book, I prefer it over the Contortionist’s Handbook.

I can see why a lot of people are ardent followers of Clevenger. The way he introduces his paranoia from the first chapter until it progresses through the novel is ripe with narrative that is both gripping and well done. There are a lot of lines that were written beautifully, quotable even, and considering that the majority of the time he’s expounding on bugs is testimony that you can mask unpleasantness with a few well-chosen words. You can tell how meticulous he is when it comes to writing.

Some may write it off as another junkie novel but to get inside the head of the protagonist Ashworth and to feel the emotions evoked at different stages of his recollection of memories are ace.

There were some parts that were well-executed. One in particular is the iridescent bugs in Oz scuttling in the dark to form chains of chemicals in Ashworth’s mind. There were also some parts that would not grab you right away and would easily flit by if you let it, would leave you wondering what exactly Clevenger is trying to convey but when you read through the passage further, he fits the words just right so you can stand back and admire the completed puzzle that ties the (seemingly) overwrought narrative in the beginning with the rest. An example of this would be when the protagonist was struck by lightning as a kid, the description of the flash coming down from God (one of many God references throughout the book) was ethereal almost to the point where I had to read a couple more times to grasp the narrative. This made me wonder if this is a deficiency in my imagination but there are writers whose works I’ve read who can embellish a scene with so much abstraction that you’re left to decipher them on your own.

Clevenger brings the whole scene full circle just when you thought you’re missing the point.