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Campus Sexpot: A Memoir
She tipped her head sideways, her lips offering themselves to his. He remembered the fire those lips contained, the promise her kiss held . . .
In 1962 David Carkeet's drowsy hometown of Sonora, California, snapped awake at the news that it had inspired a smutty potboiler titled 'Campus Sexpot'. Before leaving town on short notice, the novel's author had been an English teacher at the local high school, where Carkeet was a hormone-saturated sophomore.
Leaving was a good idea, it turned out, for most of the characters in 'Campus Sexpot' had been modeled after Sonora's citizens.Carkeet uproariously recaptures his stunned, youthful reaction to the novel's sleazy take on his hometown.
The innocent nowhere burg where he despaired of ever getting any "action" became, in the pages of 'Campus Sexpot', a sink of iniquity echoing with "animal cries of delight." Blood pounded, dams of passion broke, and marriages and careers - not to mention the basics of good writing--went straight to hell.
As Carkeet relates his own romantic fumblings to the novel's clumsy twists and turns, he also evokes the urgently hushed atmosphere in which the book circulated among friends and neighbors. Eventually, Carkeet stumbles into adulthood, where he discovers a truer definition of manhood than the one in the pages of the pulp fiction of his youth.
A wry look at middle-class sexual mores and a witty appreciation of the art of the hack novel, Carkeet's memoir is, above all, a poignant and hilarious coming-of-age story sure to revive our own bittersweet teenage memories.
In 1962 David Carkeet's drowsy hometown of Sonora, California, snapped awake at the news that it had inspired a smutty potboiler titled 'Campus Sexpot'. Before leaving town on short notice, the novel's author had been an English teacher at the local high school, where Carkeet was a hormone-saturated sophomore.
Leaving was a good idea, it turned out, for most of the characters in 'Campus Sexpot' had been modeled after Sonora's citizens.Carkeet uproariously recaptures his stunned, youthful reaction to the novel's sleazy take on his hometown.
The innocent nowhere burg where he despaired of ever getting any "action" became, in the pages of 'Campus Sexpot', a sink of iniquity echoing with "animal cries of delight." Blood pounded, dams of passion broke, and marriages and careers - not to mention the basics of good writing--went straight to hell.
As Carkeet relates his own romantic fumblings to the novel's clumsy twists and turns, he also evokes the urgently hushed atmosphere in which the book circulated among friends and neighbors. Eventually, Carkeet stumbles into adulthood, where he discovers a truer definition of manhood than the one in the pages of the pulp fiction of his youth.
A wry look at middle-class sexual mores and a witty appreciation of the art of the hack novel, Carkeet's memoir is, above all, a poignant and hilarious coming-of-age story sure to revive our own bittersweet teenage memories.
- GenresNonfictionMemoir
137 pages, Hardcover
First published September 10, 2005
42 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
May 16, 2013
While not a perfect book, Mr. Carkeet's memoir does show the impact that a book read in adolescence can have on a reader long past the time of reading.
The novel about which he writes -- also titled Campus Sexpot -- takes place in a fictionalized version of Mr. Carkeet's native Sonora, California. Many of the characters, he tells us, are thinly-disguised analogues of actual Sonorans.
That novel, by Dale Koby, deals with the seduction of a teacher by a pretty, strikingly busty, and rampantly promiscuous student. Consequences of the affair include two pregnancies, a resignation, a gang-rape, two marriage proposals, and a wedding. It was shocking stuff, apparently, for Sonorans in the early 1960s.
Definitely add this to your reading list for the Summer!
Jeff Daiell
https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-...
The novel about which he writes -- also titled Campus Sexpot -- takes place in a fictionalized version of Mr. Carkeet's native Sonora, California. Many of the characters, he tells us, are thinly-disguised analogues of actual Sonorans.
That novel, by Dale Koby, deals with the seduction of a teacher by a pretty, strikingly busty, and rampantly promiscuous student. Consequences of the affair include two pregnancies, a resignation, a gang-rape, two marriage proposals, and a wedding. It was shocking stuff, apparently, for Sonorans in the early 1960s.
Definitely add this to your reading list for the Summer!
Jeff Daiell
https://www.facebook.com/pages/David-...
August 13, 2012
A memoir about how a high school teacher in the author's home town wrote a steamy pulp novel based on actual town characters, then fled to Mexico, and how the locals reacted.
