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The Shallow Man
The Author's 100 PAGES of PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED MATERIAL. Cover by Peter Beard featuring supermodel Alessandra Ambrosio on a double-exposed Giant Polaroid, 2009
"Tom Wolfe rewrites American Gigolo."
-- Kirkus Reviews
"The novel is crass, entertaining, slangy, and reeking of sun bronze and the fresh turnover of fleshy delights makes the narrator's decision to become an aging roué instead of a responsible adult seem like an honest, admirable choice. Felske writes like a gigolo and treats seduction as a dirty sport."
-- James Wolcott, Vanity Fair
"Model the story of a man who never met a beautiful woman he didn't like."
-- David Kelley, The New York Times Book Review
"Favorite The Shallow Man by Coerte Felske which begins with the line 'I never met a model I didn't like.'"
-- Candace Bushnell, Vogue
"Coerte V.W. Felske’s novel The Shallow Man turned the fashion world on its head—and introduced the term 'modelizer' into the collective consciousness."
-- Detour
"A Model Wordsmith."
-- New York Magazine
"In his first novel, The Shallow Man, Coerte V.W. Felske spins a clever tale of the narcissistic world of fashion modeling. In this comic send-up, Nick Laws is the shallow man whose every thought and word reflect his sole interest in boffing models. From the late-night clubs of Manhattan to the art deco bars of Miami, Nick searches for beautiful women to take to bed. He’s so perfect, he’s hilarious. Is there a man with a soul so noble that he has not entertained this fantasy? In real life, no one could stand around all day in his motorcycle jacket and sunglasses, purring platitudes to curvaceous dimwits. But Nick’s relentless, self-conscious pursuit is very funny. Nick reminds us, “Never judge a book by its contents.” Certainly not this book. The Shallow Man is fun, flash, and filigree--a sexy, witty spoof of the Nineties.”
–- Digby Diehl, Playboy
“Shallow waters run deep. This stunning but unreflective man knows more than you think. Behind those big blank eyes and that deep tan is…well, something that women find hopelessly a healthy disdain for thinking too much. Since he can’t be bothered connecting the dots, he maps out the politics of the jejune with an easy straight line. Reading the quick-witted prose, one begins to think less about things and more about Thing, the Shallow Man’s tag for the women he gorgeous, seemingly unattainable models. Nick Laws is like Hamlet without the mental baggage, tumbling Ophelia by Act II. Felske’s The Shallow Man makes a case for the unexamined life.”
–- Esquire
“I may not have been the king of Generation Face,” proclaims hipster Nick Laws, in author Felske’s first novel, “but I was definitely one of its princes.” Nick can’t get enough of “Thing” his catchphrase for models and other impossibly stunning women; his every waking moment is devoted to bedding them—as long as they’re not Civilians (regular-looking women). Spiked with original Nickspeak and hilarious dialogue, Felske’s depiction of the physically elite is so clever in its anthropological detail that we can forgive his protagonist for just about anything. Besides, The Shallow Man harbors a few glimmers of Nick’s humanity. You just have to
dig to find them.”
-- People
“PLAYBOY CENTERFOLD DATA SHEET, 'Favorite “The Shallow Man” by Coerte Felske. It’s about a very shallow man and his involvements with models.'”
-–Priscilla Lee Taylor, Miss March, 1996, Playboy
-----------------------
"Fear not the Shallow Man,
For all that is lost is one night."
Such is the credo of Nick Laws, the suave party promoter who lives on the other side of the velvet ropes. Nick's world is an exclusive arena of fast-food romances, sex, and mind-boggling glamour. It's Nick Laws's obsession, and he is not in denial about it. "The Shallow Man" is his confession. Welcome to Generation Face... (The Dolce Vita Press, 2009)
"Tom Wolfe rewrites American Gigolo."
-- Kirkus Reviews
"The novel is crass, entertaining, slangy, and reeking of sun bronze and the fresh turnover of fleshy delights makes the narrator's decision to become an aging roué instead of a responsible adult seem like an honest, admirable choice. Felske writes like a gigolo and treats seduction as a dirty sport."
-- James Wolcott, Vanity Fair
"Model the story of a man who never met a beautiful woman he didn't like."
-- David Kelley, The New York Times Book Review
"Favorite The Shallow Man by Coerte Felske which begins with the line 'I never met a model I didn't like.'"
-- Candace Bushnell, Vogue
"Coerte V.W. Felske’s novel The Shallow Man turned the fashion world on its head—and introduced the term 'modelizer' into the collective consciousness."
-- Detour
"A Model Wordsmith."
-- New York Magazine
"In his first novel, The Shallow Man, Coerte V.W. Felske spins a clever tale of the narcissistic world of fashion modeling. In this comic send-up, Nick Laws is the shallow man whose every thought and word reflect his sole interest in boffing models. From the late-night clubs of Manhattan to the art deco bars of Miami, Nick searches for beautiful women to take to bed. He’s so perfect, he’s hilarious. Is there a man with a soul so noble that he has not entertained this fantasy? In real life, no one could stand around all day in his motorcycle jacket and sunglasses, purring platitudes to curvaceous dimwits. But Nick’s relentless, self-conscious pursuit is very funny. Nick reminds us, “Never judge a book by its contents.” Certainly not this book. The Shallow Man is fun, flash, and filigree--a sexy, witty spoof of the Nineties.”
–- Digby Diehl, Playboy
“Shallow waters run deep. This stunning but unreflective man knows more than you think. Behind those big blank eyes and that deep tan is…well, something that women find hopelessly a healthy disdain for thinking too much. Since he can’t be bothered connecting the dots, he maps out the politics of the jejune with an easy straight line. Reading the quick-witted prose, one begins to think less about things and more about Thing, the Shallow Man’s tag for the women he gorgeous, seemingly unattainable models. Nick Laws is like Hamlet without the mental baggage, tumbling Ophelia by Act II. Felske’s The Shallow Man makes a case for the unexamined life.”
–- Esquire
“I may not have been the king of Generation Face,” proclaims hipster Nick Laws, in author Felske’s first novel, “but I was definitely one of its princes.” Nick can’t get enough of “Thing” his catchphrase for models and other impossibly stunning women; his every waking moment is devoted to bedding them—as long as they’re not Civilians (regular-looking women). Spiked with original Nickspeak and hilarious dialogue, Felske’s depiction of the physically elite is so clever in its anthropological detail that we can forgive his protagonist for just about anything. Besides, The Shallow Man harbors a few glimmers of Nick’s humanity. You just have to
dig to find them.”
-- People
“PLAYBOY CENTERFOLD DATA SHEET, 'Favorite “The Shallow Man” by Coerte Felske. It’s about a very shallow man and his involvements with models.'”
-–Priscilla Lee Taylor, Miss March, 1996, Playboy
-----------------------
"Fear not the Shallow Man,
For all that is lost is one night."
Such is the credo of Nick Laws, the suave party promoter who lives on the other side of the velvet ropes. Nick's world is an exclusive arena of fast-food romances, sex, and mind-boggling glamour. It's Nick Laws's obsession, and he is not in denial about it. "The Shallow Man" is his confession. Welcome to Generation Face... (The Dolce Vita Press, 2009)
- GenresFiction
348 pages, Nook
Published February 7, 2011
2 people are currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
Coerte V.W. Felske
11 books16 followersCoerte V.W. Felske was born in New York City and grew up in Manhattan
and Quogue, Long Island. He attended Bronxville High School and received
his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College. He did his graduate
work in film directing and screenwriting at Columbia University. The Shallow
Man, originally published in 1995, was his first novel. His second novel, Word,
came out in 1998 followed by The Millennium Girl in 2000 and Scandalocity in 2010. (For in-depth biography go to coertefelske.com) In 2008, the author established his independent online literary imprint, The Dolce Vita Press, founded in conjunction with Amazon.com, to publish and distribute his books. The imprint's inaugural publication was The Shallow Man: 15th Anniversary Edition released in September, 2009 followed by the author's first new novel in eight years, Scandalocity, released in May, 2010. Both are now available on Kindle.
Scandalocity (defined as "the speed at which scandal measured in velocity can turn you into a star,") is a sexy psychological thriller for the social network generation. With Scandalocity Felske, known for his Zeitgeist fiction, takes on the Information Age, scandal sheets, and our tech-driven, media-consumed and celebrity-obsessed culture. His protagonist, Harry Starslinger, is an ADHD-addled online gossip reporter who gets embroiled in the investigation of his girlfriend's murder. There more passion and murder and Harry becomes the hunted one. The book has been termed "The Sweet Smell of Success" meets "Body Heat," and is a dramatic, twisting and turning, page-turner which includes all the new and fresh language, a veritable lexicon's worth, which have been the hallmarks of the author's inimitable life-in-the-fast-lane literature (like "scandalocity," he coined and brought the term "modelizer" into the daily vernacular). Scandalocity is the author's second Dolce Vita Press release. The Ivory Stretch, Felske's fifth novel, a blazing, fastastical road book which takes place in the American southwest, will be released by the DVP in May, 2011.
Though Felske had been writing extensively in the years since his last original publication he held off going to marketplace with the new material. The Dolce Vita Press was the reason. The author launched the DVP to have significant contact with readership, exercise creative control over his work, and to have the freedom to incorporate the talents of top photographers, graphic artists, and book jacket designers. (World renowned photographers and artists Peter Beard and Ellen von Unwerth shoot Felske's memorable covers, featuring supermodels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Irina Shayk.)
The Dolce Vita Press label derives from the Italian term "dolce vita," which translates to the "sweet life." Felske was influenced by Federico Fellini's cinematic masterwork, La Dolce Vita, which tells the tale of a carefree, decadent group of seemingly glamorous partiers, nightclubbers, and exotic women as they navigate their way through Rome's high society, all pursued by a dashing playboy paparazzo. The author has often referred to his literature as "dolce vita fiction," stories about nightclub impresarios, serial womanizers, fashionistas, fortunehunting women, entertainment business hopefuls, and scandal sheet writers, entrenched in a similar dolce vita circuitry; in essence, characters living modern versions of that illusory sweet life depicted in Fellini's film.
Felske has three more new works completed and coming soon from the DVP. His next, The Ivory Stretch, will be released in May, 2011, followed by Chemical/Animal, his second written in first person as a woman, in the spring of 2012, and the A Touch of Noir in 2013 (go to coertefelske.com for details). All Coerte V.W. Felske titles for The Dolce Vita Press are available at the author's Web site coertefelske.com, thedolcevitapress.com, as well as Amazon.com. To contact the DVP, request a review copy, or write to the author, pleas
and Quogue, Long Island. He attended Bronxville High School and received
his Bachelor of Arts degree from Dartmouth College. He did his graduate
work in film directing and screenwriting at Columbia University. The Shallow
Man, originally published in 1995, was his first novel. His second novel, Word,
came out in 1998 followed by The Millennium Girl in 2000 and Scandalocity in 2010. (For in-depth biography go to coertefelske.com) In 2008, the author established his independent online literary imprint, The Dolce Vita Press, founded in conjunction with Amazon.com, to publish and distribute his books. The imprint's inaugural publication was The Shallow Man: 15th Anniversary Edition released in September, 2009 followed by the author's first new novel in eight years, Scandalocity, released in May, 2010. Both are now available on Kindle.
Scandalocity (defined as "the speed at which scandal measured in velocity can turn you into a star,") is a sexy psychological thriller for the social network generation. With Scandalocity Felske, known for his Zeitgeist fiction, takes on the Information Age, scandal sheets, and our tech-driven, media-consumed and celebrity-obsessed culture. His protagonist, Harry Starslinger, is an ADHD-addled online gossip reporter who gets embroiled in the investigation of his girlfriend's murder. There more passion and murder and Harry becomes the hunted one. The book has been termed "The Sweet Smell of Success" meets "Body Heat," and is a dramatic, twisting and turning, page-turner which includes all the new and fresh language, a veritable lexicon's worth, which have been the hallmarks of the author's inimitable life-in-the-fast-lane literature (like "scandalocity," he coined and brought the term "modelizer" into the daily vernacular). Scandalocity is the author's second Dolce Vita Press release. The Ivory Stretch, Felske's fifth novel, a blazing, fastastical road book which takes place in the American southwest, will be released by the DVP in May, 2011.
Though Felske had been writing extensively in the years since his last original publication he held off going to marketplace with the new material. The Dolce Vita Press was the reason. The author launched the DVP to have significant contact with readership, exercise creative control over his work, and to have the freedom to incorporate the talents of top photographers, graphic artists, and book jacket designers. (World renowned photographers and artists Peter Beard and Ellen von Unwerth shoot Felske's memorable covers, featuring supermodels Adriana Lima, Alessandra Ambrosio, and Irina Shayk.)
The Dolce Vita Press label derives from the Italian term "dolce vita," which translates to the "sweet life." Felske was influenced by Federico Fellini's cinematic masterwork, La Dolce Vita, which tells the tale of a carefree, decadent group of seemingly glamorous partiers, nightclubbers, and exotic women as they navigate their way through Rome's high society, all pursued by a dashing playboy paparazzo. The author has often referred to his literature as "dolce vita fiction," stories about nightclub impresarios, serial womanizers, fashionistas, fortunehunting women, entertainment business hopefuls, and scandal sheet writers, entrenched in a similar dolce vita circuitry; in essence, characters living modern versions of that illusory sweet life depicted in Fellini's film.
Felske has three more new works completed and coming soon from the DVP. His next, The Ivory Stretch, will be released in May, 2011, followed by Chemical/Animal, his second written in first person as a woman, in the spring of 2012, and the A Touch of Noir in 2013 (go to coertefelske.com for details). All Coerte V.W. Felske titles for The Dolce Vita Press are available at the author's Web site coertefelske.com, thedolcevitapress.com, as well as Amazon.com. To contact the DVP, request a review copy, or write to the author, pleas
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 16, 2011
I really wanted to like this book; it had been out of print for a long time and sort of had a cult following. But it's just terribly written. After a while I just had to put it down and give up the hope that it was ever going to kick in and get better. The blurbs compare the author to Capote, West, and Wolfe, but the only thing Felske has in common with those writers is that they all put words down on pieces of paper and gathered them together in a pile. For a real look at the shallow party culture of New York in the 80s and 90s, read "Story of My Life" by Jay MacInerney. It's smart, funny, biting and poignant, everything "The Shallow Man" isn't.
July 11, 2009
hard to come by.
but worth the hunt down.
as the title says, it is about a shallow man. a man who does nothing but follow things. things are models, as he calls them.
I found the story highly entertaining, and it truly reflects the modeling industry to some extent.
but worth the hunt down.
as the title says, it is about a shallow man. a man who does nothing but follow things. things are models, as he calls them.
I found the story highly entertaining, and it truly reflects the modeling industry to some extent.
January 16, 2012
The word "modelizer" was first used in this book, and not in "Sex and the City" as most people think. In fact "Sex and the City" (the book) includes an interview with Coerte Felske talking about this book in the chapter devoted to modelizers.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews