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Orgasmo
Orgasmo is author Donald O'Donovan's autobiographical account of a long ignored
writer's vow to never write again. But, alas, the vow is as destined to failure as O'Donovan's puckish alter-ego is to literary obscurity.
A love letter (of sorts) to LA, O'Donovan is in rare form as we watch his calliope of characters, hustlers and hopefuls alike, whirl past to chronicle the writer's long and perilous journey from penny-a-word hack writer for a pulp fiction mill to an underground literary beacon.
writer's vow to never write again. But, alas, the vow is as destined to failure as O'Donovan's puckish alter-ego is to literary obscurity.
A love letter (of sorts) to LA, O'Donovan is in rare form as we watch his calliope of characters, hustlers and hopefuls alike, whirl past to chronicle the writer's long and perilous journey from penny-a-word hack writer for a pulp fiction mill to an underground literary beacon.
190 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 19, 2013
3 people want to read
About the author
Donald O'Donovan
8 books20 followersDonald O'Donovan is an optioned screenwriter and voice actor with film and audio book credits. He was born in Cooperstown, New York. A teenage runaway, O'Donovan rode freights, traveled the U.S., joined the army to get off the street, lived in Mexico, and worked at more than 200 occupations including long distance truck driver, undertaker and roller skate repairman.
The first draft of his novel NIGHT TRAIN was written on twenty-three yellow legal pads while the author was homeless on the streets of Los Angeles.
The first draft of his novel NIGHT TRAIN was written on twenty-three yellow legal pads while the author was homeless on the streets of Los Angeles.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
January 16, 2014
That Donald O'Donovan isn't a more widely read writer is either a crime or a huge compliment. There are passages in Orgasmo that reap greater rewards than other books in their entirety. The novel's characters are thrown around by fate and their own flaws and talents in a world of art, sex, heartbreak, comedy, wealth, poverty, drugs, drink, and loneliness. Amidst all of this the last person O'Donovan is interested in sparing is himself, and, as Al Capp said, all great humour is humour at one's own expense. If there is any drawback to the book at all it is that its characters go too far as characters, but spending time with them is such a pleasure that one doesn't really mind. Like with Celine, Kerouac, and Bukowski the reader gets the sense that Donald O'Donovan watches over the whole whirling carnival ride of Orgasmo, with all its absurdity, tragedy, and grace, with a half smile that tells us that the whole thing is Maya, the Hindu world of illusion, and that ultimately he's in it for the ride.
Chuck Crabbe
Author, As a Thief in the Night
Chuck Crabbe
Author, As a Thief in the Night
Displaying 1 of 1 review