What do you think?
Rate this book
CRAZY STREAK
CRAZY STREAK is a twisted excursion into seething sexuality, desperate alienation, incest and conscienceless violence; a book destined to be as controversial as Nabokov's "Lolita." The wreck that really begins the novel is also what ends it. Long past the settling of steel and rubber, the bodies and brains of the travelers are beaten and twisted by hate, lust, booze and the sick heat of the Southern California desert wasteland. This story is brutal in its realism. No fairy-tale romance or overly convoluted plots needed. It's not ironic or kitschy; it's certainly not begging to be loved. CRAZY STREAK is as believable as some of your worst, most confused and visceral moments.
100 pages, Paperback
First published October 23, 2005
1 person is currently reading
23 people want to read
About the author
John Gilmore
80 books38 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.
John Gilmore was born in the Charity Ward of the Los Angeles County General Hospital and was raised in Hollywood. His mother had been a studio contract-player for MGM while his step-grandfather worked as head carpenter for RKO Pictures. Gilmore's parents separated when he was six months old and he was subsequently raised by his grandmother. Gilmore's father became a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, and also wrote and acted on radio shows, a police public service (the shows featured promising movie starlets as well as established performers like Bonita Granville, Ann Rutherford, the "jungle girl" Aquanetta, Joan Davis, Hillary Brooke, Ann Jeffreys, Brenda Marshall and other players young John Gilmore became acquainted with. As a child actor, he appeared in a Gene Autry movie and bit parts at Republic Studios. He worked in LAPD safety films and did stints on radio. Eventually he appeared in commercial films. Actors Ida Lupino and John Hodiak were mentors to Gilmore, who worked in numerous television shows and feature films at Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Universal International studios. During the 1950s, through John Hodiak, Gilmore sustained an acquaintanceship with Marilyn Monroe in Hollywood, then in New York, where Gilmore was involved with the Actors Studio, transcribing the lectures of Lee Strasberg into book form. Gilmore performed on stage and in live TV, wrote poetry and screenplays, directed two experimental plays, one by Jean Genet. He wrote and directed a low-budget film entitled "Expressions", later changed to "Blues for Benny." The film did not get general release but was shown independently. Gilmore eventually settled into a writing career; journalist, true crime writer and novelist. He served as head of the writing program at Antioch University and has taught and lectured at length.
John Gilmore was born in the Charity Ward of the Los Angeles County General Hospital and was raised in Hollywood. His mother had been a studio contract-player for MGM while his step-grandfather worked as head carpenter for RKO Pictures. Gilmore's parents separated when he was six months old and he was subsequently raised by his grandmother. Gilmore's father became a Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) officer, and also wrote and acted on radio shows, a police public service (the shows featured promising movie starlets as well as established performers like Bonita Granville, Ann Rutherford, the "jungle girl" Aquanetta, Joan Davis, Hillary Brooke, Ann Jeffreys, Brenda Marshall and other players young John Gilmore became acquainted with. As a child actor, he appeared in a Gene Autry movie and bit parts at Republic Studios. He worked in LAPD safety films and did stints on radio. Eventually he appeared in commercial films. Actors Ida Lupino and John Hodiak were mentors to Gilmore, who worked in numerous television shows and feature films at Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, and Universal International studios. During the 1950s, through John Hodiak, Gilmore sustained an acquaintanceship with Marilyn Monroe in Hollywood, then in New York, where Gilmore was involved with the Actors Studio, transcribing the lectures of Lee Strasberg into book form. Gilmore performed on stage and in live TV, wrote poetry and screenplays, directed two experimental plays, one by Jean Genet. He wrote and directed a low-budget film entitled "Expressions", later changed to "Blues for Benny." The film did not get general release but was shown independently. Gilmore eventually settled into a writing career; journalist, true crime writer and novelist. He served as head of the writing program at Antioch University and has taught and lectured at length.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
July 18, 2008
John Gilmore writes like Barry Gifford, only better. A Desert Storm vet returns to his trailer park home in San Berdoo. He drifts between underage girlfriends and fights with his psycho neighbors.
Gilmore goes for profundity and keeps side-swiping Jerry Springer style hokum. With plot holes bigger than potholes you'll laugh and wonder why you're wasting your time reading this trash. Why the hell not?
Gilmore goes for profundity and keeps side-swiping Jerry Springer style hokum. With plot holes bigger than potholes you'll laugh and wonder why you're wasting your time reading this trash. Why the hell not?
October 13, 2015
"Crazy Streak" did not live up to it's description, in my opinion. I'm a third way through and bored to tears. Nothing overly exciting has happened since the car accident that occurred between the first two chapters. The story would've been more interesting if they'd actually made it out to the lake; their original destination. Everything since the accident (and even before) has been small town, red neck gossip talk. And the worst part is that everyone (men and women alike) sounds the same, talks the same, tells similar, boring town gossip stories. At times I couldn't tell who was doing the talking, and had to find the most recent dialogue tag and trace it down.
The first person narrative comes off as crude and simple-minded as all the characters. Cheap, crude jokes (and cliche' at that) and cheaper curse words attempt to fill the large void of anything substantive. As an example, the author constantly used the C word to describe a woman's holiest of areas. As if there's no other word or words that could describe the sweetest gift to men. The back cover summary insists: "It's not ironic or kitschy" . . . yeah right! The description continues with: "it's certainly not begging to be loved." I disagree. I think it's trying to be cool for the sake of being cool and attempting to appeal to the niche audience who want to be shocked and read about badass characters who act however they want without any real repercussions. But I think that group will be equally as disappointed.
The first person narrative comes off as crude and simple-minded as all the characters. Cheap, crude jokes (and cliche' at that) and cheaper curse words attempt to fill the large void of anything substantive. As an example, the author constantly used the C word to describe a woman's holiest of areas. As if there's no other word or words that could describe the sweetest gift to men. The back cover summary insists: "It's not ironic or kitschy" . . . yeah right! The description continues with: "it's certainly not begging to be loved." I disagree. I think it's trying to be cool for the sake of being cool and attempting to appeal to the niche audience who want to be shocked and read about badass characters who act however they want without any real repercussions. But I think that group will be equally as disappointed.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews