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Something Gross
"This genre-defying account (novel? narrative poem?) of the troubled love of a young man for an emotionally stunted older one in the bars and apartments of megalopolitan Denver is written with such a spooking purity of line and with such an audaciously stark, grave wisdom that it already feels like a classic of its kind. Big Bruiser Dope Boy’s undecorated, indecorous sentences cut right through you and into the soul you might not have even known you still had. Something Gross is his most triumphant book yet. You are sure to wish you had written it."
—Garielle Lutz
—Garielle Lutz
248 pages, Paperback
First published February 9, 2021
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
February 24, 2021
BBDB is the best writer in America. Propulsive, beautiful, ugly, funny, honest. There is no writer alive that comes close to the this kind of intensity and intimacy. This is one of my favorite books by one of my favorite writers.
May 31, 2021
So I’m sitting here some three and a bit hours after closing the cover of this book. I don’t usually, or rather, haven’t in a long time, read a lengthy book right thru in one sitting.
I was in for the ride, sitting in the backyard, shit-eating grin on my face, thinking, “This, this is so good”.
Seems pat to say but this book put its arms around me and just plainly said, “It’s going to be okay...”
Not sure why, or how that happened, but I enjoyed, and am thankful for the reading experience. Will hang with me for an long time.
Apologies, I just reread this review ... it sounds corny AF.
It’s not meant to be - read this book.
I was in for the ride, sitting in the backyard, shit-eating grin on my face, thinking, “This, this is so good”.
Seems pat to say but this book put its arms around me and just plainly said, “It’s going to be okay...”
Not sure why, or how that happened, but I enjoyed, and am thankful for the reading experience. Will hang with me for an long time.
Apologies, I just reread this review ... it sounds corny AF.
It’s not meant to be - read this book.
February 7, 2022
3.5⭐️
(This review is appended with the confession that I’m not very used to reading poetry or brief verses/sentences, the way this book is formatted.)
Honesty is perhaps the biggest asset to poetry. In my opinion, good poetry simply says something. Bad poetry tries adorn how something is being said. This is good poetry.
That being said, this book is written in the interest of brevity and abruptness, and that sometimes works to really shine a blinding light on life and its moments, to bear existence in its often-unseen naked wonder. However, the brevity also somewhat stunts, leaves things to be desired, and ultimately tells a story that’s overly fragmented and perhaps a bit undercooked. However, that may be entirely the point, so what the fuck do I know?
There’s poignancy and power in the words here, a configuration that really elevates narrative style into something beautiful, and something gross *wink wink*. By my own preference, these are not the kinds of works I like to read, but it is always a pleasure to be reminded that language is a multifaceted affair, existing to connect, communicate, unite, erode, and expose. As underwhelmed as I was with some passages, I was also uplifted and captivated by others. That’s solid reading, time well-spent.
(This review is appended with the confession that I’m not very used to reading poetry or brief verses/sentences, the way this book is formatted.)
Honesty is perhaps the biggest asset to poetry. In my opinion, good poetry simply says something. Bad poetry tries adorn how something is being said. This is good poetry.
That being said, this book is written in the interest of brevity and abruptness, and that sometimes works to really shine a blinding light on life and its moments, to bear existence in its often-unseen naked wonder. However, the brevity also somewhat stunts, leaves things to be desired, and ultimately tells a story that’s overly fragmented and perhaps a bit undercooked. However, that may be entirely the point, so what the fuck do I know?
There’s poignancy and power in the words here, a configuration that really elevates narrative style into something beautiful, and something gross *wink wink*. By my own preference, these are not the kinds of works I like to read, but it is always a pleasure to be reminded that language is a multifaceted affair, existing to connect, communicate, unite, erode, and expose. As underwhelmed as I was with some passages, I was also uplifted and captivated by others. That’s solid reading, time well-spent.
January 26, 2022
Strengths of this narrative include its radical form (no periods? an effective way to emulate living life, in short but meaningful spurts) AND its references to many quintessential Denver spots, like Mutiny Cafe (went there yesterday!), Cheesman, Union Station, etc. etc.
But maybe what it amounts to is the story of one of them gays. You know? A wallflower with his head held high, going back and forth between loves, trying to classify "I love you"s into substantial life events. A bit pedestrian and eh.
Three and a half stars.
But maybe what it amounts to is the story of one of them gays. You know? A wallflower with his head held high, going back and forth between loves, trying to classify "I love you"s into substantial life events. A bit pedestrian and eh.
Three and a half stars.
February 13, 2021
I published an excerpt of this here: http://muumuuhouse.com/bbdb.28aug2020...
April 28, 2021
BBDB is who i think of when people say "emotionally honest" in terms of writing, but not much writing, at least to me (a fucking rube!), really compares. he has the chewy syntax of a poet (because he is), the grit of a blood and viscera soaked mortal kombat victor. this book is line after line of that good shit. a winding, propulsive narrative, the detritus of human relationships. and that propulsion continues off the final page because you have no choice. it's fucking life, man.
March 23, 2021
i really liked this book.
February 19, 2021
I read this book in two sittings, and greatly enjoyed each sitting.
There is something turbulent and alive here, and the pacing (which I would call fast) kind of plays against that. The book accumulates these frictions that build into something knotty, emotionally difficult, though also ultimately expansive, somehow freeing. A suggestion that is to me, always welcome: yes, a novel can look and behave this way.
It also made me think about literature and gossip. One of my favorite writers, Robert Glück, has written about this before, about gossip as an important kind of information for a community, and how literature can be an extension of that, in how it mimics gossip, how it functions and proliferates. "You're not a lover till you blab about it," as Glück says. The characters here form a community themselves and through them there exists the prism of feeling, knowledge, and intimacy.
It made me laugh out loud many times and those moments were warm.
There is something turbulent and alive here, and the pacing (which I would call fast) kind of plays against that. The book accumulates these frictions that build into something knotty, emotionally difficult, though also ultimately expansive, somehow freeing. A suggestion that is to me, always welcome: yes, a novel can look and behave this way.
It also made me think about literature and gossip. One of my favorite writers, Robert Glück, has written about this before, about gossip as an important kind of information for a community, and how literature can be an extension of that, in how it mimics gossip, how it functions and proliferates. "You're not a lover till you blab about it," as Glück says. The characters here form a community themselves and through them there exists the prism of feeling, knowledge, and intimacy.
It made me laugh out loud many times and those moments were warm.
February 13, 2021
Really really special. Looks (the structure and sentences themselves--but the cover is great too) and feels like something still happening. Like, THE modern story. Especially the use of text messages/e-mails, and the dialogue. So present, so honest, so well-crafted. Just goes straight to your brain for a good strong hello and then sits in your gut. In fact, it is still there in my gut. I feel drained and emotional. But in a good way. I found myself wishing I'd gotten to read this when I was younger and in "messy" love myself, yet still very happy I (we) have it now. Just, really really special. Dare I say, important? Why the fuck not. Haven't felt this much after reading a book in a long time.
February 26, 2021
At work crying a bit, reading this. Savoring. Yesterday, I thought: "I'll never savor anything, it's a waste of time. Nothing is worth savoring. And it's impossible." But here I am, you know? Here we are. Me and you. And you. And them. And here's this book, too.
BBDB has incredibly special heart that talks so passionately to you. Not at you, to you. With you. A book like this doesn't come around often. Or a writer like BBDB.
Too emotional to think clearly or elaborate. It's just that kind of book.
I can only suggest you open yourself up to it.
BBDB has incredibly special heart that talks so passionately to you. Not at you, to you. With you. A book like this doesn't come around often. Or a writer like BBDB.
Too emotional to think clearly or elaborate. It's just that kind of book.
I can only suggest you open yourself up to it.
April 1, 2021
Sad, sweet, conveyed an incredible range of emotion despite being fast-paced and naturalistic. Felt extremely innovative without making it seem like that's what it was trying to be. This is the first time I've read a book of BBDB's (besides stuff published online) and as corny as it sounds, after finishing SOMETHING GROSS I've never felt as close to another author.
March 15, 2021
You forget the most important things last
The most important things last
The most important things last
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 1, 2021
there were parts of this book that cause a reliving of moments of precise emotional pain in such a specific way that they felt downloaded from a shared reality: the dropping of the stomach when receiving a particularly nasty text, the casual ignoring of someone you were once close to, the attempt to be cool always during the remeeting of someone you'd shared something with and watching it collapse over and over. this is the story of a romantic involvement and hooking up in the gay scene in Colorado, and the specificity of the circumstance and characters and draws a distinct picture but also is so accurate in the universality if its emotions that it's easy to extrapolate beyond those specific details. I haven't read BBDP's poetry, so this was a first for me but it has an engine that really moves and it keeps you invested the whole way.
May 14, 2021
Dope Boy delivers a pack of 100 percent pure literature with Something Gross. A book about love, loss, writing, acceptance, friendships, addiction, America, Denver’s gay party scene and family. Brusier finds some peace in a merciless universe. Reminds you to be thankful for your life - some people don’t have noses (i’m just telling you what he said). Have been reading BBDB since I came across his very funny “69 Remakes” poem and this book is imo, his best work. Direct, urgent, poignant, funny and sad. There’s another level of interest for people in the indie lit scene with his vieled portraits of some of the figures in the scene. Enjoyed the epilogue “Sandhill Cranes” to cap it off.
March 28, 2021
BBDB's sparse prose lends well to its subject matter. His conversational style stands alone, and he makes navigating all the tonal shifts (from disgustingly hilarious to deeply bittersweet) look easy. An intimate portrait of a relationship collapsing in the Colorado heat. Something Gross is written with such love and hurt. Beautiful and essential.
January 13, 2023
definitely one of the worst and most Gross book covers I've ever seen. and my opinions on the book itself weren't too far off from that until i got a lil deeper in and appreciated the at least interesting aspects of reading someone being so raw and real. at times relatable and making me feel emapthetic while at other times just being an interesting and real ass person flaws and all type shit. definitely at times painfully almost too relatable, especially the break up with Peaches
probably the gayest thing I've ever read. gayer even than Adrienne Rich or Audre Lord so that's one thing that BBDB has got over writers like that i guess
i do really love how fast, but realistic and relatable way, that emotions and situations btwn people are zipped thru illogically
probably the gayest thing I've ever read. gayer even than Adrienne Rich or Audre Lord so that's one thing that BBDB has got over writers like that i guess
i do really love how fast, but realistic and relatable way, that emotions and situations btwn people are zipped thru illogically
December 29, 2024
Hardly a cooler, but dealt me a few smiles. Very heart-on-it’s-sleevey. Kinda felt like an IVF attempt at crossbreeding Dennis Cooper and Sam Pink, but not in an awful way. Author seems like a genuine dude and I wish him the best.
August 14, 2021
I hear you, man. It’s hard out here for an unapologetically wannabe New York art establishment gay like me. Like you. I can tell you’re suffering from success. Every five-star review could be your last. Well. Tough titties, poopy butt. Everyone used to love me, too. I was the busiest toilet in indie lit. I got more dick than Duchamp’s urinal. I even saw Elizabeth Aldrich in the nude. I was really something else.
Those were the days. Now I’m about feeling good all the time, you know? I’m not even gay anymore. I punish my pastry bag to ghetto booty hoes with cottage cheese up and down the puckered backs of bad knees until my bitch mom gets home and nags me. What the fuck, mom, get out of my kinkspace! Right? I just honk her pressure points and she goes down like that. Mm-hmm. OK, I have to let you go now.
Those were the days. Now I’m about feeling good all the time, you know? I’m not even gay anymore. I punish my pastry bag to ghetto booty hoes with cottage cheese up and down the puckered backs of bad knees until my bitch mom gets home and nags me. What the fuck, mom, get out of my kinkspace! Right? I just honk her pressure points and she goes down like that. Mm-hmm. OK, I have to let you go now.