This starts out well, with hilarious excerpts from the novel, but gradually loses steam. At the end it becomes a portrait of the author's father, which has absolutely nothing to do with anything that's been set up earlier. About the fiftieth memoir I've read which would have made an excellent long essay.
I am very curious as to how he got permission to do such extensive excerpts from the pulp novel, which is not listed where one normally lists permissions. Unless maybe the whole thing is fiction? But if so, you'd think he'd have made it more dramatic.
This starts out well, with hilarious excerpts from the novel, but gradually loses steam. At the end it becomes a portrait of the author's father, which has absolutely nothing to do with anything that's been set up earlier. About the fiftieth memoir I've read which would have made an excellent long essay.
I am very curious as to how he got permission to do such extensive excerpts from the pulp novel, which is not listed where one normally lists permissions. Unless maybe the whole thing is fiction? But if so, you'd think he'd have made it more dramatic.
December 31, 2018
This memoir uses an interesting device. In 1962, Carkeet was sixteen when a trashy novel barely disguising his hometown and the people who lived there was published by the former English teacher. In this book, all the characters are easily identifiable and it created quite a stir. Carkeet's memoir of his own life compares and contrasts the characters from "Campus sexpot" by the former English teacher to the actual people in his small town of Sonora California. This works remarkably well and we find that young David is a "good" kid, even though it sometimes seems a strain. As in most coming of age stories and memoirs, his perspectives and comments are funny, not particularly self aware or maybe not aware much further than his self. I enjoyed this quick read and found myself smiling a lot as the racy fictional work was debunked by the author.
August 4, 2021
A strange memoir.
August 5, 2009
I really liked this strange memoir. It's an unusual idea for a book, all right. "Campus Sexpot" was a cheap trashy paperback porn novel that was published in 1962. It was written by a former high school English teacher from the Sierra Foothill town of Sonora, and set in that very town, with the names of other teachers barely disguised and all the landmarks left recognizable. The author of this book, David Carkeet, lived in Sonora at that time and writes about how the book affected his life. To the adults in Sonora, the thing was just a bad joke, a slight embarrassment quickly forgotten. To the teens, if you could steal a copy from your parents or shell out $10 for an illicit copy, it was a chance to read about sex and maybe -- maybe -- actually get some pointers. Carkeet's memoir is actually very little about the book and much more about growing up in small-town, all-white America circa 1962. Its most poignant moments are provided toward the end, when he deals with his father's alcoholism and death.
It's got some pacing problems, but overall I found it a moving, witty, and insightful memoir. I loved it.
It's got some pacing problems, but overall I found it a moving, witty, and insightful memoir. I loved it.
February 24, 2010
One of the most inventive memoirs that I've read in the last few years, after suffering some memoir burn-out. Carkeet's writing is so good, and the man is laugh-out-loud funny. I write "LOL" frequently, but I rarely actually DO it, and I did at least 3-4 times while reading this book. The framework of the book is a great hook and got me interested in reading this, but it's the writing, clever observations, and heartfelt sharing that elevate the hook from gimmick into a thoughtful structure on which to build a lovely memoir. It's as if that all builds up to the last chapter, which also produced a startling effect for this reader: tears springing to my eyes several times throughout the final chapter. It's so well balanced, never maudlin, and truly original. Another aspect that makes this successful as memoir: it's incredibly focused. Highly recommend!
April 27, 2008
Reading this was a lot of fun since I lived in the town that this sex scandal happened in. This memoir is set in the mountain town of Sonora, Ca. As I read I could tell that not a lot has changed in the town over the last sixty years. It was easy to imagine just how the scandal of a student/teacher relationship would have torn apart their tiny world.
Although the story was fun to read from a personal standpoint overall I think most might be disappointed. It moved at a slow pace and skipped the juiciest parts altogether. The ending drifted away from the meat of the plot and focused on a different subject having nothing to do with the rest of the story.
Although the story was fun to read from a personal standpoint overall I think most might be disappointed. It moved at a slow pace and skipped the juiciest parts altogether. The ending drifted away from the meat of the plot and focused on a different subject having nothing to do with the rest of the story.
May 24, 2008
Started out strong but then the story/narration plateaued and became tedious to read.
February 26, 2009
A memoir of a memoir - as a technique, it worked quite well. Funny story, too. Funnier for being true (or, at least, we think it's true).
December 26, 2009
The writing of this book was simple and just as unengaging as the book he was weaving into his memoir. What started as an interesting premise was pretty flat and dull.
December 19, 2011
Funny, but uneven. Took a very odd turn at the end.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews