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Sock
Twisting the buddy cop story upside down and inside out, Penn Jillette has created the most distinctive narrator to come along in fiction in many years: a sock monkey called Dickie. The sock monkey belongs to a New York City police diver who discovers the body of an old lover in the murky waters of the Hudson River and sets off with her best friend to find her killer. The story of their quest swerves and veers, takes off into philosophical riffs, occasionally stops to tell a side story, and references a treasure trove of 1970's and 1980's pop culture.
Sock is a surprising, intense, fascinating piece of work.
Sock is a surprising, intense, fascinating piece of work.
228 pages, Paperback
First published September 5, 2000
36 people are currently reading
739 people want to read
About the author
Penn Jillette
43 books449 followersPenn Fraser Jillette is an American comedian, illusionist, juggler and writer known for his work with fellow illusionist Teller in the team Penn & Teller.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 102 reviews
July 8, 2022
Sock Monkey is a bad wammerjammer. A deep soul. He will love the man forever.
Death is a part of life. Death is a virus that does not need email.
The man sees death. His job. He is police. A Diver. A wetsuit.
Retrieves the dead. Then he retrieves.
Her.
He sees her. The first time in years. Beaten. Soaked. Down by the river. Dead.
Not as he remembered her. Smart girl. Fun girl. His love. His life.
His mission. His work. Search. Focus.
Hey ho let’s go.
Detective.
He is obsessed with finding her killer. He is the police. But the police are too slow.
The killing is stupid, but the killer is not so stupid.
Where he goes I’ll follow. I will follow him.
You never can win with.
Questions.
Tiny flaps of butterfly wings causing hurricanes of pain to rage through lives.
Sock by Penn Jillette is now available in print and as an e-book from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries and anywhere you get your books.
Death is a part of life. Death is a virus that does not need email.
The man sees death. His job. He is police. A Diver. A wetsuit.
Retrieves the dead. Then he retrieves.
Her.
He sees her. The first time in years. Beaten. Soaked. Down by the river. Dead.
Not as he remembered her. Smart girl. Fun girl. His love. His life.
His mission. His work. Search. Focus.
Hey ho let’s go.
Detective.
He is obsessed with finding her killer. He is the police. But the police are too slow.
The killing is stupid, but the killer is not so stupid.
Where he goes I’ll follow. I will follow him.
You never can win with.
Questions.
Tiny flaps of butterfly wings causing hurricanes of pain to rage through lives.
Sock by Penn Jillette is now available in print and as an e-book from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries and anywhere you get your books.
March 1, 2013
If this book was a person I would punch it in the face.
This isn't a story. It's just a string of atheist essays with a small bit of plot holding them together. I hated it so much, and I'm not even a religious person. If I had known this book was going to preach to me I never would have started reading it in the first place.
The worst part of all is that a dear, sweet sock monkey had to be included in this drek. I love sock monkeys. I hate this book.
This isn't a story. It's just a string of atheist essays with a small bit of plot holding them together. I hated it so much, and I'm not even a religious person. If I had known this book was going to preach to me I never would have started reading it in the first place.
The worst part of all is that a dear, sweet sock monkey had to be included in this drek. I love sock monkeys. I hate this book.
May 22, 2013
I'll be up front here. Lately, I've had a non-sexual crush on Penn Jillette. This, of course, was spurred by his appearance on that awful time-suck of a show called Celebrity Apprentice; however, I've always thought he was articulate, creative and uber-intelligent. He's tall. He's mysterious. He's mothereffing magic. Not to mention, he named his daughter Moxie CrimeFighter. For real. What a RAD DAD. Anyways, a few years back, I picked up "Sock" and found one more reason to appreciate Penn Jillette: he's a fairly decent writer that can spin a good tale and infuse you with his unique brand of politics/religion all at once. Or rather, his anti-religion because as you may or may not know, Mr. Jillette is a rather outspoken atheist.
And, that, among his other beliefs, shine through his prose.
Narrated by a possession left over from childhood, Little Fool's sock monkey, Dickie is "bad monkey" who tells the tale of an obsession with a love lost to a serial killer. Together with this lost love's gay friend Tommy, police diver Little Fool sets out to solve her murder. A noir-esque detective drama unfolds and my general delight ensued.
Warning: there is plenty of fairly explicit sex talk, fairly seedy characters, and (depending upon your own view points) fairly radical opinions strewn throughout the pages - so reader beware. Penn holds no punches and takes no prisoners. In addition, there is a rather gimmicky (but somewhat endearing) narrative tactic employed by Dickie, a monkey raised on the Little Fool's constant radio rock-and-roll music, of weaving countless song lyrics throughout the text. Most of them are cleverly placed but can occasionally become distracting. You may find yourself humming the lyrics, drawn out of the plot, trying to determine just WHAT SONG those lyrics are from. Another clever review here on Goodreads cited a link that lists all these lyrics (and their associated song) by chapter: Check out the extensive references here!
There are some real tender feelings that Jillette manages to capture amid the strippers, rough sex and borderline misogynistic commentary. It may be that I'm pregnant, but this particular moment had me all but sobbing: "And the Little Fool had waited in the car...He saw an older Mom with a Down's syndrome kid. They were holding hands and looking in the window of the pharmacy. Mom had dressed him in a striped shirt that was too bright; it called attention to him. They were holding hands and looking in the window. The Little Fool's Mother had been too old when the Little Fool had been born. He had had a high risk for that forty-seventh chromosome. The Little Fool doesn't like to look away when he sees kids like that. He likes to force himself to look at what he could have been. He doesn't like to look, but looking is the right thing to do. He wants to see that kind of love. That's the kind of love his Mother had for him. It had been the love that had been holding that twenty-nine-year-old child's hand and pointing to the treats in the window. The love that had cleaned the ice cream stain out of that bright striped shirt he had been wearing. Where do you buy shirts like that? Is there a retard store? No one else wears shirts like that. Maybe you have to been loved more than anything in the world to wear a shirt like that. The old Mom had been tired. She had been so tired from caring for her baby who would have been a man if his chromosomes had lined up right. It had been a pure love. And when the Little Fool sees pure love, he always cries. Just a little. He can cry. He's a real tough guy. He swims in sewage; he can cry. And he wants to be loved like that. All he wants is to love like that. Still slightly edgy - I'm not sure I agree with the use of the term "retard store" - but tender and real emotion that Jillette manages to capture.
One more quote, and for those that cry "that was a spoiler" in the comments, I'll do you a favor and hide it - though I'm not really sure if I agree. It is, however, the essence of the book:
And, that, among his other beliefs, shine through his prose.
Narrated by a possession left over from childhood, Little Fool's sock monkey, Dickie is "bad monkey" who tells the tale of an obsession with a love lost to a serial killer. Together with this lost love's gay friend Tommy, police diver Little Fool sets out to solve her murder. A noir-esque detective drama unfolds and my general delight ensued.
Warning: there is plenty of fairly explicit sex talk, fairly seedy characters, and (depending upon your own view points) fairly radical opinions strewn throughout the pages - so reader beware. Penn holds no punches and takes no prisoners. In addition, there is a rather gimmicky (but somewhat endearing) narrative tactic employed by Dickie, a monkey raised on the Little Fool's constant radio rock-and-roll music, of weaving countless song lyrics throughout the text. Most of them are cleverly placed but can occasionally become distracting. You may find yourself humming the lyrics, drawn out of the plot, trying to determine just WHAT SONG those lyrics are from. Another clever review here on Goodreads cited a link that lists all these lyrics (and their associated song) by chapter: Check out the extensive references here!
There are some real tender feelings that Jillette manages to capture amid the strippers, rough sex and borderline misogynistic commentary. It may be that I'm pregnant, but this particular moment had me all but sobbing: "And the Little Fool had waited in the car...He saw an older Mom with a Down's syndrome kid. They were holding hands and looking in the window of the pharmacy. Mom had dressed him in a striped shirt that was too bright; it called attention to him. They were holding hands and looking in the window. The Little Fool's Mother had been too old when the Little Fool had been born. He had had a high risk for that forty-seventh chromosome. The Little Fool doesn't like to look away when he sees kids like that. He likes to force himself to look at what he could have been. He doesn't like to look, but looking is the right thing to do. He wants to see that kind of love. That's the kind of love his Mother had for him. It had been the love that had been holding that twenty-nine-year-old child's hand and pointing to the treats in the window. The love that had cleaned the ice cream stain out of that bright striped shirt he had been wearing. Where do you buy shirts like that? Is there a retard store? No one else wears shirts like that. Maybe you have to been loved more than anything in the world to wear a shirt like that. The old Mom had been tired. She had been so tired from caring for her baby who would have been a man if his chromosomes had lined up right. It had been a pure love. And when the Little Fool sees pure love, he always cries. Just a little. He can cry. He's a real tough guy. He swims in sewage; he can cry. And he wants to be loved like that. All he wants is to love like that. Still slightly edgy - I'm not sure I agree with the use of the term "retard store" - but tender and real emotion that Jillette manages to capture.
One more quote, and for those that cry "that was a spoiler" in the comments, I'll do you a favor and hide it - though I'm not really sure if I agree. It is, however, the essence of the book:
August 8, 2009
Sock. What a surprise. Granted it has been out a few years, but I had not heard anything about its existence, let alone how well or poorly it was written. Not quite what you would expect from the co-author of "Cruel Tricks for Dear Friends". But, then again, in some ways it is.
I see that the goodreaders don't rate it (on average) quite as highly as I did. I can understand that. It is "choppy" in some ways, but not because of lack of interest. I think that elements of the book take more effort to get through and that may annoy or dissuade some readers. Personally, I found it to be a medium-paced read which was a nice change-of-pace from the books I read around it.
I liked the characters, premise, and evolution of the story. I think that it's a book that will deserve a re-read in the next year or so. Why if it is a "mystery"? Because the pattern of the story will rest better in familiarity. Should Penn have kept it more traditional? No, that's part of what makes the book the quality of book that it is. But like other involved and well written stories, it can stand another look or two.
I see that the goodreaders don't rate it (on average) quite as highly as I did. I can understand that. It is "choppy" in some ways, but not because of lack of interest. I think that elements of the book take more effort to get through and that may annoy or dissuade some readers. Personally, I found it to be a medium-paced read which was a nice change-of-pace from the books I read around it.
I liked the characters, premise, and evolution of the story. I think that it's a book that will deserve a re-read in the next year or so. Why if it is a "mystery"? Because the pattern of the story will rest better in familiarity. Should Penn have kept it more traditional? No, that's part of what makes the book the quality of book that it is. But like other involved and well written stories, it can stand another look or two.
November 20, 2007
This book has the most interesting narrator I have ever read: a sock monkey called Dickie. All throughout the book, readers will see things from Dickie's point of view.
You see, Dickie belongs to a grown-up NYPD diver, whom Dickie calls Little Fool. One day Little Fool discovered a body belonging to his former lover Nell, obviously dead, in a river. Together with his friend Tommy and Dickie, Little Fool tries to find the killer. Which is a bit challenging, since Little Fool is a diver, not detective.
The narration by Dickie is...interesting. It is different, obviously, and somewhat honest. Dickie has this innocence image that blends with his (is it safe to say "his" and not "its"?) chaotic mind. He is definitely not your everyday cutesy doll. There are song lyrics quoted in almost every chapter, and that also adds the plus point of this book.
However, I think the plot is too slow for a story that simple, especially the near-ending part. Sometimes Dickie talks way out of context, making me forget what he is trying to tell.
I think if you want to read this book, go borrow it from a friend, or make yourself comfortable in the nearest library.
You see, Dickie belongs to a grown-up NYPD diver, whom Dickie calls Little Fool. One day Little Fool discovered a body belonging to his former lover Nell, obviously dead, in a river. Together with his friend Tommy and Dickie, Little Fool tries to find the killer. Which is a bit challenging, since Little Fool is a diver, not detective.
The narration by Dickie is...interesting. It is different, obviously, and somewhat honest. Dickie has this innocence image that blends with his (is it safe to say "his" and not "its"?) chaotic mind. He is definitely not your everyday cutesy doll. There are song lyrics quoted in almost every chapter, and that also adds the plus point of this book.
However, I think the plot is too slow for a story that simple, especially the near-ending part. Sometimes Dickie talks way out of context, making me forget what he is trying to tell.
I think if you want to read this book, go borrow it from a friend, or make yourself comfortable in the nearest library.
February 8, 2018
This book was a grind. It's about 50 pages of story and 220 pages of Penn's meandering thoughts (filler). Usually I enjoy Penn's meandering thoughts, but not when I think I'm going to read a crime/mystery novel. The 'sock' as a storytelling device was unnecessary at best and stupid at worst. I love Penn's other books, but not this one.
September 10, 2015
I want to give an extra star for the wild and unconventional execution, but it’s tempered by the fact that a lot of its kooky devices fall flat. Every paragraph ends in a pop culture reference, usually a line from a song, I guess because the Little Fool listened to music a lot when he was younger, so Dickie picked up these phrases? But they are only rarely actually relevant to the content of the paragraph they are tacked onto, and often that relevance doesn’t go much deeper than simple word association. Hey Jude, don’t make it bad.
(^it’s like that, on every paragraph^)
Dickie the sock monkey is a bad monkey but a good character, and a great narrator. He really isn’t telling the story of a murder mystery, he’s telling the story of the Little Fool, because he’s a sock monkey. More than anything else, he loves his owner. He raves about the qualities of the Little Fool, and he wants us to understand and to love him too. Dickie was good. The problems start when Dickie stops talking and Penn starts to show through. Penn is so afraid of taking anything less than the most liberal stance, he shoehorns in totally unnecessary asides to be absolutely sure nobody gets the wrong idea and, god forbid, think for a second that Penn isn’t a sexually liberated atheist. Why would a sock monkey be so vehemently, hatefully atheist? It’s out of character, and it’s off-putting, not edgy. Penn (as Dickie the sock monkey) also rants against anyone who is too monogamous or too prudish, which for him means anyone unwilling to have any kind of sex with any person at any moment.
The ending
(^it’s like that, on every paragraph^)
Dickie the sock monkey is a bad monkey but a good character, and a great narrator. He really isn’t telling the story of a murder mystery, he’s telling the story of the Little Fool, because he’s a sock monkey. More than anything else, he loves his owner. He raves about the qualities of the Little Fool, and he wants us to understand and to love him too. Dickie was good. The problems start when Dickie stops talking and Penn starts to show through. Penn is so afraid of taking anything less than the most liberal stance, he shoehorns in totally unnecessary asides to be absolutely sure nobody gets the wrong idea and, god forbid, think for a second that Penn isn’t a sexually liberated atheist. Why would a sock monkey be so vehemently, hatefully atheist? It’s out of character, and it’s off-putting, not edgy. Penn (as Dickie the sock monkey) also rants against anyone who is too monogamous or too prudish, which for him means anyone unwilling to have any kind of sex with any person at any moment.
The ending
August 7, 2016
The end of every paragraph ends in a line to a pop song. This is meant to reinforce the idea of the paragraph. It seems like a nice, quirky idea, but for me it was extremely distracting. It took away from the flow of the story. I quickly started skipping the last line of every paragraph. It still bothered me because sometimes he threw in two lines of a song. I felt myself getting super frustrated because of how much I liked some passages of the book.
Then I found a website that listed all the lyrics in the book:
http://www.belm.com/sock/index.htm
At this point, I was 100 pages in. I decided to go through the book and scribble out all the lyrics, and start the book over. It was worth it.
I absolutely love this book now. The jaded philosophy and social commentary are great fun, and much more easily digested without song lyrics muddying the waters. The first 35 or so pages are a little slow, giving backstory, but once the story starts, it's great. It's dark and funny. The plot and commentary are well thought out, and the writing is tremendous. Love, love, love this book.
Keep in mind, the narrative of this book is from the perspective of the protagonist's sock monkey. Since the sock monkey isn't present in a lot of the action, it comes off like he's giving it as second hand information. It's not fast paced. There are passages of him going on about how he thinks the world is fucked up (or just giving the brutal facts, as he'd likely say). It's not straight forward fiction. If I didn't enjoy sitting back and watch Jillette's thought process, the book probably would have annoyed the piss out of me.
Then I found a website that listed all the lyrics in the book:
http://www.belm.com/sock/index.htm
At this point, I was 100 pages in. I decided to go through the book and scribble out all the lyrics, and start the book over. It was worth it.
I absolutely love this book now. The jaded philosophy and social commentary are great fun, and much more easily digested without song lyrics muddying the waters. The first 35 or so pages are a little slow, giving backstory, but once the story starts, it's great. It's dark and funny. The plot and commentary are well thought out, and the writing is tremendous. Love, love, love this book.
Keep in mind, the narrative of this book is from the perspective of the protagonist's sock monkey. Since the sock monkey isn't present in a lot of the action, it comes off like he's giving it as second hand information. It's not fast paced. There are passages of him going on about how he thinks the world is fucked up (or just giving the brutal facts, as he'd likely say). It's not straight forward fiction. If I didn't enjoy sitting back and watch Jillette's thought process, the book probably would have annoyed the piss out of me.
June 29, 2016
2.5 stars. I was a big fan of Penn Jillette's two collections of rants, anecdotes, and essays - God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales and Every Day is an Atheist Holiday - so I was curious to see what a work of fiction from him would be like. Well, it turned out that the book was still full of rants and opinions - and they pretty much overwhelmed the narrative. The plot of Sock is fairly straightforward; a police diver discovers the brutally murdered body of his ex-girlfriend and decides to track down her killer. The twist here is that the story is supposedly being told from the perspective of the main character's stuffed sock monkey. In case that's not gimmicky enough for you, Jillette also ends about 90% of the paragraphs in the book with a song lyric. Sometimes these were cleverly chosen and added a wry little pop-culture commentary on the plot, but just as many of the quotes were seemingly picked at random. Sock feels like two different books struggling for dominance. I think that I would have liked them both individually, but together they're a bit of a mess.
March 25, 2008
the voice of this novel is a sock monkey named Dickie. he is owned by the Little Fool, a police diver who scubas a reserve of water in new york for bodies.
the story starts to pick up steam when the Little Fool drags a familiar body out of the water. an old lover of his that he has now determined was his true love.
i enjoyed the book as a whole. it is full of pop culture references, all of which the author has said help give the paragraphs a theme. i felt that there was a chapter towards the end that is completely unnecessary, but the book was still fun.
the story starts to pick up steam when the Little Fool drags a familiar body out of the water. an old lover of his that he has now determined was his true love.
i enjoyed the book as a whole. it is full of pop culture references, all of which the author has said help give the paragraphs a theme. i felt that there was a chapter towards the end that is completely unnecessary, but the book was still fun.
September 17, 2019
The words slam from the page like Penn Jillette shouting in your ear. Smart. Raunchy. Loud. Funny.
May 8, 2020
Kinda weird and choppy writing, with a story told by a largely omniscient sock puppet narrator. I believe this work would be patently offensive to many about things like religion, and to a lesser degree, human sexuality. A few enjoyable moments and by the end the story was pretty damned captivating. Was more curious to see what the hyperactive comedian/magician was able to pull off in the literary department, but definitely not blown away.
Read
September 22, 2023Very imaginative book.
July 9, 2014
Penn Jilette puts his words into his protagonist puppet's mouth in his oddball novel Sock. Purportedly told by a stuffed sock monkey, the main focus is on a New York City police diver. Upon finding the bludgeoned body of his ex during a crime spree, the diver and his salon-running gay best friend team up to bring down the murderer. While starting off with a neat premise, the book swiftly falls into a running commentary of Jilette's societal views. Plot is sacrificed in order to expound upon religion, sexuality, and relationships. Pages of the book are devoted to these topics, bogging down the pacing and forcing a rushed conclusion. The most egregious issue is with the omnipotent narrator Dickie, the titular sock monkey protagonist. Despite being sold as the writer of the tale, Dickie himself mentions being left in his diver's apartment for the majority of the saga - thusly undermining his entire credibility to the reader. While the book does overflow with Jilette's opinions, it does offer a fun little escape. Try this Sock on for size, and see if it fits.
September 9, 2022
A well-written spree-killer police procedural narrated by the imaginary friend/sock monkey of a NYPD diver. The narration is punctuated by pop-culture references from the time it takes place and anecdotes from the author’s own life that will be recognized by any listeners of his long-running podcast. The imaginary friend aspect also serves up an atheist subtext. I thought it was an entertaining, and rather odd, read.
July 20, 2019
If you like Penn Jillette the person, you’ll find him all over this book. This is not a book about magic. This is not a book about entertainment. This is a weird third-person mystery narrative told by a sock puppet.
There’s a LOT of Penn Jillette’s philosophy and beliefs in here. I feel like maybe the main character is Penn Jillette in an alternate universe? One that’s fairly close to ours?
It’s a mystery novel. So there’s murder, and trying to figure out whodunnit. But, it’s like 50% Penn Jillette.
I’m taking off one star for a narrative device: there are a boatload of music lyric references in this book. It felt like most paragraphs had them. Penn loves Dylan and Springsteen, so you’ll hear about them in the story, and lyrics at the end.
In fact, “Sock” would be my second choice of book name. With all the music references, it should have been called “Staff” or “Lyric,” but those are too on the nose.
I’m a completist, and I read this book because I enjoy the Penn and Teller thing, but I also grew up very close to where Penn grew up. He’s a cool guy, uses the word “wicked” a lot; and is also weird as heck.
If you listen to his podcast (Penn’s Sunday School [he’s rabidly atheist]) before you read this book, you’ll understand what I mean by Penn is all over this book.
It gets a bit preachy at times? But having the whole Proust Questionnaire published in the book is kinda cool.
In the end, I’m glad I got it at the library as this isn’t a book I’m likely to read twice.
There’s a LOT of Penn Jillette’s philosophy and beliefs in here. I feel like maybe the main character is Penn Jillette in an alternate universe? One that’s fairly close to ours?
It’s a mystery novel. So there’s murder, and trying to figure out whodunnit. But, it’s like 50% Penn Jillette.
I’m taking off one star for a narrative device: there are a boatload of music lyric references in this book. It felt like most paragraphs had them. Penn loves Dylan and Springsteen, so you’ll hear about them in the story, and lyrics at the end.
In fact, “Sock” would be my second choice of book name. With all the music references, it should have been called “Staff” or “Lyric,” but those are too on the nose.
I’m a completist, and I read this book because I enjoy the Penn and Teller thing, but I also grew up very close to where Penn grew up. He’s a cool guy, uses the word “wicked” a lot; and is also weird as heck.
If you listen to his podcast (Penn’s Sunday School [he’s rabidly atheist]) before you read this book, you’ll understand what I mean by Penn is all over this book.
It gets a bit preachy at times? But having the whole Proust Questionnaire published in the book is kinda cool.
In the end, I’m glad I got it at the library as this isn’t a book I’m likely to read twice.
November 6, 2017
What begins as a potentially interesting, Gothic romp through the mind of a terrible sock monkey in the midst of a murder mystery devolves into an all-out attack on religion. It's depressing to watch a novel with a lot of dark, intriguing ideas become a simple delivery vessel for Jillette's pure hatred of religion. I can't go below 2 stars here, because the writing's solid, and this book had me thinking and flipping pages pretty fast, but it's final on-the-nose "message" undercuts what makes the book work in the first place--humanity's bizarre imagination and the beautifully absurd notion that a eveb music-obsessed foul-mouthed sock puppet can tell a story. Sock puppets are not a gateway drug to violent religious extremism, and the fact that this book seems to seriously think that they are hurts the integrity of what could have been a great novel.
April 14, 2025
I have enjoyed all of Penny’s Books. This one is just not good. It’s rambling atheist essays with a weak overly sexual plot. It tries to be clever with its pop culture references but they end up just making the writing choppy.
abandoned
January 28, 2023I only made it a couple of chapters in. The narration is just too mean and I’m not in the mood.
November 19, 2024
One of the best books I've read about a sock monkey. Penn's humor and writing style will pull you in and never let go.
November 30, 2021
Penn Jillette.. The louder half of Penn and Teller.
Penn wrote a book back in 2004. When i saw it in the book store, i said to myself, that looks awesome! The story is narrated by the sock monkey of a NYC Police Diver. Said diver runs across the body of an ex-girlfriend and spends the rest of the book determined to locate the killer and take him down. Did i mention it was narrated by a sock monkey?
The book (aptly named “Sock”) was one of the lousiest reads i have ever mucked through. The story was interesting. the characters kept me interested as the story progressed, i was surprised by the ending. the problem was the damn sock monkey. as far as narrators go, he was the most annoying, hard to follow story teller i have ever run across. i slogged through the book determined to find out who the killer was, but everytime someone asked me about the book i would tell them i hated it. it was annoying and painful to read.
I was not lying.
The monkey is overly descriptive, worse than Anne Rice, and we all know that she can describe a room for 50 pages with no difficulty. The monkey was full of itself and held itself up as if it were the worst thing ever created. it would tell stories and jokes. It would say dirty things and then put itself down for being dirty… and we are really talking 7th grade humor here.. so far from being truly dirty that it was once again annoying.
The monkey spent a fair amount of time in the past listening to the radio by itself. The damn monkey was written so that it would end nearly every paragraph with the lyrics of a song. You may think i am exaggerating, and i am, but not much. You would find odd paragraphs with no song reference, but most paragraphs… LYRICS. Just when you think you can get past the asinine phrases and buggy bits of the narrator character, he tosses out lyrics to a song. You compulsively stop what you are reading, make a mental check mark as to if you know where the lyrics come from , then continue. The continuation is painful. You FEEL the interruption.
The lyrics were occasionally witty in their placement, but more often than not they appear to have been part of a list Penn was trying to get through. A prefabricated list that if he didnt find a way to use completely, he would have felt as if his “Magic Trick” had failed. In this case, the magic trick being that Penn actually got people to finish this poorly written novel of junk phrases and decent ideas.
To be honest, though i finished it and enjoyed the core story, it took until page 112 out of 228 for it to begin to become passable. HALF the book… It became passable when the monkey got cut out a bit and we started reading text written by the killer. THOSE were fantastic passages. Kill the monkey narration by the killer. This would have been incredible.
Up until page 112, there was only one memorable paragraph.. I marked it in my book.
My honest opinion, post rant… DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. If you do, ask me for the good paragraph and then pick up on page 112. If the text gets sloppy, skip it. The pain is not worth it. I rarely hate books, but the damn sock monkey ruined this one for me. I finished it for story alone and hated the experience.
--
xpost RawBlurb.com
Penn wrote a book back in 2004. When i saw it in the book store, i said to myself, that looks awesome! The story is narrated by the sock monkey of a NYC Police Diver. Said diver runs across the body of an ex-girlfriend and spends the rest of the book determined to locate the killer and take him down. Did i mention it was narrated by a sock monkey?
The book (aptly named “Sock”) was one of the lousiest reads i have ever mucked through. The story was interesting. the characters kept me interested as the story progressed, i was surprised by the ending. the problem was the damn sock monkey. as far as narrators go, he was the most annoying, hard to follow story teller i have ever run across. i slogged through the book determined to find out who the killer was, but everytime someone asked me about the book i would tell them i hated it. it was annoying and painful to read.
I was not lying.
The monkey is overly descriptive, worse than Anne Rice, and we all know that she can describe a room for 50 pages with no difficulty. The monkey was full of itself and held itself up as if it were the worst thing ever created. it would tell stories and jokes. It would say dirty things and then put itself down for being dirty… and we are really talking 7th grade humor here.. so far from being truly dirty that it was once again annoying.
The monkey spent a fair amount of time in the past listening to the radio by itself. The damn monkey was written so that it would end nearly every paragraph with the lyrics of a song. You may think i am exaggerating, and i am, but not much. You would find odd paragraphs with no song reference, but most paragraphs… LYRICS. Just when you think you can get past the asinine phrases and buggy bits of the narrator character, he tosses out lyrics to a song. You compulsively stop what you are reading, make a mental check mark as to if you know where the lyrics come from , then continue. The continuation is painful. You FEEL the interruption.
The lyrics were occasionally witty in their placement, but more often than not they appear to have been part of a list Penn was trying to get through. A prefabricated list that if he didnt find a way to use completely, he would have felt as if his “Magic Trick” had failed. In this case, the magic trick being that Penn actually got people to finish this poorly written novel of junk phrases and decent ideas.
To be honest, though i finished it and enjoyed the core story, it took until page 112 out of 228 for it to begin to become passable. HALF the book… It became passable when the monkey got cut out a bit and we started reading text written by the killer. THOSE were fantastic passages. Kill the monkey narration by the killer. This would have been incredible.
Up until page 112, there was only one memorable paragraph.. I marked it in my book.
My honest opinion, post rant… DO NOT READ THIS BOOK. If you do, ask me for the good paragraph and then pick up on page 112. If the text gets sloppy, skip it. The pain is not worth it. I rarely hate books, but the damn sock monkey ruined this one for me. I finished it for story alone and hated the experience.
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January 30, 2016
First off, I must admit that I had no idea Penn Jillette of Penn & Teller fame had written a book. I was very happy and excited to find this - it meant a book for my hubby to read and I really wanted to read it myself. And, as is usual of strange writing, we had very different opinions about said book when we were done. Namely that hubby really liked it, and I was really disappointed by it.
