Perv

by Jerry Stahl

Set in 1970, in the last, dark days of hippiedom, Perv -- A Love Story is the saga of Bobby Stark, a sixteen-year-old batch of desire and angst struggling to stay sane in a world gone Day-Glo.

As the novel opens, Bobby loses his virginity in a drug-addled tryst with a one-armed barber's daughter. For his sins he's thrown out of school and dispatched to live with his mom, a festive electro shock aficionado, whose condo he flees to track down Michelle, the gorgeously damaged, lasped Hare Krishna-ette he's adored since kindergarten.

Like the rest of their generation, the couple hit the road for California, only to be picked up in a hell-fueled Lincoln by a pair of Bad Hippies -- Meat and Varnish -- smacked-out spiritual cousins to Charles Manson. From here the trip gets vicious....

Already an underground classic, Perv-A Love Story is relentlessly twisted, sexy, and savagely funny literary excursion, a novel of doomed youth in the era when Flower Power had begun to wilt.

Genres: Fiction, Humor, Literary Fiction, Contemporary

349 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Jerry Stahl (born September 28, 1953) is an American novelist and screenwriter, He is best known for the darkly comedic tale of addiction, Permanent Midnight, which was revered by critics and an ever-growing cult of devoted readers, as one of the most compelling, contemporary memoirs. A film adaptation soon followed with Ben Stiller in the lead role, which is widely considered to be Mr. Stiller’s breakthrough performance. Since their initial paring, the two have become lifelong friends and collaborators.

One of Stahl’s mentors and greatest influences, the late American Novelist, Hubert Selby, Jr. had this to say about Permanent Midnight, “Absolutely compelling... Permanent Midnight is an extraordinary accomplishment... A remarkable book that will be of great value to people who feel isolated, alienated, and overwhelmed by the circumstances of their lives.”

Jerry Stahl has worked extensively in film and television.

Reviews

[Bob Fingerman · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the great unsung novels of our time. Alternately hilarious and harrowing. The penultimate chapter—a 90-page claustrophobic nightmare set entirely within the interior of a car—is one of the most gripping, knuckle-whitening reads I've ever experienced. I truly could not put the book down. Horny adolescence has seldom been so brutally depicted. Or brilliantly.

[Richard Morrell · Rating 2 out of 5]

First, it shouldn't be offered in the classroom setting, and don't be fooled by the critics' asinine comments suggesting it is a modern-day Holden Caulfield character or a Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century. It is graphic, lurid, and plodding. It culminates in a vivid depiction of a hallucinogenic sexual assault, that makes me glad I only experienced the drugged state, and physical abuse vicariously. If you never experimented with drugs, this will reaffirm the wisdom of your choice: you didn't miss anything remotely rewarding. The story will come full circle, and there is closure, but I was left wondering whether the epiphany was contrived (of course it was), and felt the more interesting story may have been the one concerning the years after the climax.

[Sonia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this book is very dark, it also encompasses a hopeful feeling. It is so well-written, so distorted coming-of-age that I couldn't help but be drawn into this vulnerable and dysfunctional world, always rooting for the unlikely Bobby as he searches to find meaning in his life. Although at times vividly graphic and sexual, the novel also has moments of humor that are so abruptly inserted into the narrative that their chief effectiveness lies in timing and not necessarily subject matter.

At times I found this novel appalling, but in a curiously evocative way. The relationship between Bobby and his mother caused a physical reaction, a brief erratic racing of the heart. I pitied her, yet loathed her, wanting Bobby to find a way to be free of the toxicity of his conflicted relationship with her.

Definitely an all around win.

[Smoke · Rating 2 out of 5]

fun as it is to write about how badly shit sucks, i've decided to remove my snarky bitchy review, under the premise that the author put everything he had into it and therefore deserves better than some random disgruntled reader ripping his work apart.

i stand by thinking Perv is overrated. i further think that sex and drugs are shiny objects to some readers, sidetracking them from the absence of a story.

what was good about it was the descriptions of using various drugs for the first time. the insight and detail of all the feelings the drugs produced was very convincing. it frustrated me that it basically went nowhere, when there was so much to work with.

[Mark Reiter · Rating 1 out of 5]

342 pages of angsty 90's nothing. More notable for all the books it's trying to be than for anything else. You've seen this Salinger-informed flotsam before: ugly characters in ugly circumstances set up for easy sniping by the author. As a coming of age story, it's bleak. As a sex-a-logue, it's depressing and dark. It's ultimately style over substance and a morose tribute to the writers Stahl so desperately wants to be: Jim Carroll, Salinger, Phillip Roth.

[Barbara · Rating 2 out of 5]

I never thought I was a prude, but this book made me feel like one. So relentless! Well written, but not my cup of sex, er, tea.

[Delilah · Rating 5 out of 5]

The dichotomy between the simple young-adult style prose in this work and the hilariously depraved content made for a remarkable and truly unique literary experience. Every time I began to think that the novel was bordering on being too light-hearted for my tastes, the characters' extraordinary experiences brought me back to the gritty reality of the tale. Life's most formative adolescent experiences are retold in Perv through the eyes of someone who experienced them in the most unfortunate of ways.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fantastic writer with this wild book. All of the characters are caricatures of themselves- like cartoons. It was hard to take all of the sexual deviance. Everyone is perverted, it seems, but that is probably the point. So tragic were the effects of drugs and alcohol on so many. I wonder if these people are more "normal" in our society, meaning that sexual deviance and mind-altering drug use is more common than I realize? Is everybody a pervert? Are young girls normally sexually abused? I would like to think that most people have morals and are basically decent and have more self-control than the people in this book. I could be wrong. I was hugely disappointed in the lack of morality in Michelle. She seemed sensitive until she ripped off that old lady's purse without an ounce of compassion or conscience. Frankly, I was shocked when she did that, and after all of the sexual abuse she and her sister endured, to turn right around and have meaningless sex with a bunch of guys she didn't care for. Good writer, though, just too much gritty behavior for me.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rounding up a little just because there was one chapter I didn't exactly love. But still, I want Jerry Stahl to write ALL THE THINGS. The writing here is just killer. His characters and dialogue are so funny, especially his older characters. (In particular, Dolores is exactly who I want to be when I grow up.) This made me laugh out loud several times and hit me in the feels and had one of the best epilogues I've ever read. So glad that I read this!

[Jacob Reams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book from the very beginning, but about halfway through, it became impossible to not finish. It's a pretty common story: an outcast, rudderless, young main character trying to navigate through a shitty world full of equally lost and/or dangerous adults, but the voice, the setting, and the plot details, which, as the title suggests are not exactly square, kept it from feeling cliche. I didn't have my world rocked here, but was entertaining, and like I said, a page-turning read.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not sure why I struggled to finish this but I'm glad I did. At points I wasn't sure where we were headed but I kept reminding myself that, ultimately, it is a love story. The last 50 pages are such a great pay off and I can honestly say I really liked this book.

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

2000

[Char♡ · Rating 5 out of 5]

i honestly love this book so much. i think about this book all the time

[Catherine Brizzi · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5
I'm not sure what it is with Stahl and penis torture- some kind of personal kink? Could really leave it out

[Eric Byrne · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked this book. I found it funny and it had some good insight into the times (early '70s). I thought Bobby was an interesting character, I wouldn't go as far as Holden Caulfield, but still interesting. The book is very well written, fantastic style, there were a number of good scenes, scenes that made me a little uncomfortable, but Stahl's words were getting a reaction, sooo... But then pages 249-319, 70 pages of torture to read and it really ruined the whole thing. The last 30 pages were just a bland wrap-up to tie all the logical ends together, but those 70 pages. It seems that Stahl revels in his former addiction to drugs and wants to let us know exactly what it was that he saw in those stupors, but do we really need to know in a book of fiction that doesn't really hint at the horrors of drugs until they are upon the characters? And of course that is the point. So, the lesson I learned was that not only can drugs ruin your life, they can ruin a good book as well.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

My nostalgia for adolescence and flower power have waned over the years, but I was still not totally turned off by this book. The character was sympathetic, if not frustrating, but then that makes sense for a coming of age story.

What made this book frustrating was the rambling. How much detail about drugs and boners and insecurity do we need? And the rape scene just went on forever. The length made it more horrifying than it would have been, I found myself almost lulled into thinking it would be over soon, only to be met with some new fresh hell, which mirrors what someone in that situation would have been feeling. But still.

The ending just sort of falls to pieces and I was left wondering why I made the journey in the first place. Overall I did think the writing was good, and the opening scene alone was fantastic, but I wouldn't really recommend people read this.

[Robert Mitchell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Perv - A Love Story is a Y2K The Catcher In The Rye. Published on the eve of potential apocalypse in 1999 but set during the Vietnam War; Holden is Jewish, Mr. Antolini is a Charles Mansonesque rapist, scotch and sodas are replaced by every illicit drug known to man and you can't help thinking page after page that Quentin Tarantino should make the movie. If Perv had been published in 1982 instead of 1999, and Nancy Reagan (who realistically wouldn't have made it past the second page) would have made it required reading in her "Just Say No To Drugs" campaign, the War on Drugs would have been won before The Great Communicator left office.

[Lee Morgan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stahl's a good storyteller. His ability to describe the effects of drugs on the mind and body are incomparable. But long before you get to any of that in the book, the story itself is solid. Even though this is fiction, the frightened, depressed and otherwise troubled "Bobby" is obviously the boyhood version of the author, based on what I know from the film version of Permanent Midnight. I assume what happens with the HippieSmack chapter is simply a story from his imagination. But shit like that comes from somewhere. Probably stories he never told anyone. Good book. Thanks for the loaner, Stephanie!

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fave local used bookstore was moving a few blocks and having a sale to help clear shelf-space. I got a first edition autographed copy of this one for a BUCK!! Without giving up any details, I'll say it's a completely un-stereotypical coming-of-age-in-the-sixties novel with encomiums by Mark Mothersbaugh (of Devo), Hubert Selby, Lydia Lunch, and other coolies.

Click here for "The Jerry Stahl Experience": http://www.examiner.com/examiner/x-83...

[Kristin Myrtle · Rating 4 out of 5]

It opens with a gang bang and closes with a funeral. Jerry Stahl is the greatest living writer in my humble opinion and there is so much good stuff in here. It is 1970 and the hippie dream of peace love and togetherness has already been shattered. Two disaffected teens hit the road and hitchhike to San Francisco but along the way they are picked up by two really bad dudes. At times sad, bleak... hopeless but Stahl's writing is reliably electric. He is audacious and fearless and the way he twists and turns this story and twists and turns the English language... it is something to behold.

[Joshua Nomen-Mutatio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had no idea this was written by the same guy who did Permanent Midnight. I remember reading it while working during the ol' solitary shifts at Bargain Books. I remember almost nothing about it terms of detail now (hence the lack of a rating). It was basically an adolescent tale of sex and drugs, etc. Fine subject matter for me then at 16 in the grip of 7 dollar an hour boredom at the crappy bookstore.

[Kelley · Rating 1 out of 5]

This started well. A little crude but entertaining. Different than what I normally read. Then it just started going downhill.... Down, down, down until it just plain fell of a cliff. At that point I had like 70 pages left so bucked up and stumbled through. What a waste. I should have just ended it all... In relation to the book that is. This certainly wasn't worth my time and probably isn't worth yours.

[Ben Haskett]

Read in high school. I think when I was... 17? 16 or 17. We had this thing called SSR (sustained silent reading) where the first 10 minutes of each class was set aside so everyone could read something. I stole this from my older sister, Elizabeth, and chose it specifically because it had a somewhat shocking cover that I hoped would make me appear edgy. I do not remember anything about it. Nothing at all.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, it's definitely titled "Perv" for a reason...16 year old boys are all pervs, aren't they? My favorite part is the epilogue. It's a perfect end to all the awkward, uncomfortable, and bizarre happenings in Bobby Stark's life.

I took this book from a friend clearing off their bookcases about four years ago, so I decided it was about time to actually read it.

[IreneS · Rating 1 out of 5]

UGh. I couldn't even get through the first chapter. I tried the second chapter, it was just as bad.

what an awful book

I had heard Jerry Stahl on a Moth podcast, recounting episodes from his life. His stories sounded brutal, honest but still funny. Somehow, this style just did not translate to the page for me.

[Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

It started off freakish and hilarious, and the more freaky it got, I actually ended up crying instead of laughing. The most difficult scene to read I almost didn't finish, but I'm glad that I did. I feel that fictional accounts of violence are usually less-than-necessary to read or think about, but in some cases, I feel it does make for a worthy, thought-provoking story.

[Sam "The Record Man" · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tale of drugs, sex and escape in the early 1970's. Bobby Stark chooses to leave his middle class existence for the chaos and tumult of the Haight. Filled with brutally honest imagery and a dark sense of chaos. A read for anyone who likes to be shocked.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember borrowing this book from a friend a few years ago, but it must not have left that great of an impression, otherwise I would have added it to the list before now. I remember liking it, but that's about it.

[J.C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

got to page 150 and felt like I had read this before, like it was his other book Permanent Midnight without the crazy mother, or like Philip Roth's Portnoy's Complaint with more pot smoking. been there done that.

[Klaudyna Z. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not like this book at all. I felt like the author dragged on each thing that happened in the book for way too long. I felt like nothing significant happened in the book and that it was just a waste of time to read.