June 10, 2021
A beautiful book. Minimalist writing so if you enjoy Tao Lin you will likely enjoy this. I enjoyed this on two levels, the sentences are what hooked me and then revealed a compelling, heartfelt, and thoughtful story.
July 18, 2023
My human karma explodes hell into heaven, drags clawing and yelping the devils of delusion back into the reality of God's heart.
Something Gross stands so far outside the scope of what I'd normally read. Poetry, long form narrative poetic work, novels told in verse, whatever way you'd choose to describe a book such as this, they're simply not things I'd usually pick up. Even days after closing the final page of this novel, I'm still not entirely sure what it even is. But that's a little besides the point. What I do know about Something Gross is that it's a beautiful, poignant, powerful and emotionally charged expression of queer life in Denver. This is a novel that speaks so passionately to the soul, that ignites the heart in a tender and delicate way. There's something so extremely human here, something alive and very, very special.
Big Bruiser Dope Boy is the kind of author who inspires the phrases emotionally honest, authentic, uniquely human. There's a distinct level of intimacy to his words that goes unmatched by most, rarely will you find an author who can make you feel so incredibly understood. This book is truly something magnificent, it's ugly and gross and painful while also being so damn beautiful and lovely and calming. It strikes chords, tugs at heart strings, and leaves the reader mentally shell-shocked, and left in awe.
There's a charming story here, one that's in places, a little abrupt and turbulent. It's fast moving and absolutely nothing is masked over or hidden, everything is simply displayed with a rather warming sincerity, the likes of which is hard to come by. Some may think of works like this as disjointed and fragmented, perhaps a little too hard to follow, and to a point that is present in this novel, however, it works so fantastically here. Everything is just so nicely put together, it's a wonderfully crafted masterpiece, a visceral and touching gift to the soul.
I loved it, that's what scared me. I felt crazy, it was like I was delighting in my own self-destruction.
Something Gross stands so far outside the scope of what I'd normally read. Poetry, long form narrative poetic work, novels told in verse, whatever way you'd choose to describe a book such as this, they're simply not things I'd usually pick up. Even days after closing the final page of this novel, I'm still not entirely sure what it even is. But that's a little besides the point. What I do know about Something Gross is that it's a beautiful, poignant, powerful and emotionally charged expression of queer life in Denver. This is a novel that speaks so passionately to the soul, that ignites the heart in a tender and delicate way. There's something so extremely human here, something alive and very, very special.
Big Bruiser Dope Boy is the kind of author who inspires the phrases emotionally honest, authentic, uniquely human. There's a distinct level of intimacy to his words that goes unmatched by most, rarely will you find an author who can make you feel so incredibly understood. This book is truly something magnificent, it's ugly and gross and painful while also being so damn beautiful and lovely and calming. It strikes chords, tugs at heart strings, and leaves the reader mentally shell-shocked, and left in awe.
There's a charming story here, one that's in places, a little abrupt and turbulent. It's fast moving and absolutely nothing is masked over or hidden, everything is simply displayed with a rather warming sincerity, the likes of which is hard to come by. Some may think of works like this as disjointed and fragmented, perhaps a little too hard to follow, and to a point that is present in this novel, however, it works so fantastically here. Everything is just so nicely put together, it's a wonderfully crafted masterpiece, a visceral and touching gift to the soul.
I loved it, that's what scared me. I felt crazy, it was like I was delighting in my own self-destruction.
February 22, 2022
Moves quickly, so you don't get bogged down in any one section. I got this b/c of the blurb from Garielle Lutz and thought with a name like Big Bruiser Dope Boy this has to at least be interesting. I don't really have any complaints about this text (is it a poem? a novel? a book of interconnected short stories?), though I'm not sure that it really amounted to much for me. Not certain if that is because it moved so quickly that I didn't take the time to properly absorb it, or if it is truly somewhat shallow. I didn't feel like I got to something really real about the narrat0r (also named BBDB) until the very end with the epilogue on sand hill cranes. Maybe that's just because that was the section of the book that mimicked more conventional literary fiction/poetry. I don't quite know how to classify this -- I didn't love it, I didn't hate it, it left an impression and I'll probably remember it and be thinking about it for a while, but I don't know that a return reading will reveal much more than what you would have received on first pass through. Anyway...glad I picked it up and read it. Onward.
May 25, 2022
In this more extreme version of Carmen Maria Machado In The Dream House, this novel explores the depths of toxic relationships in the queer community with brutal and vicious honesty. I saw one review call this novel “literary gossip” and I couldn’t agree more. It felt like a conversation with your messiest friend about their worst relationship. It was personal to the point of discomfort, like when you see teachers outside of school. This author holds back little from readers and is raw and vulnerable with what he shares.
January 21, 2024
im feeling more of a 3.5 than a 4 but whats the difference, really. big bruiser dope boy paints such an honest, ugly picture of himself and the people around him it only makes me love him more. a tough read, in part due to how uncomfortably real it manages it be. raw, radically written and reminiscent of reading a perzine.
November 7, 2022
Not all Kings wear crowns. The writing in this book was regal street hustle, a kind of patois of the soul that gripped me from the first page. I've read another of this author's books but Something Gross was a true revelation and should not be ignored.
June 28, 2022
This guy, on Twitter at least, is confrontational as, you know, a lot. I enjoyed reading this book, the humour, the tragedy, all of it felt so real. Yeah, read it and you might feel the same or.
October 27, 2022
Bish bash bosh this book has got the lot. Proper writing from a real geezer. Beats any MFA clown sh*t hands down and all the way up and back down. Hellyeah.
December 31, 2023
Hands down the best thing I’ve read this year. Wild ride. Disgusting. Giggle-inducing. Diarrheal. Everything I was looking for.
March 25, 2024
Loved it.
December 18, 2024
This book felt like Big Bruiser Dope Boy took details from my personal life and applied William Burroughs cut up method. This book may have been the most relatable thing I've ever read. Being about 2 years younger than the author/protagonist would be today and also being a younger "chaser/cub" who has been attracted too/had his heart broken by older daddy bears, this is probably the closest any book will get to capturing this unique experience.
Beyond the bears, the details describing queer existence itself and its shared experience with friends is perfectly captured in these prose/poetry.
I love this book. I want my friends, former hook ups, and bears who have broken my heart to read this. I hope they relate to it as much as I have. I want them to understand the emotions pouring out of its pages. At the very at least, I know they will enjoy how Something Gross accurately portrays the world we have traversed through.
The only thing which would make this more relatable for me specifically is if Ben was a bottom (SPOILER: gurl, he is not).
Beyond the bears, the details describing queer existence itself and its shared experience with friends is perfectly captured in these prose/poetry.
I love this book. I want my friends, former hook ups, and bears who have broken my heart to read this. I hope they relate to it as much as I have. I want them to understand the emotions pouring out of its pages. At the very at least, I know they will enjoy how Something Gross accurately portrays the world we have traversed through.
The only thing which would make this more relatable for me specifically is if Ben was a bottom (SPOILER: gurl, he is not).
July 10, 2021
the honesty in this book is inedible. The passion this man puts into his work is easy to see. After I was recommended this by a good friend, I ate it up so fast. Its SO real that you cant refute this linear culture.
People have love for each other, and its hard. But, its worth it. All the time you wanna talk away, you gotta go back and tell how it is.....
I dont really have a "personal synopsis" but I know this is the best book I have read in a year EASY (so far).
Had to go and get all his others. Currently eating thru them, slower this time. Wish I could go back in time, and read "SOMETHING GROSS" again slower....
People have love for each other, and its hard. But, its worth it. All the time you wanna talk away, you gotta go back and tell how it is.....
I dont really have a "personal synopsis" but I know this is the best book I have read in a year EASY (so far).
Had to go and get all his others. Currently eating thru them, slower this time. Wish I could go back in time, and read "SOMETHING GROSS" again slower....
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews