Smothered in Hugs: Essays, Interviews, Feedback, and Obituaries – Three Decades of Cultural Journalism and Criticism

by Dennis Cooper

“In another country or another era, Dennis Cooper’s books would be circulated in secret, explosive samizdat editions that friends and fans would pass around and savor like forbidden absinthe.” — New York Times Book Review

“His work belongs to that of Poe, the Marquis de Sade, Charles Baudelaire, and Georges Bataille, other writers who argued with mortality.” — San Francisco Chronicle

From the internationally acclaimed author of Ugly Man and one of “the last literary outlaws in mainstream American fiction” (Bret Easton Ellis) comes a survey of his cultural criticism. From interviews with celebrities such as Leonard DiCaprio and Keanu Reeves; to obituaries for Kurt Cobain and River Phoenix; to writings on social issues—including the touchstone piece “AIDS: Words from the front”; Smothered in Hugs spans three decades of journalism from Dennis Cooper.

Genres: Essays, Nonfiction, Queer

400 pages, Paperback

First published June 29, 2010

About the author

Dennis Cooper was born on January 10, 1953. He grew up in the Southern California cities of Covina and Arcadia.

He wrote stories and poems from early age but got serious about writing at 15 after reading Arthur Rimbaud and The Marquis de Sade. He attended LA county public schools until the 8th grade when he transferred to a private school, Flintridge Preparatory School for Boys in La Canada, California, from which he was expelled in the 11th grade.

While at Flintridge, he met his friend George Miles, who would become his muse and the subject of much of his future writing. He attended Pasadena City College for two years, attending poetry writing workshops taught by the poets Ronald Koertge and Jerene Hewitt. He then attended one year of university at Pitzer College in Claremont, California, where he studied with the poet Bert Meyers.

In 1976, he founded Little Caesar Magazine and Press, which he ran until 1982. From 1980 to 1983 he was Director of Programming for the Beyond Baroque Literary/Art Center in Venice, California. From 1983 to 1985, he lived in New York City.

In 1985, he moved to Amsterdam for two and a half years, where he began his ten year long project, The George Miles Cycle, an interconnected sequence of five novels that includes Closer, Frisk, Try, Guide, and Period.

His post-George Miles Cycle novels include My Loose Thread, The Sluts and God, Jr.
Other works include the short-story collections Wrong and Ugly Man, poetry collections The Dream Police and The Weaklings, as well as the recent Smothered in Hugs: Essays, Interviews, Feedback, and Obituaries.

Dennis Cooper currently spends his time between Los Angeles and Paris.

Reviews

[Meike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Cooper is an intriguing writer, and this collection is a bona fide page turner for everyone interested in cultural criticism. The texts first appeared between 1985 and 2004 in different publications, and while they contain very opinionated investigations of their subjects, they are also a reflection of the author - in many cases, the articles are case studies when it comes to illustrating how our personalities draw us to certain types of art, and how art shapes us in turn.

The collection contains the infamous Keanu Reeves interview from 1990 ("I want to be on speed! I've never been on speed. I want to be a speed freak for a while. (...) Is that a stupid thing to say?"), as well as interviews with John Waters, Ryū Murakami, Leonardo DiCaprio, Mike Kelley, Stephen Malkmus, Christian Bale, Brad Renfro, Clive Barker, and William T. Vollmann.

Cooper also writes about the works of Derek Jarman, Quentin Tarantino, Rainer Werner Fassbinder, The Violet Quill, Nan Goldin, Gordon Lish, the expositions of six young visual artists, David Wojnarowicz, Robert Bresson, Henry Darger, Bill Henson, and Courtney Love - and this last text, which dates from April 1994, has aged terribly, as it reflects Cooper's meeting with Love and his impression that all is more or less swell. But the following text is of course Kurt Cobain's obituary - kudos for putting both texts in. And there are more obituaries: River Phoenix, William S. Burroughs, and Bob Flanagan.

Then, there are reviews of Gone Tomorrow by Gary Indiana, Lars von Trier's Dancer in the Dark(which he hates with a passion), Larry Clark's The Perfect Childhood (a great text that tells the story of a hustler who finds the book on Cooper's shelves), Ecstasy by Irvine Welsh, Nick Drake: The Biography, The Name of the World by Denis Johnson, Back in No Time: The Brion Gysin Reader, "American Psycho" (the movie), We're Desperate: The Punk Rock Photography of Jim Jocoy, SF/LA 1978-1980 as well as and Ondi Timoner's Dig!.

We get texts about queer zines and the (now apparently defunct) experimental publisher Black Ice (they were the first to put out Hogg, for example), wrestling, the uselessness of the term postmodernism, the representation of drugs and heroin addiction on MTV, about novels depicting drug use (esp. the Scottish movement), and a spooky house in the San Fernando Valley. There's also reportages about Jason, a homeless young man infected with HIV, the UCLA Department of Art, and rave culture, as well as a weird experimental entry about Sonic Youth.

Cooper is of course extremely well-read and knowledgeable about film and visual art in general, and it's very fun to ponder his texts and have internal arguments with the author - and that's the whole point of great culture writing: To engage readers in art.

[Tosh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of my generation (don't ask my age) Dennis Cooper is one of the more important writers that's out there. His fiction i think is going to be tattooed on the literary map for a long time. What is not that much known is his non-fiction writing, especially his critical writing on the visual arts as well as literature. And what we have here (to be released in the Summer, 2010) is a collection of his non-fiction work for various publications.

It is not like one agrees with Dennis Cooper, but knowing where he's coming from and how he uses that on paper/text to comment on the arts as well as really insightful interviews with various young actors/artists/writers, at the time of the writing. Also he is never jaded and his commentary on the arts is always something hopeful, and he backs up that hope with very strong disciplined thoughts.

His little essay/introduction to the film works of Robert Bresson is both fresh, honest, and right on the mark with respect to how one reacts to an artist that is greatly admired. When Cooper praises an artist it makes me want to see that artwork, read that book, or see that film. And I think that is what is great about critique writing. It's not a dead end discussion, but a launching of a continued dialogue. Also in my opinion his take on William S. Burroughs is right on the mark. So this book is pretty essential for the Dennis Cooper fan of course, but also a place and time in art culture. Buy it when it comes out! And yes I work at a bookstore and I get to see books before they are released.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the idea of Dennis Cooper's fiction, though I haven't ever liked the end result, at least of the ones I've read. His non-fiction, however, I find fantastic. Provocative, astute, mostly unpretentious, and he writes about lots of things I'm interested in. I think a sure sign of a great critic is that he or she makes you want to go investigate whatever it is they're writing about, even the bad stuff. Cooper can make almost anything sound interesting, even if it's only because it's so non-interesting.

This book is arranged chronologically, starting in 1985, and going up to 2004. Mostly it's stuff he's written for Spin, LA Weekly, and ArtForum. The stuff about 90's rock stars I of course liked the most. I recommend this for anyone interested in pop culture in general, and outsider-ish art specifically.

[June Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

So interesting to me that Dennis cooper states that he doesn’t think his writing style is very conducive to good non fiction, considering this contains some of the most engaging art criticism I’ve ever read. I think the success of this lies in his selection; there is a clear narrative and conceptual tie between all of the artists he writes about, from musicians to contemporary artists to writers, in that they all provide an interesting exploration of transgressive artwork. This is made even better because Dennis Cooper’s own voice is so present within every piece. I think what Smothered in Hugs did the most for me was that it presented such a vast display of Dennis Cooper’s influences, and I think I appreciate him as an artist and writer and person even more than I already had.

[Tomasz · Rating 4 out of 5]

The score got rounded up, a little, because while usually interesting, the collection is never quite fascinating, and also the straining (for a hug, I guess) gets almost audible at times.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dennis Cooper is a very good essayist, interviewer and journalist. Just a few of the pieces in this anthology that I think are stand-outs include his interviews with John Waters, Keanu Reeves and the late Brad Renfro. His perspectives on pop culture are engaging and incisive.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. So much awesome stuff in it. Interviews with courtney love, bob mould, John waters, mike Kelley, brad renfro and a ton of other people. He just has amazing taste. And is so smart.

[Leah Levinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

several books deep into what i can at this point safely call an obsession with DC, i really enjoyed and appreciated this collection of non-fiction. as if the table of contents wasn’t promising enough (features on alt-rock icons bob mould, steve malkmus, courtney love; interviews with then-teenage hearthrobs keanu reeves, leonardo dicaprio, and christian bale; and profiles and reviews of artists writers and filmmakers from fassbinder to mike kelly to david wojnarowitz to derek jarman to clive barker), what really makes this collection shine is the way it wholly reveals cooper—at one point, gay fiction’s ultimate transgressor—as a deeply caring figure. cooper—a writer who, at a cheap surface glance might seem generally antagonistic towards humanity—is shown here to be deeply concerned for those around him. this comes out best in his frequent reflections on drug use, queer politics, the AIDS epidemic, activist struggles, and his love for art and writing when it’s at its best. it’s when he’s telling a young unhoused HIV-infected punk to be careful about sharing needles and having unprotected sex, or likewise when he paternally warns a young keanu reeves about riding his motorcycle. it’s when, in one of the collection’s most touching pieces, he’s tenderly mourning a young addicted sex worker that he spent time with in his meth-using days while reflecting on a photography book by larry clarke. his later reflections on raving and the art world grow a little repetitive by the end, but are still punctuated by the type of poignant critical takes that litter his reviews and essays on film, literature, and art. his interviews with ryu murakami and john waters made me laugh out loud and his in-depth review of his favorite LA “spooky house” (what dennis calls a halloween season haunted house/maze) was a particular treat. all-in-all a substantial look at the mind of a writer whose own personal temperaments feel sometimes obscured as well as a worthwhile survey of a handful of brilliant and under-appreciated queer, experimental, and transgressive artists, musicians, filmmakers, and writers of the twentieth century.

[joe]

This was a really nice tonic for a little break between The George Miles Cycle and the remainder of Dennis Cooper’s novels.

Some really fun writings in this collection, with a lot of interests that can be traced in most of Cooper’s overall work as well as his still-running online blog and editorial pieces - articles about art and sculpture; pieces that dive into theme parks, music, social issues; book reviews that feel well/intentioned and from the heart; it’s all there to unpack.

Particular highlights for me were in the interviews with young Di Cap, Brad Renfro, and John Waters. All artists in their own unique ways that seemed to reveal a genuinely open and personal side to themselves that felt untrained, offbeat, and refreshing. I don’t know of this was just the difference between the celebrity in the 90s compared to now, or whether Cooper has the knack for prising shiny gems out of his interviewees. Whatever the reason, they stuck out to me as the girders that support the frilly edges of this book.

[Thomas Hale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonfiction writings from the late 80s to the mid-00s, covering pop culture phenomena great and small. Highlights include: interviews with Keanu Reeves, Courtney Love and John Waters; an overview of the queer zine landscape in the 80s US; thoughtful and often scathing literature reviews. For fans of Cooper's excellent blogging, this is proof that he's always been a capable and empathetic media critic. Plus, it contains an awful lot of good recommendations for more things to watch, read or listen to, which is great.

[Brendan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dennis Cooper is a fantastic writer, and a brilliant thinker. His nonfiction work is just as sharp as his fiction.

[babadyke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting and insightful. A lot of subjects I've never heard of or thought about but still captivating. And cool to see how Coopers style translates to nonfiction.

[Blog on Books · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dennis Cooper is many things – poet, essayist, critic and novelist – but through it all, he is insightful, cutting, personal and dark. As a critic for various magazines and alternative weekies, his work often mines the outer edges of popular culture, which is exactly what is collected in this new compilation from Harper Perennial, “Smothered In Hugs: Essays, Interviews, Feedback and Obituaries.”

In it, Cooper tackles such luminaries as Courtney Love, John Waters, Quentin Tarantino and others who generally operate at the intersection of pop culture and the indy underground. Unlike his few alt-culture contemporaries (from the late Lester Bangs to Chuck Klosterman) Cooper’s insights, while probative and insightful, remain dry and analytical; exposing irony above humor, the essence vs. the obvious exterior. His pull-no-punches style often questions popular adulation of those who have risen to the top of the indy-culture pile (Tarantino would not be so nearly revered as a director if only he had a dozen competitors in his sub-genre) while treading a fine line between getting inside his subjects mindset without quite pissing them off. Cooper’s purview runs the gamut from art to music to film and literature due to his curriculum vitae as a writer for Artforum, Spin, the LA Weekly, Interview, Village Voice and similar others.

Along this decade-plus, sometimes drug-addled journey, Cooper’s work covers a wide swath of writers, actors and artists like Nan Golden, Mike Kelley, Clive Barker, Christian Bale, Pavement’s Steven Malkmus, DiCaprio, Fassbinder, a hilarious interview with Japan’s Ryu Murakami and others and while Cooper’s interviews and critiques are always incisive, the unfortunate lateness of this publication of decades old essays makes many of them simply less relevant today. (Do we really care that there were heroin hints in MTV videos when we observe a channel that now barely even plays music videos?)

The most valuable sections may be the obituaries, (Cobain, Wm. Burroughs, River Phoenix) as they still remain both poignant and timeless today. As a compendium of 90’s indy subculture, ‘Hugs’ (named after a Guided by Voices tune) makes for an interesting time capsule, but as a reference that could live in the present, many of these stories have either evolved over time or worse, have already been throughly exhausted elsewhere.

[Erica]

Smothered in Hugs is a collection of Dennis Cooper's interviews, reviews, and cultural criticism. If you're a fan of his, it's essential. If you've never heard of him before, you'd still probably enjoy the interviews with people like Stephen Malkmus, John Waters, Clive Barker, Leonardo DiCaprio, etc. I admit to glazed-over eyes during some of the art criticism if it was about someone I had never heard of, but the interviews nicely made up for it.

[Brian Kovesci · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an attention-grabbing collection of essays. I couldn't put it down. Some of the essays themselves lost a bit of relevance over the years (the contemporary art in the 80's and 90's may have been cutting edge but I wonder if these artists are remembered) but overall the celebrity interviews and music reviews were quite entertaining, and sometimes meta.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to love this book. It is really well written and some of the essays are fantastic. I think the main problem, which would make my giving of 3 stars unfair, is that I am too young to remember half the things he writes about.

[Lindsay T. · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5