The story is a basic murder-mystery on the surface. A police diver (the guys that fish corpses out of the water) is doing his duty yet again when he pulls out the body of a former girlfriend. Struck by her death, he decides to investigate and find her killer. He enlists the help of a mutual friend, and they take off to track down the bad guy, thus avenging the girl.
Except this being Penn, nothing is normal here. First off, the story is not narrated by the diver but by his childhood toy, a sock monkey. The diver is referred to as "Little Fool" by Sock through the entire book, and at times, I almost felt like Penn was referring to me, the reader, in the same way. Reading the rantings of Sock made it very, very hard for me to get through this book; while the plot is basically an A-to-B-to-C, it doesn't feel that way. The monkey makes comments about anything and everything, very much like a stream-of-consciousness point of view. And just about every single paragraph ends with a reference to a pop-song or some other catch-phrase from pop culture, which was a bit disruptive in my opinion.
Penn is making comments about lots of things in this book, but probably the biggest one is about the existence of God. Yeah, I know - it's there, trust me. It's just not an overt way to make the commentary, and I think that it gets lost in the jumbled rantings of Sock. Overall, I found the characters to be difficult to relate to, the plot to be a bit thin, and Sock to be just outright annoying. I wish I had enjoyed this book as much as my hubby. He kept telling me to keep in mind who wrote it, which does explain a lot. But it doesn't make it a good book.
The story is a basic murder-mystery on the surface. A police diver (the guys that fish corpses out of the water) is doing his duty yet again when he pulls out the body of a former girlfriend. Struck by her death, he decides to investigate and find her killer. He enlists the help of a mutual friend, and they take off to track down the bad guy, thus avenging the girl.
Except this being Penn, nothing is normal here. First off, the story is not narrated by the diver but by his childhood toy, a sock monkey. The diver is referred to as "Little Fool" by Sock through the entire book, and at times, I almost felt like Penn was referring to me, the reader, in the same way. Reading the rantings of Sock made it very, very hard for me to get through this book; while the plot is basically an A-to-B-to-C, it doesn't feel that way. The monkey makes comments about anything and everything, very much like a stream-of-consciousness point of view. And just about every single paragraph ends with a reference to a pop-song or some other catch-phrase from pop culture, which was a bit disruptive in my opinion.
Penn is making comments about lots of things in this book, but probably the biggest one is about the existence of God. Yeah, I know - it's there, trust me. It's just not an overt way to make the commentary, and I think that it gets lost in the jumbled rantings of Sock. Overall, I found the characters to be difficult to relate to, the plot to be a bit thin, and Sock to be just outright annoying. I wish I had enjoyed this book as much as my hubby. He kept telling me to keep in mind who wrote it, which does explain a lot. But it doesn't make it a good book.
July 6, 2013
This is a difficult novel to review, especially if you are a fan of Jillette not only in his roll as bullshit bashing magician, but as a social commentator. Penn tells it like it is-constantly. And that is the problem with Sock.
As a debut novel it is brave, clever, insightful and raw. Unfortunately,if you've read any of his other works as I had with God,No! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84..., read any of his work online, or seen Penn & Teller:Bullshit, it's all old and just comes across as preachy ranting.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the first 100 pages or so, and using 'The Little Fool's' childhood sock monkey as the central voice is an inspired move. After that, it does tend to become a chore, making the 'broken fourth wall' trick just tiresome and annoying; so much so, that in the end you're praying for another voice to come through. Annoyingly, when that 'voice' does come through, it's just and even louder, shoutier version of what's preceded it.
Like other reviewers, I'm split on the song lyrics gimmick. At times they're clever, but there are instances where it takes you out of the story while you sit there running said lyric through your head.
If you're new to Penn and his ways then go for it. If you're experienced, then don't get your expectations up.
As a debut novel it is brave, clever, insightful and raw. Unfortunately,if you've read any of his other works as I had with God,No! http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/84..., read any of his work online, or seen Penn & Teller:Bullshit, it's all old and just comes across as preachy ranting.
Don't get me wrong, I loved the first 100 pages or so, and using 'The Little Fool's' childhood sock monkey as the central voice is an inspired move. After that, it does tend to become a chore, making the 'broken fourth wall' trick just tiresome and annoying; so much so, that in the end you're praying for another voice to come through. Annoyingly, when that 'voice' does come through, it's just and even louder, shoutier version of what's preceded it.
Like other reviewers, I'm split on the song lyrics gimmick. At times they're clever, but there are instances where it takes you out of the story while you sit there running said lyric through your head.
If you're new to Penn and his ways then go for it. If you're experienced, then don't get your expectations up.
September 29, 2014
I am a big fan of Penn Jillette, whether it be from TV or his Vegas show, where he graciously signed this book. So of course I was curious to read a work of fiction from him. I was a little nervous because the story was told from the point of view of a sock monkey and I had read an awful book called Winkie, which was told from the point of view of a teddy bear. Luckily the odd narrators are the only similarities. This is really two books in one. The main storyline is a classic noir story; a policeman trying to solve the murder of an ex flame. The second book is a free form way for Jillette to talk about religion, politics, and pop culture. When the two ideas mesh, the book is quite good, more often than not though they don't. I feel like the book is at odds with itself. Many times I found myself either wishing the book would move forward with the story, or enjoying Jillette's craziness(brilliance?) and not caring about the story. I don't know if I'd recommend this book to anyone, but I am glad I read it.
August 30, 2015
I fully knew what I was getting into when I started this book, thanks to so many reviews on sites like this. But I am having a hard time putting my thoughts into words for this book, or even picking a rating. I liked that it was so different from other books. It was dark, but at times I wondered if the author was doing so for shock value. I didn't understand the point of the pop culture reference at the end of almost every paragraph. Few of them contributed much to the story.
The ending seemed a little anti-climatic in the sense that the motivation of the killer was less complex that it should have been, given the story that led up to it. It felt like the author was using the story as a chance to vent some of his frustrations with organized religion more than just completing the story.
Having said all that, my opinion of the book is not as bad as it may sound. I just wanted to point a few things that bothered me a bit. Overall I enjoyed the book as something off the beaten path, and I felt the author did a good job.
The ending seemed a little anti-climatic in the sense that the motivation of the killer was less complex that it should have been, given the story that led up to it. It felt like the author was using the story as a chance to vent some of his frustrations with organized religion more than just completing the story.
Having said all that, my opinion of the book is not as bad as it may sound. I just wanted to point a few things that bothered me a bit. Overall I enjoyed the book as something off the beaten path, and I felt the author did a good job.
March 18, 2016
I had all kinds of hope for this book. Whew. See, I'd believe a sock monkey as a narrator if he had some redeeming qualities or helped what might be mistaken for a plotline. But Jillette's investment in this character/narrator is so very disappointing. He is hurtful, spiteful, and at times full of the kind of hate that makes Donald Trump look good to the unwashed. The premise of the book is unique, but it doesn't do much else for anyone who puts sentences together with care. Concluding each paragraph with a pop culture reference got old after 20 pages. I can only assume that if a celebrity magician wishes to write a novel, that publishers say ok without worrying about the response. That's two days of my life I can't get back....can you make that feeling disappear, Mr. Jillette?
June 27, 2008
Okay, another weird book from Mellinger, one which I'm not quite finished with yet. One of the blurbs on the cover mentions the orginal new voice of the narrator, a sock-monkey named Dickie. Anybody familiar with Penn Jillette will note that there's nothing original about the narrative voice- it's a direct feed from Penn himself. It even features his fascination with monkeys (Monkey Tuesday!)- and it seems unedited. There's a song quotation at the end of nearly every paragraph, and often the lyrics are misquoted. I suppose that could be intentional, but it just seems unfiltered. Again, it's direct Penn.
December 9, 2008
I really wanted to like this book. I really did. Who do I love? Penn and em-effing Teller, that's who. But man, I did not get into the voice of the storyteller at ALL, and while I do appreciate a good serial killer storyline, I didn't find myself satisfied by the denouement. Also, we all know Penn is an outspoken fella with some really firmly-held opinions. Unfortunately, so much of what the storyteller had to say read like Penn going on a tirade and didn't feel really honest for the character, or necessary for the plot (dude, I hate when people misuse the word "acronym" as much as the next guy, but c'mon).
October 24, 2011
It wasn't until his second book got released that I started wondering about Penn's writing, and I decided to pick up a copy of Sock, his first book.
It was great - in a dark, twisted, sock-monkey sort of way. This is the kind of book I'd recommend to my peers, but not my parents. It's graphic and vulgar, and it tells a fascinating story from a unique point of view.
I can't speak for others who have read it, but there were definitely parts that made me feel physically upset. And while feeling upset is not a happy feeling, the ability to reach someone in that way is definitely the mark of great writing.
Great read!
It was great - in a dark, twisted, sock-monkey sort of way. This is the kind of book I'd recommend to my peers, but not my parents. It's graphic and vulgar, and it tells a fascinating story from a unique point of view.
I can't speak for others who have read it, but there were definitely parts that made me feel physically upset. And while feeling upset is not a happy feeling, the ability to reach someone in that way is definitely the mark of great writing.
Great read!
April 28, 2011
this was one of those books that sounded interesting enough to go on my Christmas list, but not interesting enough for me to run out and buy. I ended up getting it for Christmas and love it more than I can explain.
I'm not necessarily a Penn Jillette fan, I guess he's funny enough, but I'd never go out of my way to see one of his shows or anything, but this book is... I don't know, it's just well-written and funny and smart and dotted with enough pop culture references to keep pop culture connoisseur like myself turning pages. And the narrator of the book is a sock monkey - come on now, do you need to know anything else?
I'm not necessarily a Penn Jillette fan, I guess he's funny enough, but I'd never go out of my way to see one of his shows or anything, but this book is... I don't know, it's just well-written and funny and smart and dotted with enough pop culture references to keep pop culture connoisseur like myself turning pages. And the narrator of the book is a sock monkey - come on now, do you need to know anything else?
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