A Certain Kind of Light

by Thomas Moore

Told through the eyes of a nameless teenage boy, A Certain Kind of Light sees the narrator attempt to find some kind of cohesion in a life from which he feels increasingly disconnected. As his family, friendships, sexuality and even his taste in music and pornography begin to feel distant from him, his alienation expands. The things that once meant everything to him are stripped of an essence he begins to doubt they ever had. He fixates on a profile of a boy that he finds on the Internet, projecting illusory ideas upon a person that he has never met but feels a profound intimacy with. Feeling more and more lost, he attempts to work out the connection between a disparate set of coincidences, objects and events: a dead, mangled bird, the funeral of his best friend's father, a horrific experience with LSD, obsessive sexual fantasies and the disintegrating suburban life in which he was raised. Intensely emotional and disorientating, A Certain Kind of Light focuses on the intricacies of confusion.

Genres: Fiction, Novels, Queer

166 pages, Paperback

First published September 17, 2013

About the author

Thomas Moore's writing has appeared in various publications in Europe and America. His novella, GRAVES (2011), and his book of poems, The Night Is An Empire(2013), were both published by Kiddiepunk. His first novel, A Certain Kind of Light(2013), was published by Rebel Satori Press. His book of poems, Skeleton Costumes, was published by Kiddiepunk in 2014 and again as an expanded second edition in 2015. His second novel, In Their Arms, was published by Rebel Satori in October 2016. A collection of poems, When People Die, was published in 2018 by Kiddiepunk. Also in 2018, Moore collaborated with visual artist Steven Purtill on their book Small Talk at the Clinic, published by Amphetamine Sulphate. Thomas Moore's third novel,Alone, was released in June 2020. His fourth novel, Forever, was published by Amphetamine Sulphate in October 2021. His new novel, Your Dreams, was published in 2023 by Amphetamine Sulphate.

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very unique coming of age story. A story about confusion & grief. The narrator talks a lot about sex and acid.

[J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good exploration of the disconnection felt by suburban teens in the 21st century, and the ways that social media has furthered rather than lessened that distance. It finally takes an Acid-fueled explosion of emotion and sensory overload to connect the Narrator to the world. Even when that happens, the narrator is so alienated even from himself that the reader is never quite sure if sex is or isn 't happening--if the narrator is imagining himself to be the other people in his life or not as the sex is happening (if it is). A very clever book. Recommended.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 3 out of 5]

(This review was revised but not altered in September 2024).

I am not sure what to make of this novel. When I began reading it I was impressed, I thought the author wrote well, there was a clear Dennis Cooper vibe - teenage angst and sexual ambiguity with a definite queer rather than gay flavour - but done well, familiar territory but not imitative. Unfortunately it doesn't really lead anywhere - what too many of Cooper's followers don't understand is that it is not enough to have inarticulate characters lost in the ennui of Suburban life and broken families. Cooper allows meaning to emerge from meaninglessness. His characters may be dumb in thought and word but he isn't. He uses the simple or even banal to say a great deal.

That Moore doesn't manage to rise to Cooper's level is hardly a fatal flaw what I found most problematic was:

Where is this novel set? I presumed it was in the USA, a deliberately imprecise nowhere, but then all of a sudden we are told that something cost '300 pounds' and that it was necessary to enter his 'postcode'. These, and a few other terms, are very British. Within the author's profile on Goodreads there is nothing about where he was born or grew up yet it is impossible to believe that these British terms are used without reason. Yet they are not sufficient to conjure up any UK setting and, while there is nothing specifically American about this bland nondescript suburban setting it cannot be read as anything else. Is Moore attempting to say that the world of suburban teenagers is interchangeable? If he is then he is being fatuous and rather insulting. Of course social media (and when this novel was published in 2013 it was in its infancy) has changed things and superficially homogenised youth culture but what separates youth in different countries is still enormous, and that is without even mentioning language. It hasn't excised all differences, I think in many ways differences are greater.

My greatest problem with the setting was that once the alien terms like postcode and pounds were introduced it was hard to read it as American but I couldn't help feeling Moore was deliberately making it as non specifically foreign so as to appear as 'American' as possible while throwing in the verbal clues that it might not be for any clever clogs to pick up on. A 'don't frighten the horses' policy while hinting that you could. If Moore wants to set his novel in the USA do so, if he wants to create some non specific generic place that is fine, but don't try and introduce elements from elsewhere as some bit of clever name dropping.

The other problem is that by the time I'd reached page 100 (out of 158) I was struggling to remain interested. Rambling inarticulacy gets old fast, as does navel gazing. Teenagers are angst ridden, lost and in despair - we've heard it since Goethe's 'The Sorrows of Young Werther' - that doesn't mean there isn't room for it to be said again but it takes more than a good prose style to make it interesting. Nor should anyone be inflicting 15 pages of LSD inspired trippiness on readers of any novel in 2013. If truth be told even the best of the Beats like Burroughs couldn't write interesting descriptions of druggie experiences. I could only get through Moore's bit of druggie writing by skimming over its dreadful meaninglessness.

I am giving this novel three stars because bits of it are good enough that I will read one of Moore's other novels. But ultimately this is a novel that goes nowhere and says nothing.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pains me to give Thomas Moore below a four but at my big age it's increasingly harder for me to care about teenagers and acid.

If your favorite book in the George Miles Cycle is Closer, worth checking out imo.

[Paul Dedalus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating, dark and tender! Currently rereading!

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

I relate.

[T. J. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moore was selling signed copies on his Instagram (thomasmoronic) recently so that's how I acquired a copy which is cool. This was the oldest book of his not sold out that I hadn't yet read (publishing date 2013) so it was interesting seeing how his style has evolved from here: the prose in the later books is even more concise. Excluding SMALL TALK AT THE CLINIC, most of the narrators in his later work can be interpreted, rightly or wrongly, as versions of the author in real and imagined scenarios whereas this felt more a character. One of my favorite things about his writing is how he describes peoples' relationships with screens, the Internet and social media so this being over a decade old now I did enjoy reading him apply that to now slightly dated platforms. Creeping on someone's private profile you haven't friend requested to just check on the minimal Info that's public is something I think many of us can relate to doing. Chapter 13 is incredible: what it feels like to have someone in an altered state talk at you in excited, fast rushes of description and digressions at a party or gathering in print. Not my favorite book by Moore but loved .