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The Serialist
A DARK AND STYLISH PAGE-TURNER FROM A BOLD NEW VOICE IN FICTION
Harry Bloch is a struggling writer who pumps out pulpy serial novels—from vampire books to detective stories—under various pseudonyms. But his life begins to imitate his fiction when he agrees to ghostwrite the memoir of Darian Clay, New York City’s infamous Photo Killer. Soon, three young women turn up dead, each one murdered in the Photo Killer’s gruesome signature style, and Harry must play detective in a real-life murder plot as he struggles to avoid becoming the killer’s next victim.
Witty, irreverent, and original, The Serialist is a love letter to books—from poetry to pornography—and proof that truth really can be stranger than fiction.
335 pages, Paperback
First published March 9, 2010
126 people are currently reading
1280 people want to read
About the author
David Gordon
228 books176 followersDavid Gordon was born in New York City. He attended Sarah Lawrence College and holds an MA in English and Comparative Literature and an MFA in Writing, both from Columbia University, and has worked in film, fashion, publishing, and pornography. His first novel, The Serialist, won the VCU/Cabell First Novel Award and was a finalist for an Edgar Award. His work has also appeared in The Paris Review, Purple, and Fence among other publications.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 252 reviews
March 26, 2012
The Serialist is one of the most unusual and entertaining books that I've read in a long time. The protagonist and narrator is Harry Bloch, an aspiring writer who barely eeks out a living by grinding out pulp novels in a variety of genres under various pseudonyms. One of his most successful is a vampire series that he writes under his mother's maiden name, Sybilline Lorindo-Gold. Harry gets his mom to pose for the author photo and then, when his mother dies, he has no choice but to don a wig, put on his mother's clothes and begin posing for the photos himself.
Harry supplements his income by writing term papers for wealthy students he is supposed to be tutoring. This aspect of his career is managed by a precocious and very appealing teenage girl named Claire who was the first student to be tutored by Harry and who conceived the idea of expanding the enterprise. Before long, Claire is managing most other aspects of Harry's life and doing a much better job of it than Harry had done himself.
Then, apparently out of the blue, Harry get a chance to take a gigantic step up in the writing biz when serial killer Darian Clay, who is a little more than eighty days away from being executed, asks Harry to ghost his memoir. Given Clay's fame, and the particularly sensational nature of his crimes, the book would doubtless be a huge best seller with all sorts of ancillary benefits. Harry has some reservations about accepting the offer, but Claire beats some sense into him and Harry begins visiting the prison to meet the brutal killer and get his story.
As the price for his cooperation, though, Clay demands that Harry visit some of the women who have been writing him in prison. Harry must then craft stories for Clay's amusement, describing the sort of lurid sex that Clay would have with the women if only he were free. Slimy as the task is, Harry agrees, but then the women he visits begin turning up dead, murdered in the same gruesome manner that was Clay's signature.
Harry now finds himself caught up in an enormously creepy and dangerous mystery. His own pulp novel detective hero would naturally break the case without breaking a sweat. But this is real life and Harry hasn't a clue as to how to proceed. The only thing he knows is that needs to come up with an idea ASAP or he may well become the next victim of a very disturbed killer.
It's impossible, really, to convey in a review the full measure of this very clever and appealing novel which is, as the cover suggests, a love letter to books and especially to genre fiction. The author, David Gordon, sprinkles through the book sample chapters of Harry's genre novels which are absolutely hilarious. Through Harry, he also has some very wise things to say about the reasons why so many readers love these books.
At one point, Harry notes that, "In its tropes and types, genre fiction is close to myth, or to what the myths and classics once were. Just as a century or two ago, one could refer to Ulysses or Jason and hid a deep vein of common understanding in your reader, now we touch that place when we think of a lone figure riding in the desert, or a stranger in a long coat and hat coming down a corridor with a gun, or a bat wheeling above the city at night. Reduced to their essence, boiled down, the turns and returns of genre unfold like dreams, like the dreams that we all share and trade with one another and that, clumsy and unrealistic as they are, point us toward the truth."
This book was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and is sure to delight anyone who can easily lose an afternoon or stay up half the night devouring a genre novel.
Harry supplements his income by writing term papers for wealthy students he is supposed to be tutoring. This aspect of his career is managed by a precocious and very appealing teenage girl named Claire who was the first student to be tutored by Harry and who conceived the idea of expanding the enterprise. Before long, Claire is managing most other aspects of Harry's life and doing a much better job of it than Harry had done himself.
Then, apparently out of the blue, Harry get a chance to take a gigantic step up in the writing biz when serial killer Darian Clay, who is a little more than eighty days away from being executed, asks Harry to ghost his memoir. Given Clay's fame, and the particularly sensational nature of his crimes, the book would doubtless be a huge best seller with all sorts of ancillary benefits. Harry has some reservations about accepting the offer, but Claire beats some sense into him and Harry begins visiting the prison to meet the brutal killer and get his story.
As the price for his cooperation, though, Clay demands that Harry visit some of the women who have been writing him in prison. Harry must then craft stories for Clay's amusement, describing the sort of lurid sex that Clay would have with the women if only he were free. Slimy as the task is, Harry agrees, but then the women he visits begin turning up dead, murdered in the same gruesome manner that was Clay's signature.
Harry now finds himself caught up in an enormously creepy and dangerous mystery. His own pulp novel detective hero would naturally break the case without breaking a sweat. But this is real life and Harry hasn't a clue as to how to proceed. The only thing he knows is that needs to come up with an idea ASAP or he may well become the next victim of a very disturbed killer.
It's impossible, really, to convey in a review the full measure of this very clever and appealing novel which is, as the cover suggests, a love letter to books and especially to genre fiction. The author, David Gordon, sprinkles through the book sample chapters of Harry's genre novels which are absolutely hilarious. Through Harry, he also has some very wise things to say about the reasons why so many readers love these books.
At one point, Harry notes that, "In its tropes and types, genre fiction is close to myth, or to what the myths and classics once were. Just as a century or two ago, one could refer to Ulysses or Jason and hid a deep vein of common understanding in your reader, now we touch that place when we think of a lone figure riding in the desert, or a stranger in a long coat and hat coming down a corridor with a gun, or a bat wheeling above the city at night. Reduced to their essence, boiled down, the turns and returns of genre unfold like dreams, like the dreams that we all share and trade with one another and that, clumsy and unrealistic as they are, point us toward the truth."
This book was a finalist for the Edgar Award for Best First Novel and is sure to delight anyone who can easily lose an afternoon or stay up half the night devouring a genre novel.
June 13, 2014
This article, about author David Gordon being famous in Japan and not even realizing it, made me curious enough to read the book that made him an accidental, foreign celebrity.
The book starts with a really great, memorable opening, including this line -- which isn't the first line of the book, but the last line of the first chapter:
It becomes quite interesting to note that Bloch discusses, near the end of the story, how writing the middle of his books is the trickiest part, after I had -- naturally -- already finished the middle of the book and thought it dragged a bit. It seemed like a bit of a postmodern mea culpa.
But this slight drag in the middle is more a speed bump than an impediment. This story is well worth the read. The opening scenes, introducing the characters in Bloch's struggling existence, are funny and occasionally poignant, and the meat of the story, when Bloch's agreement to ghostwrite a serial killer's memoirs turns dark, is captivating. And the crux of the mystery was sufficiently tricky -- which was impressive and a bit infuriating, as Bloch points out more than once that the clues are already laid out in what he has already written to discover exactly whodunnit before he reveals it.
Another narrative twist is that about half a dozen chapters of the novel are chapters from these various pulp novels, interspersed throughout the narrative. While they aren't necessary to the story, or allude to events that are concurrently happening, they give Bloch's character some depth since it gives an idea the kind of writer he is. For any reader not enjoying these brief infrequent intermissions, know they can be skipped with no loss whatsoever to the main story.
Finally, I feel compelled to mention the narrator of the audiobook, Bronson Pinchot, as I listened to this book. I would deduct a star from this book solely for its narration (although I did not, as I didn't want to punish the author for this shortcoming). Despite Pinchot being a professional actor, his voice work is lacking, at best. He gave Harry Bloch a whine that made the first person narrative difficult to listen to at points, and every female character sounded like Mickey Rourke in drag. While I would heartily recommend this book, especially to fans of the genre books it plays with, I would not recommend the audio version.
The book starts with a really great, memorable opening, including this line -- which isn't the first line of the book, but the last line of the first chapter:
It all began the morning when, dressed like my dead mother and accompanied by my fifteen-year-old schoolgirl business partner, I opened the letter from death row and discovered that a serial killer was my biggest fan.That hook follows a bit of preamble, including this line, which is the first line of the book:
The first sentence of a novel is the most important, except maybe for the last, which can stay with you after you've shut the book, the way the echo of a closing door follows you down the hall.These two lines should give you an idea of both the humor in the book, and how it plays with the narrative structure, as the narrator, Harry Bloch, is a writer of pulp genre fiction novels. His bibliography, all written under pen names, includes an erotic space opera series, an erotic detective series starring a black man from Harlem, and an erotic vampire series.
It becomes quite interesting to note that Bloch discusses, near the end of the story, how writing the middle of his books is the trickiest part, after I had -- naturally -- already finished the middle of the book and thought it dragged a bit. It seemed like a bit of a postmodern mea culpa.
But this slight drag in the middle is more a speed bump than an impediment. This story is well worth the read. The opening scenes, introducing the characters in Bloch's struggling existence, are funny and occasionally poignant, and the meat of the story, when Bloch's agreement to ghostwrite a serial killer's memoirs turns dark, is captivating. And the crux of the mystery was sufficiently tricky -- which was impressive and a bit infuriating, as Bloch points out more than once that the clues are already laid out in what he has already written to discover exactly whodunnit before he reveals it.
Another narrative twist is that about half a dozen chapters of the novel are chapters from these various pulp novels, interspersed throughout the narrative. While they aren't necessary to the story, or allude to events that are concurrently happening, they give Bloch's character some depth since it gives an idea the kind of writer he is. For any reader not enjoying these brief infrequent intermissions, know they can be skipped with no loss whatsoever to the main story.
Finally, I feel compelled to mention the narrator of the audiobook, Bronson Pinchot, as I listened to this book. I would deduct a star from this book solely for its narration (although I did not, as I didn't want to punish the author for this shortcoming). Despite Pinchot being a professional actor, his voice work is lacking, at best. He gave Harry Bloch a whine that made the first person narrative difficult to listen to at points, and every female character sounded like Mickey Rourke in drag. While I would heartily recommend this book, especially to fans of the genre books it plays with, I would not recommend the audio version.
August 4, 2015
Here’s something I haven’t done before: read two books by the same author one after another. I’d never heard of David Gordon until I came across a very funny essay by him in the NY Times magazine one Sunday this January. In the essay he explains that his debut novel, The Serialist, was mostly ignored in the U.S. but was loved in Japan, where it won three literary prizes and sold the film rights. Gordon, bewildered, mute, ushered about by adoring Japanese fans, was hosted in Tokyo when the film came out.
Gordon’s main character, Harry Bloch, is the quintessential hack writer: he did his research into what kind of fiction is selling at the bookstore chains and decided to incorporate those elements in the writing he did for different publications. Vampires and werewolves. Serial Killers. True Crime. Mystery. Urban. Soft Porn. Whatever. He’s got it all going on, with ideas to spare. He even created new names and faces (!) for each authorial persona.
Harry Bloch is contacted by a serial killer, Darian, to be the ghost writer of his story before Darian is executed. Bloch acquires a teenaged “agent” and, after meeting some of the relatives of the murdered victims of his serial killer, acquires a friend and lover called Dani.
Interspersed throughout this story of the process of ghost-writing are examples of some of the work Bloch had been doing to keep food on the table. It is here we encounter vampires and soft-porn, keeping readers laughing and awake to the author’s next move. Bloch also addresses the reader directly, making them complicit in his writing: He suggests that he is trying to “establish the intimacy of first-person voice, so you’ll follow me anywhere,” and “I don’t know about you, but I hate coming to the end of a mystery.” Throughout the novel he prods us: we readers “should have figured it out by now” because he “gave us enough clues.”
In the final pages, Gordon/Bloch gives us some of his philosophy about writing and life, which is: it’s not the beginning or the end of a novel (or life) that is most difficult. It is the middle. And I guess that flies in the face of most author interviews I have read, but it may be true in the case of real life. We’ll see.
Gordon reminds me a little of Jess Walter, endlessly inventive, determined to appeal, and laughing with (at?) us the same time. And he is really funny. But Gordon has an edge that bleeds.
I had to read Gordon’s second novel, Mystery Girl: A Novel to see if Gordon betrays my confidence as he did in The Serialist, and if his sense of humor still keeps me rapt. Review to come.
Gordon’s main character, Harry Bloch, is the quintessential hack writer: he did his research into what kind of fiction is selling at the bookstore chains and decided to incorporate those elements in the writing he did for different publications. Vampires and werewolves. Serial Killers. True Crime. Mystery. Urban. Soft Porn. Whatever. He’s got it all going on, with ideas to spare. He even created new names and faces (!) for each authorial persona.
Harry Bloch is contacted by a serial killer, Darian, to be the ghost writer of his story before Darian is executed. Bloch acquires a teenaged “agent” and, after meeting some of the relatives of the murdered victims of his serial killer, acquires a friend and lover called Dani.
Interspersed throughout this story of the process of ghost-writing are examples of some of the work Bloch had been doing to keep food on the table. It is here we encounter vampires and soft-porn, keeping readers laughing and awake to the author’s next move. Bloch also addresses the reader directly, making them complicit in his writing: He suggests that he is trying to “establish the intimacy of first-person voice, so you’ll follow me anywhere,” and “I don’t know about you, but I hate coming to the end of a mystery.” Throughout the novel he prods us: we readers “should have figured it out by now” because he “gave us enough clues.”
In the final pages, Gordon/Bloch gives us some of his philosophy about writing and life, which is: it’s not the beginning or the end of a novel (or life) that is most difficult. It is the middle. And I guess that flies in the face of most author interviews I have read, but it may be true in the case of real life. We’ll see.
Gordon reminds me a little of Jess Walter, endlessly inventive, determined to appeal, and laughing with (at?) us the same time. And he is really funny. But Gordon has an edge that bleeds.
I had to read Gordon’s second novel, Mystery Girl: A Novel to see if Gordon betrays my confidence as he did in The Serialist, and if his sense of humor still keeps me rapt. Review to come.
February 21, 2014
Great sense of humor, a lot of in-joke about the publishing industry and authors of pulp fictions, cleverly written twists and an decent ending. I like the characters as well. Although the ending is a bit on the "That's it? It's fine, but..." side, still I know I will keep my fingers crossed for the next book of this author.
May 4, 2010
It's an interesting premise, but it's not written nearly as well as it thinks it is. And being that the book is very much about books, writing and reading, this particular flaw stands out rather glaringly.
November 2, 2023
4.75
Tựa Việt: Kẻ viết truyện dài kỳ
Đọc cuốn này làm mình liên tưởng đến cuốn Everyone in my family has killed someone. Từ cách hành văn đến giọng văn dí dỏm, nhân vật chính cũng là một nhà văn có phần thất bại, đến cốt truyện mang tính hơi phiêu lưu nhưng đượm đầy chất trinh thám. Anh chàng Harry Bloch trong truyện được giao một nhiệm vụ khá thú vị là hợp tác với một kẻ giết người hàng loạt - Darian Clay - để được viết câu chuyện đời hắn. Lại thêm một liên tưởng nữa tới cuốn Vòng hoa cúc của Sharon Bolton - vì truyện này có nói về những cô gái hâm mộ kẻ giết người hàng loạt.
Vụ việc có lẽ chẳng có gì để nói nếu các cô gái hâm mộ đó sau các cuộc gặp của Harry đã chết thảm thương với motif gây án y hệt như của Clay. Dĩ nhiên, hắn không thể gây ra việc này. Vậy ai đang giết người và sao chép y hệt cách gây án của hắn? Liệu Harry là móc xích gián tiếp gây ra việc này? Harry bất chợt trở thành thám tử điều tra miễn cưỡng vì anh vừa nằm trong vòng tình nghi (có lẽ) vừa muốn bảo toàn sự an toàn của mình, kẻ giết người thực sự có thể muốn bịt miệng anh.
Bên cạnh quá trình điều tra vô cùng nghiệp dư của Harry với sự trợ giúp của 2 cô gái kì quặc còn là cuộc sống nhàm chán hơi thất bại của anh chàng. Truyện đan xem với những đoạn trích từ những tác phẩm mà Harry đã chấp bút, với bút danh chứ chưa bao giờ thực sự viết một tác phẩm xứng đáng để tên thật của mình. Vì Harry là một nhà văn (dù không thành công như đáng lẽ) nên chắc chắn có nhiều quan điểm, suy nghĩ của nhân vật về văn học nói riêng và nghệ thuật nói chung. Đơn cử là Clay, gã ta cũng tự coi mình là một người nghệ sĩ và gã đã huênh hoang về khả năng của mình - so sánh những gì gã gây ra là những tác phẩm đẹp đẽ của hắn. Trong khi đó Harry phủ nhận triết lý của hắn vì dù sao thì, Clay rốt cục cũng chỉ là một kẻ thất bại thảm hại.
Quá trình điều tra của Harry về sau có phần chóng vánh, lộ ra khá nhiều bất ngờ về vụ án và gỡ rối nhiều điểm bất đồng khác. Mình không theo được suy luận của Harry vì không có thông tin cụ thể gì được nêu ra khi Harry phát hiện. Chúng ta cứ đi theo lời giải thích của Harry thôi chứ không tự suy luận được.
Kết luận là, sách đáng đọc, tuy có nhiều đoạn mô tả cảnh giết người tàn bạo nhưng tính dí dỏm của nhân vật khiến câu chuyện không có cảm giác đen tối mà trái lại, khá vui.
Tựa Việt: Kẻ viết truyện dài kỳ
Đọc cuốn này làm mình liên tưởng đến cuốn Everyone in my family has killed someone. Từ cách hành văn đến giọng văn dí dỏm, nhân vật chính cũng là một nhà văn có phần thất bại, đến cốt truyện mang tính hơi phiêu lưu nhưng đượm đầy chất trinh thám. Anh chàng Harry Bloch trong truyện được giao một nhiệm vụ khá thú vị là hợp tác với một kẻ giết người hàng loạt - Darian Clay - để được viết câu chuyện đời hắn. Lại thêm một liên tưởng nữa tới cuốn Vòng hoa cúc của Sharon Bolton - vì truyện này có nói về những cô gái hâm mộ kẻ giết người hàng loạt.
Vụ việc có lẽ chẳng có gì để nói nếu các cô gái hâm mộ đó sau các cuộc gặp của Harry đã chết thảm thương với motif gây án y hệt như của Clay. Dĩ nhiên, hắn không thể gây ra việc này. Vậy ai đang giết người và sao chép y hệt cách gây án của hắn? Liệu Harry là móc xích gián tiếp gây ra việc này? Harry bất chợt trở thành thám tử điều tra miễn cưỡng vì anh vừa nằm trong vòng tình nghi (có lẽ) vừa muốn bảo toàn sự an toàn của mình, kẻ giết người thực sự có thể muốn bịt miệng anh.
Bên cạnh quá trình điều tra vô cùng nghiệp dư của Harry với sự trợ giúp của 2 cô gái kì quặc còn là cuộc sống nhàm chán hơi thất bại của anh chàng. Truyện đan xem với những đoạn trích từ những tác phẩm mà Harry đã chấp bút, với bút danh chứ chưa bao giờ thực sự viết một tác phẩm xứng đáng để tên thật của mình. Vì Harry là một nhà văn (dù không thành công như đáng lẽ) nên chắc chắn có nhiều quan điểm, suy nghĩ của nhân vật về văn học nói riêng và nghệ thuật nói chung. Đơn cử là Clay, gã ta cũng tự coi mình là một người nghệ sĩ và gã đã huênh hoang về khả năng của mình - so sánh những gì gã gây ra là những tác phẩm đẹp đẽ của hắn. Trong khi đó Harry phủ nhận triết lý của hắn vì dù sao thì, Clay rốt cục cũng chỉ là một kẻ thất bại thảm hại.
Quá trình điều tra của Harry về sau có phần chóng vánh, lộ ra khá nhiều bất ngờ về vụ án và gỡ rối nhiều điểm bất đồng khác. Mình không theo được suy luận của Harry vì không có thông tin cụ thể gì được nêu ra khi Harry phát hiện. Chúng ta cứ đi theo lời giải thích của Harry thôi chứ không tự suy luận được.
Kết luận là, sách đáng đọc, tuy có nhiều đoạn mô tả cảnh giết người tàn bạo nhưng tính dí dỏm của nhân vật khiến câu chuyện không có cảm giác đen tối mà trái lại, khá vui.
January 8, 2014
I am done with The Serialist. A very weird novel. The first half of the book is expository, defining and fleshing out the protagonist and his offbeat business partner (a teenaged girl). Until I was halfway through the book was wondering why it was labeled "Adrenaline." Then I got to the reason. The second half takes off with the discovery of INCREDIBLY grisly murders and the subsequent investigation, culminating in the discovery of the weirdest murder duo I've ever heard of, but it doesn't end there. The final section of the book is the laying to rest of all the unfinished details of the story, including a whole second mystery couched inside the first. Completely unexpected.
The entire book is seedy, sleazy, prurient, downright dirty, and reads to a degree like Hammett, but it's very well written and incorporates snippets of the ersatz books as authored by the protagonist (a genre novelist with several noms de plume) which are hilarious, preposterous and eye-rollingly good foils to the elegantly gritty text surrounding them.
I totally recommend it. It's unconventional and unique.
The entire book is seedy, sleazy, prurient, downright dirty, and reads to a degree like Hammett, but it's very well written and incorporates snippets of the ersatz books as authored by the protagonist (a genre novelist with several noms de plume) which are hilarious, preposterous and eye-rollingly good foils to the elegantly gritty text surrounding them.
I totally recommend it. It's unconventional and unique.
May 28, 2022
Funny and tongue in cheek. Writer writing about me,me, me. And me is not as funny or as clever as he believes he is.
Ok. I was bored. And some of the grab lines were awful. Not good enough for rote sit com material. Hubris mixed with insipid sloppy humor.
Premise and plot embed you into books, their writing process and the usual banal to glory results. But for me it was just ok. Meh!
Not a huge feature but it is there. You know, I am sick of reading about Queens vs Manhattan or Brooklyn. Or riches of Long Island homes. Or any of the NYC pecking order for goods and lodgings. Others clearly differ upon never seeming to get enough of it? Beyond their all coveting better. Double meh!
Ok. I was bored. And some of the grab lines were awful. Not good enough for rote sit com material. Hubris mixed with insipid sloppy humor.
Premise and plot embed you into books, their writing process and the usual banal to glory results. But for me it was just ok. Meh!
Not a huge feature but it is there. You know, I am sick of reading about Queens vs Manhattan or Brooklyn. Or riches of Long Island homes. Or any of the NYC pecking order for goods and lodgings. Others clearly differ upon never seeming to get enough of it? Beyond their all coveting better. Double meh!
February 14, 2011
This was awful. It had so much promise, and I very nearly recommended it to a couple of people before I got very far it--it's funny, cutting, a satire of the postmodern novel while also being a bit of a postmodern novel. But then the murders start, and it's the most gruesome thing I have read in a long time. And in a way that sort of celebrates that gruesomeness. When I got to the chapter that began "The first thing I ever killed was a gerbil" I just wanted to put the damn thing down, but I finished it, and now I need a bath.
October 13, 2017
So, this would get all 5 stars if the whole story didn't turn out so gross and disturbing in the end (and this is coming from a person who usually reads stuff like that). When I read the blurb at the back, I imagined this Photo-killer to be a regular killer, but this was far more deranged then I thought it would be. Definitely not a book for everybody. I appreciated the humour and passages about writer's struggles, and I liked the first half much more. There were a couple of unnecessary plot twists at the end, but I just wanted to be done with this book at that point. The murder mystery really didn't do anything for me, just spooked me out, and I feel that I would like this much more if it was only about Harry's writing career and little everyday anecdotes.
November 7, 2012
I usually try to read the Edgar nominees for best first novel within the year of the award but had put this book off (it was nominated for 2010) because I frankly thought it would be pretentious literary fiction posing as a genre story so I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it. I do enjoy different and this book definitely was that and the narrative voice and dark humor really won me over. The only downside was the whole serial killer obligatory graphic violence thing.
May 6, 2010
What a waste. As one other reviewer pointed out, this book is not nearly as clever as it thinks it is.
I found it tasteless in parts and I really did not like the protagonist, if that's what you could call him.
I found it tasteless in parts and I really did not like the protagonist, if that's what you could call him.
April 14, 2010
This book had plenty of laughs, lots of fun characters, and definitely a page turner. A real winner for a first book (if it was a first book). ;)
April 15, 2017
This was a very interesting book. Self deprecating and funny,at the same time gory and a good mystery. The style really reminded me of Christopher Moore. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
May 4, 2020
Back in the day, I’m talking the 20s-50s, writers used to make their bread by writing pulp tales on the side while working on their main works. They would release the former under pseudonyms. Hard boiled mysteries, campy science fiction, erotica, plenty of great writers plied their trade this way. Lawrence Block wrote dozens of trashy erotic novels under a variety of names before transitioning to mainstream mystery fare.
The Serialist is a tribute to that form of writing and for that, I almost love the book. These days, writers still may do that kind of writing for pennies off Kindle but it’s mostly a lost art. David Gordon honors this and I’m grateful.
Unfortunately, that’s the only thing this book has going for it. I really wanted to like to more than I did but its lead character is obnoxious and the supporting cast, majority women, are written pretty thin. It doesn’t help that the premise is something designed to frustrate me: a serial killer (ugh) who preys on models (gah) and comes from the foster care system (ugh) tries to get the writer to write about him. He’s aided by a stripper (c’mon) whose sister was one of the killer’s victims (ick) and a 16-year old girl whom he tutors (yikes, and when he describes her outfits, double yikes). Unfortunately, there is a copycat killer (sigh) who may be the real killer and thus the writer has to find this out.
On top of everything, Gordon’s prose is sorely lacking. This book is desperately overwritten, with the vast majority of it taking place inside the uninspiring protagonist’s head.
It might not be the book’s fault that I didn’t like it but I feel like the humor/satire stuff felt flat. Others wrote that this was a commentary on the NYC populace at the moment (2009) but if so, I missed out on it. The only thing that carried me to the end was the premise, which I found compelling in spite of the execution. But man, this one just ain’t good. I tried to find ways to get it to 3 stars and I just couldn’t.
The Serialist is a tribute to that form of writing and for that, I almost love the book. These days, writers still may do that kind of writing for pennies off Kindle but it’s mostly a lost art. David Gordon honors this and I’m grateful.
Unfortunately, that’s the only thing this book has going for it. I really wanted to like to more than I did but its lead character is obnoxious and the supporting cast, majority women, are written pretty thin. It doesn’t help that the premise is something designed to frustrate me: a serial killer (ugh) who preys on models (gah) and comes from the foster care system (ugh) tries to get the writer to write about him. He’s aided by a stripper (c’mon) whose sister was one of the killer’s victims (ick) and a 16-year old girl whom he tutors (yikes, and when he describes her outfits, double yikes). Unfortunately, there is a copycat killer (sigh) who may be the real killer and thus the writer has to find this out.
On top of everything, Gordon’s prose is sorely lacking. This book is desperately overwritten, with the vast majority of it taking place inside the uninspiring protagonist’s head.
It might not be the book’s fault that I didn’t like it but I feel like the humor/satire stuff felt flat. Others wrote that this was a commentary on the NYC populace at the moment (2009) but if so, I missed out on it. The only thing that carried me to the end was the premise, which I found compelling in spite of the execution. But man, this one just ain’t good. I tried to find ways to get it to 3 stars and I just couldn’t.
February 24, 2023
Một cuốn sách thú vị đối với mình mặc dù ban đầu mình đã không kỳ vọng nhiều.
Cách mở bài của tác giả theo mình là rất rủi ro nha, mình đã nghĩ “dẫn truyện như thế thì khi thực sự viết sẽ như thế nào nhỉ”, và đúng là những đoạn trích sách của nhân vật lại có văn phong khác hẳn, kiểu đọc vô thấy rõ sự khác biệt, à đây là ổng đang kể chuyện, còn kia mới là văn ổng viết. Đó là điều đầu tiên mình thích ở tác giả này.
Điều thứ hai mình thích là sự hài hước duyên dáng trong suốt cuốn sách cho dù là đoạn hội thoại hay tự sự của nhân vật chính.
Tuy vậy nửa đầu của cuốn này chậm chạp đến sốt ruột, cách quan sát cuộc sống của nhân vật chính trong cuốn này có kiểu phớt đời và ngớ ngẩn giống như nam chính của “Kẻ ngoại cuộc”, nhưng “Kẻ ngoại cuộc” thì ngắn gọn súc tích hơn. Mình đã đi qua nó bằng sự tò mò về việc rút cuộc thì câu chuyện này sẽ theo chiều hướng như thế nào. Rồi bùm chéo, tới nửa cuốn, 6 trang tiễn 3 mạng 1 cách kinh dị máu me vcl *vô cùng luôn* (trái tim fangirl yếu đuối của tui bị hù bạt vía). Và mặc dù được nhận xét là 1 người khá nhạy bén, mình đọc tới 2/3 mà vẫn chẳng đoán ra được gì, vừa hào hứng vừa tò mò vừa hồi hộp, có chút sợ sợ kích thích nữa nên nửa sau cuốn sách đối với mình đúng là page-turner luôn.
Điều thứ ba mình thích của cuốn sách này là đến cuối có những đoạn như tự sự, như triết lý của cả tội phạm lẫn nhân vật chính, viết rất hay nha, rất đời, rất sâu sắc, cũng đưa ra nhiều góc nhìn về quan điểm của tội ác, nghệ thuật, nhưng lại không bị lý thuyết hay là sáo rỗng đâu. Mình nghĩ tác giả đã làm rất tốt để không bị vượt qua lằn ranh mỏng manh này.
Điều thứ tư mình thích là bước ngoặt cuối truyện, chà, không thể ngờ được dù cái nhân vật đó cũng xuất hiện khá là lâu rồi, vỡ chuyện rồi thì mới quay lại xem haha.
Tóm lại là truyện hay, sách nặng, giấy dày, cầm chắc tay, có vài lỗi biên tập nhỏ và 1 lỗi lớn là thiếu mất 15 trang (tui xu thui chứ hỏi bạn thì đủ) :)))
Các bạn đọc thử đi.
Cách mở bài của tác giả theo mình là rất rủi ro nha, mình đã nghĩ “dẫn truyện như thế thì khi thực sự viết sẽ như thế nào nhỉ”, và đúng là những đoạn trích sách của nhân vật lại có văn phong khác hẳn, kiểu đọc vô thấy rõ sự khác biệt, à đây là ổng đang kể chuyện, còn kia mới là văn ổng viết. Đó là điều đầu tiên mình thích ở tác giả này.
Điều thứ hai mình thích là sự hài hước duyên dáng trong suốt cuốn sách cho dù là đoạn hội thoại hay tự sự của nhân vật chính.
Tuy vậy nửa đầu của cuốn này chậm chạp đến sốt ruột, cách quan sát cuộc sống của nhân vật chính trong cuốn này có kiểu phớt đời và ngớ ngẩn giống như nam chính của “Kẻ ngoại cuộc”, nhưng “Kẻ ngoại cuộc” thì ngắn gọn súc tích hơn. Mình đã đi qua nó bằng sự tò mò về việc rút cuộc thì câu chuyện này sẽ theo chiều hướng như thế nào. Rồi bùm chéo, tới nửa cuốn, 6 trang tiễn 3 mạng 1 cách kinh dị máu me vcl *vô cùng luôn* (trái tim fangirl yếu đuối của tui bị hù bạt vía). Và mặc dù được nhận xét là 1 người khá nhạy bén, mình đọc tới 2/3 mà vẫn chẳng đoán ra được gì, vừa hào hứng vừa tò mò vừa hồi hộp, có chút sợ sợ kích thích nữa nên nửa sau cuốn sách đối với mình đúng là page-turner luôn.
Điều thứ ba mình thích của cuốn sách này là đến cuối có những đoạn như tự sự, như triết lý của cả tội phạm lẫn nhân vật chính, viết rất hay nha, rất đời, rất sâu sắc, cũng đưa ra nhiều góc nhìn về quan điểm của tội ác, nghệ thuật, nhưng lại không bị lý thuyết hay là sáo rỗng đâu. Mình nghĩ tác giả đã làm rất tốt để không bị vượt qua lằn ranh mỏng manh này.
Điều thứ tư mình thích là bước ngoặt cuối truyện, chà, không thể ngờ được dù cái nhân vật đó cũng xuất hiện khá là lâu rồi, vỡ chuyện rồi thì mới quay lại xem haha.
Tóm lại là truyện hay, sách nặng, giấy dày, cầm chắc tay, có vài lỗi biên tập nhỏ và 1 lỗi lớn là thiếu mất 15 trang (tui xu thui chứ hỏi bạn thì đủ) :)))
Các bạn đọc thử đi.
July 15, 2015
First, I didn't finish this book and second I tried to listen in audiobook. I got it from my library for a road trip. We didn't make it too far. I just kept wondering more about the author. I understand you want a strong start but when you're trying too hard to sound edgy and raw it shows.
October 28, 2024
Harry gets the opportunity his writing career needed when a serial killer on death row asks him to write his biography. Intriguing — but then, after Harry interviews women in love with the serial killer, copycat murders ensue. The novel takes a turn and an unlikely trio (Harry, a stripper, and a 15 year old girl) start investigating to see who is behind the murders.
This had some of the most grotesque descriptions of murder scenes and was quite hard to read at times.
I did like this book since it was so unconventional. There were some moments the author broke the 4th wall by saying we probably have figured out what happened already, which made me frustrated that I hadn’t figured it out yet.
This had some of the most grotesque descriptions of murder scenes and was quite hard to read at times.
I did like this book since it was so unconventional. There were some moments the author broke the 4th wall by saying we probably have figured out what happened already, which made me frustrated that I hadn’t figured it out yet.
Read
November 7, 2020Talk about entertaining! David Gordon has what it takes-- so funny, so well-plotted, and such an original appealing voice. Must find more of him to read, now.
February 16, 2025
2.5 stars tbf. It’s fine. Was almost a DNF; Wasn’t a fan of how he flirted with *pdf file-ic* descriptions of the 15 year old girl character (sorry if that stuff grossing me out is controversial 🤪). The pacing was fast (most chapters are like 4 pages max) but still managed to drag on super long at times. Such a solid meh for me, sorry.
June 11, 2011
Author David Gordon engages the reader as if demonstrating his prowess at seduction. It is a very literary seduction. He opens by confiding the importance of an attention-grabbing first sentence. Of course, he's already given us his first sentence, so its as if he's disclosing a new part of his personality when he unleashes an over the top new “first sentence.” THE SERIALIST is narrated in the first person. The author (in the character of Harry Bloch) is at times disingenuous, cheeky, self-mocking, and self-absorbed, but always candidly observant with his writer's eye. His literary accomplishments involve making a living churning out soft-porn (as the “Slut Whisperer” advice columnist in Raunchy magazine, and in his Zorg sci-fi series). Other cash tributaries are his vampire series and a Mike Hammer style knock-off. He then opens up about his relationship to his recently deceased mother, his present apartment in Queens, and his favorite foods. Finally, he talks some more about his career – the difficulties an author faces: “...to make reality believable.” By the time the mystery narrative begins, his seduction is successful, I found his company thoroughly engaging and his plight both funny and sympathetic in this anti-genre mystery-thriller.
The main narrative leads up to Harry being solicited by a serial killer on death row. The project – writing the murder's memoirs – could be very lucrative, but there are some odd conditions which make even a man of his amoral outlook queasy. These details don't trouble his business mentor – a savvy high school student named Claire. He is further encouraged to take on the project by Dani, the twin sister of one of the killer's victims. Gordon manages to project a sense of cascading events. His intelligence has selected just these particular scenes to freeze-frame for our examination. In this way the frequent eruption of surprises is made plausible. A constant sense of movement is supported by unexpected interruptions as he feeds us excerpts from the writer, Harry's, various efforts: Crimson Darkness Falls (the vampire series), The Taming of the Slut, and Double Down on the Deuce. The genre parodies of these excerpts are both comic relief and entertaining suspensions of time that renew the reader's thirst for the central mystery narrative. The parodies provide a contrasting background that seems to make the mystery narrative even more compelling.
Inventive, entertaining, and well-written – THE SERIALIST is a book with appeal beyond simply mystery fans.
The main narrative leads up to Harry being solicited by a serial killer on death row. The project – writing the murder's memoirs – could be very lucrative, but there are some odd conditions which make even a man of his amoral outlook queasy. These details don't trouble his business mentor – a savvy high school student named Claire. He is further encouraged to take on the project by Dani, the twin sister of one of the killer's victims. Gordon manages to project a sense of cascading events. His intelligence has selected just these particular scenes to freeze-frame for our examination. In this way the frequent eruption of surprises is made plausible. A constant sense of movement is supported by unexpected interruptions as he feeds us excerpts from the writer, Harry's, various efforts: Crimson Darkness Falls (the vampire series), The Taming of the Slut, and Double Down on the Deuce. The genre parodies of these excerpts are both comic relief and entertaining suspensions of time that renew the reader's thirst for the central mystery narrative. The parodies provide a contrasting background that seems to make the mystery narrative even more compelling.
Inventive, entertaining, and well-written – THE SERIALIST is a book with appeal beyond simply mystery fans.
November 17, 2013
Sometimes when serious writers take a break from their high-brow endeavours and play around with genre fiction the results are less than stellar. They feel the need to insert ironic little references to make sure we understand that they're just fooling around, and I find this contempt for the mainstream a little off-putting. Reading the blurb by Rivka Galchen, where she carefully explains that Gordon makes high art out of trash, I was worried that The Serialist would be one these self-indulgent writing exercises. Then I noticed the author info that says David Gordon has worked in pornography, and thought well, thank goodness, there may still be hope.
And it is indeed a playful novel that doesn't take itself too seriously. The protagonist is called Harry Bloch, a name for a tough guy (or maybe I'm just thinking of Connelly's Harry Bosch), but he is anything but. He barely makes a living writing pulp, has self-esteem issues, was dumped by his girlfriend and hasn't had sex since. When death-row homicidal maniac Darien Clay, enchanted with Harry's work as the Slut Whisperer in a smut magazine, asks him to ghostwrite Clay's memoirs, the Slut Whisperer is in no position to decline. So begins an implausible, noirish murder mystery. It's gory but fun. Interspersed in the story are excerpts from Harry's work: hard-boiled detective novels, vampire erotica, space smut. They're very funny and quite sweet (for a man with a pornographic past, Gordon/Bloch certainly writes demure erotica), and fit in nicely with the overall narrative.
So forget about the high art: this is witty, well-written fun, which is a good thing.
And it is indeed a playful novel that doesn't take itself too seriously. The protagonist is called Harry Bloch, a name for a tough guy (or maybe I'm just thinking of Connelly's Harry Bosch), but he is anything but. He barely makes a living writing pulp, has self-esteem issues, was dumped by his girlfriend and hasn't had sex since. When death-row homicidal maniac Darien Clay, enchanted with Harry's work as the Slut Whisperer in a smut magazine, asks him to ghostwrite Clay's memoirs, the Slut Whisperer is in no position to decline. So begins an implausible, noirish murder mystery. It's gory but fun. Interspersed in the story are excerpts from Harry's work: hard-boiled detective novels, vampire erotica, space smut. They're very funny and quite sweet (for a man with a pornographic past, Gordon/Bloch certainly writes demure erotica), and fit in nicely with the overall narrative.
So forget about the high art: this is witty, well-written fun, which is a good thing.
May 14, 2010
"The Serialist" by David Gordon has that classic mystery feel, but with a whole lot more going on. It has suspence, humor, and grisly horror all bound between the covers.
New York writer Harry Bloch makes his living penning genre fiction--vampire stories, urban crime novels, and pornography--all written under different names, never his own. When a convicted serial killer asks him to write his biography, Harry decides it could be just the thing to boost his career, after being convinced by his teenaged assistant Claire. But instead of getting writer's cramp, Bloch finds himself in the middle of three new murder investigations when women he interviews are beheaded, eviscerated, and left on grisly display for the cops to find.
Mr. Gordon wrote this novel in first person and even addresses the reader at times, a risk, but he makes it work. His writing is totally original, and I couldn't put it down. The characters are beautifully flawed and kind of weird, the plot is full of twists and curveballs, and I bet you'll never guess what's coming in each consecutive chapter as you read. And to spice it up even more, the author includes chapters from some of Main Character Harry Bloch's books, so we get a feel for his career and writing style to better understand his fans.
David Gordon, you've won yourself a fan with this one. I look forward to reading any and everything else you ever write. Seriously, I highly recommend this book to fans of mystery, suspense, and crime novels.
New York writer Harry Bloch makes his living penning genre fiction--vampire stories, urban crime novels, and pornography--all written under different names, never his own. When a convicted serial killer asks him to write his biography, Harry decides it could be just the thing to boost his career, after being convinced by his teenaged assistant Claire. But instead of getting writer's cramp, Bloch finds himself in the middle of three new murder investigations when women he interviews are beheaded, eviscerated, and left on grisly display for the cops to find.
Mr. Gordon wrote this novel in first person and even addresses the reader at times, a risk, but he makes it work. His writing is totally original, and I couldn't put it down. The characters are beautifully flawed and kind of weird, the plot is full of twists and curveballs, and I bet you'll never guess what's coming in each consecutive chapter as you read. And to spice it up even more, the author includes chapters from some of Main Character Harry Bloch's books, so we get a feel for his career and writing style to better understand his fans.
David Gordon, you've won yourself a fan with this one. I look forward to reading any and everything else you ever write. Seriously, I highly recommend this book to fans of mystery, suspense, and crime novels.
July 29, 2017
David Gordon gets some really good authors to blurb his first novel "The Serialist." Rivka Galchen and David Ebershoff have written so very good, very smart and well written books. They must have owed David Gordon a favor. Maybe they were over at his house, playing poker, and Gordon said, "If I win this hand, you both have to blurb my book." He caught a flush on the river, and the rest his history.
Or maybe they just read the first hundred or so pages. The beginning of the novel, Harry Bloch is a hack writer who agrees to write the memoir of Darian Clay, a serial killer known as the Photo Killer. The meeting and fleshing out the details of this arrangement has an interesting turn. Darian wants Harry to meet some of the women who write him steamy letters and write pulpy sex stories involving these women and Darian. In exchange, Darian will tell more and more about his killing career. Sounds like a good setup. The problem is that's where it ends.
Gordon puts a great amount of time pushing through a plot that just gets worse and worse as the story goes on. Even when it turns into a pretty standard mystery and detective novel, I am uninterested and unimpressed by the second half of the book. Also Gordon puts samples of Bloch's horrible pulp novels with sex vampires, aliens, and some other really bad plots to showcase that Bloch is an awful writer as well as a bad detective.
As it is, I feel like the best part of this novel is the blurbs on the back for it. Other than that I wouldn't really waste my time on this mess.
Or maybe they just read the first hundred or so pages. The beginning of the novel, Harry Bloch is a hack writer who agrees to write the memoir of Darian Clay, a serial killer known as the Photo Killer. The meeting and fleshing out the details of this arrangement has an interesting turn. Darian wants Harry to meet some of the women who write him steamy letters and write pulpy sex stories involving these women and Darian. In exchange, Darian will tell more and more about his killing career. Sounds like a good setup. The problem is that's where it ends.
Gordon puts a great amount of time pushing through a plot that just gets worse and worse as the story goes on. Even when it turns into a pretty standard mystery and detective novel, I am uninterested and unimpressed by the second half of the book. Also Gordon puts samples of Bloch's horrible pulp novels with sex vampires, aliens, and some other really bad plots to showcase that Bloch is an awful writer as well as a bad detective.
As it is, I feel like the best part of this novel is the blurbs on the back for it. Other than that I wouldn't really waste my time on this mess.
June 13, 2010
Clever, but I thought the beginning was a slog. I put it down for over a week because I was bored, and when I finally picked it back up the real action started within three pages, and it was much better after that. On and off very smart, and I loved the section about how obsessive readers really are addicts:
"Why do we read? In the beginning, as children, why do we love the books we love? For most, I think, it's travel, a flight into adventures, into a dream that feels like our own. But for a few it is also escape, flight from boredom, unhappiness, loneliness, from where or who we can no longer bear to be. When I read, the words on the page replace the voice in my head and I cease, for a little while, to be me, or at least to be so painfully aware of being me. These are the real readers, the maniacs, the ones who dose themselves with fiction the way junkies get high, the way lovers adore the beloved: beyond reason."
I added a star just for that paragraph and a few similar to it, but still thought the plot and characters were sort of hard going and it wouldn't be one I would be able to recommend widely.
"Why do we read? In the beginning, as children, why do we love the books we love? For most, I think, it's travel, a flight into adventures, into a dream that feels like our own. But for a few it is also escape, flight from boredom, unhappiness, loneliness, from where or who we can no longer bear to be. When I read, the words on the page replace the voice in my head and I cease, for a little while, to be me, or at least to be so painfully aware of being me. These are the real readers, the maniacs, the ones who dose themselves with fiction the way junkies get high, the way lovers adore the beloved: beyond reason."
I added a star just for that paragraph and a few similar to it, but still thought the plot and characters were sort of hard going and it wouldn't be one I would be able to recommend widely.
March 14, 2010
The Serialist is a whimsical tale of Harry, a down on himself and defeated writer, his colorful past filled with "slut whispering" and vampire novels, and those hilariously lovable or nauseatingly creepy individuals who surround him, both in his life and in his writing. When reading this book, I fell deeply in love with Harry, and Claire as well! These characters feel so real. Every one of them is individually distinct and dynamic in a way that is not easily achieved in fiction. I began to care about the characters which is not something I typically experience when reading novels. Another thing I loved about this book is how each chapter ended with a little one or two sentence hook that takes hold of you and forces you onto the next chapter. This book is a gem, truly unique, and a pleasure to read. Oh and the books within the book were a delightfully quirky addition.
February 13, 2012
I picked this book up completely on a whim and I'm so glad that I did. It starts of disarmingly light and I was laughing out loud in parts, but then as the mystery starts to develop and the bodies start to drop, it gets deeper darker and really good. I did figure out the killer pretty early on, but nevertheless the plot threw in enough twists and turns after that to keep it interesting. But what makes this book so great is not the substandard murder mystery, but its clever narration which alternates between an ode and homage to New York, writers, books, particularly pulp and genre fiction and the mediation on the nature of writers and readers, the real world and the worlds imagined, existing only between the pages of our favorite books and our very own imagination. Great read and highly recommended.
June 27, 2015
David Gordon's debut novel is a mixture of mystery, thriller, and, well, I guess I'd have to say literary self-reflection. Oddly, it's that last part that really makes the book sing for me. The story follows an unusual path, with the main character narratively going off-track to examine one of the many slightly failed parts of his life. It's here that Gordon's fantastic and yet highly accessible prose sets the book apart from traditional genre novels. You really can't help but root for his pulp novelist-turned-unwilling-detective. Since my review is probably not doing a good job of describing the story itself, suffice it to say that if you read the first chapter and enjoy it, you'll almost certainly enjoy the entire novel, so give it a try. Once I started the book I barely put it down and the very next book I bought after The Serialist in Gordon's second novel, Mystery Girl.
January 17, 2011
a meta-fictional murder mystery at times funny and at times very macabre but intriguing from beginning to end . . . the frame story (a hack novelist helping a death row serial killer write his memoirs) and the interspersed fragments of the hack novelist's stories (neo-gothic vampire tales, supernatural detective thrillers, and sci-fi erotica) with the narrator's (the hack novelist's) reflections on this novel and on literature in general: quite clever and witty . . . . makes for great reading on cold winter evenings (or, for that matter, anytime at all)
February 26, 2015
I love mystery novels and I like to write, and this book combined both of these into a very well-written murder story. I haven't read many adult mystery books yet, but The Serialist will no doubt be one of the more impressive ones. Because the protagonist of the story is a writer, the language used is really stylish. It was also a really good mystery, save from the blood and gory details that I could do without, but I guess it's through such careful writing that made The Serialist a really good book for me to read. :)
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