Joe > Recent Status Updates

Suffers a bit from a lack of editing. A red herring early on pretty much reveals which one these bitches is Lili's mother. Lol. I checked to see if I was right and I was but I'm in it for the long haul.

Which one of you bitches is my mother? I don't remember but I can't wait to find out!

Which one of you bitches is my mother? I don't remember but I can't wait to find out!

Which one of you bitches is my mother? I don't remember but I can't wait to find out again!

If BEE maintains this momentum without going off the rails (e.g. murderous Furbys, confetti rain, or phantom film crews) then this will easily be his best novel yet. Fingers crossed.

The WTFery is off the charts but I wouldn't expect anything less from Rosemary Rogers.

This is the perfect amount of cheesy sleazy I need at this moment.

So far this reads as a heterosexual male's wet dream fantasy of how an ambitious sex positive woman would behave. It's cringey but I'm in it for the long haul.

It's instantly engrossing albeit a bit dated (I had to look up a lot of the pop culture references which was a fun time capsule experience) and ALL of the black characters are racial stereotypes—a drug dealer, a thief, a flamboyant gay man, and house servants. But the novel is 42 years old so I will give it a PC pass. Lol. It's kind of obvious what's going on from the start but it's a fun ride so far.

This novel is a doozy.

Still chugging along...

I hate all of the characters but it's trashy like I like it.

I hate all of the characters but it's trashy like I like it.

I'm currently reading this for my work's anti-racism bookclub. My dad and I were the only guys in a household of six strong black women—my five older sisters and my powerhouse mother, so I can totally relate to everything Harris is putting down.

This is Jackie at the top of her game. Easiest her best and raunchiest and the novel that catapulted her to super stardom.

I think the light-hearted tone and funny and crass illustrations are necessary for the story. So far it's a sad tale of a mentally ill man who slowly goes homicidally mad after the horrific suicide of his wife .

I think the light-hearted tone and funny and crass illustrations are necessary for the story. So far it's a sad story of a mentally ill man reeling from the horrific suicide of his wife who slowly goes homicidally mad.

Boy, is this a slog.

I was a bit unprepared for the casual use of the n-word to describe black people so that caught me off guard. But I am enjoying Hemingway's economy of words and it's fun to look up online all the bars, cafes, restaurants, and hotels the characters hang out in. To my surprise, most of them are still in business nearly 100 years later. So far the only thing happening is a lot of drinking and walking around.

Beyond trashy. Oftentimes uncomfortable. Really rape-y. So, soooo rape-y but that's what you bargain for with a Harold Robbins novel. The Rina Marlowe section is basically a middle aged man's wet dream fantasy and what's up with his obsession with nipples? Bursting forth like flowers. Ripe like plums. Hard and flush with desire. The metaphors are cringey. He's a good storyteller, though, so I'm for the long haul.