Love Without

by Jerry Stahl

From the bestselling author of the memoir Permanent Midnight and the novel I, Fatty comes a long-awaited collection of short stories. Jerry’s Stahl’s perverse, yet often touching tales, many of which first appeared in publications ranging from Playboy to the Pushcart Prize to Best Erotic Fiction, plumb the depths of eccentric romance, sex-starved adolescence, mid-life crisis, and family dysfunction. From a teenager’s tryst with a recently widowed middle-aged woman on an airplane, to a dissatisfied dentist’s attempt to find freedom on the road with a much younger woman, all the way to an intensely erotic love affair between an ex-junkie and an ex-circus midget with a sexual obsession with vegetables, this collection never fails to arouse and surprise. With a disarmingly immediate prose style, Stahl finds great eroticism, humor, and humanity in the wildest of encounters.

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2007

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

[jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

I feel like he's trying to be Steve Almond here. When he succeeds, it's great; when he doesn't, it's shocking and maybe even a bit gross.

[Dan Lalande · Rating 3 out of 5]

Stahl, a cult artist with a rat's nest of a career, gives us his first collection of short stories. It's a welcome, and fitting, addition to his catalog: eleven tales of sexual perversity, written with hip, dark immediacy. In Stahl's world, sex, the stranger the better, offers transcendence from all that plagues - yet can only deliver the exacerbation of one's ailments.

[El_kiablo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of these stories are funny, some are too slight for their own good, but almost all of them feel like they're trying a little too hard to be risque. I mean, come on, I get it, dude, you're a deviant pervert - but that doesn't mean that every story has to be about a horny teenager getting a boner on a flight or a middle aged dude getting horny for his dying dad's nudist bride or whatever

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

As is the case with most short story compilations, I thought this collection had hits and misses. Overall, I found Stahl's writing really drew me in: he clearly is from the Raymond Carver "hook them with the first line" school, but hey, when it comes to short stories in particular, that is a good school to come from.

I thought Stahl was at his best in the shorter pieces, and particular "The Somnambulist's Wife" and "I'm Dick Felder!" dragged on longer than they needed to, but those misses were compensated for with some of his shorter works, which really jumped off the page with sparkling prose and such a quirky worldview that you couldn't help but keep turning pages.

Considering I bought this book on a whim without any recommendation, I will say that I was very pleased with it. It might not be for everyone, but if you can pick up a used copy at a reasonable price (like I did) you shouldn't be let down.

[Brett Starr · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Love Without" is a book I've owned for awhile now and I finally got the chance to read it.

It's not your average short story collection, these stories are cruel, sweaty, dirty and sometimes vile.

Of the eleven stories in the book, there was really only one that I didn't enjoy. "Lil Dickens", a satire about Dick Cheney, just didn't hit the mark.

A few of my favorites were:

Twilight of the Stooges
Pure
Finnegan's Waikiki
The Somnambulist's Wife

If you like Chuck Palahniuk and/or that kind of craziness ( I do), you would probably enjoy "Love Without".

This was my first Jerry Stahl book and it may be my last, but if I plan to read anything else by him, it will be his crime fiction / black comedies "Plainclothes Naked" & "Painkillers" which go together.

[Laura Motta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Inconsistent collection of short stories about sex, bad parenting, and shame, not necessarily in that order. Stahl is clearly aiming for shock value here (gay sex with Dick Cheney, born-again prostitutes, a nude funeral, cocaine in unconventional orifices) but many of the stories lack a compelling sense of emotion. A story about a young woman who's being spied on by her creepy neighbor made my heart skip a beat, as did a piece about a woman and her sleep-walking (and talking, and other things) husband, but the voices here don't quite ring true.

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

"He said, 'Sadie, baby doll, I love you,' even though my name's not Sadie and I am not sure how he really feels."

"...and the low green smell of sickness in a house was the worst of all."

-(both quotes from) "The Somnambulist's Wife"

[Bill Chott · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is great and I read it because I enjoyed Stahl's I, Fatty: the Fatty Arbuckle Story. Really great descriptive writing and when he writes about perversions it can make your skin crawl and your pants tight.

[E. Amato · Rating 4 out of 5]

some great stories. dark, funny, observant, wry, and, of course, promiscuous

[Teree · Rating 4 out of 5]

I take it slow, so it can be savored. He makes me happy.

[Dawn · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book doesn't even deserve a 1/4 star. It is by far the worst book I've ever read. I cannot recommend it to anyone.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think about 3/4 of these stories left me wanting them to be either a novella or full-fledged novel. The collection was a little jarring but in a good way.

[Rebecka · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jerry Stahl has written some of the best characters on television. As for this novel, it is amazing. I liked some stories more than others.

[Elizabeth · Rating 1 out of 5]

One word...awful.