Moving on from Machen

Well that didn't take long. Still Life with a Brass Pole was a quick read, and I'll give it a 5. Not the worst thing I've read recently, but could have been better. It purports to be "The cross-country coming of age of a TEENAGE LOVE JUNKIE" (capitalization as written on the book, not my own emphasis). While it is a coming-of-age story of sorts, there is little love to be found. Teenage sex addict would be more apt, one with a penchant for steroids and cocaine. The author Craig Machen seems to have made one terrible decision after another, often for no reason whatsoever. Perhaps that's the point? He tells of coming from a dysfunctional family, of his own molestation, and shows that most (or all?) within the sex industry that he works in have similar stories to tell. There are interesting things to be found within the book, but the story is very jumpy. Just as he delves into one topic, one relationship or job, he's suddenly off doing something else with someone else in another state entirely. It was often hard to piece a time-line together, or to realize that he often DID seem to jump right from one phase of life into something completely different. The book also seems to wrap up very quickly at the end, as though he only had a few pages left in which to draw his tale to a conclusion. He gave great detail to other events in the book, and the last few short chapters could have used more care and explanation as well. It becomes hard to envision how the teenager featured in this book would grow up to be a functional member of society, despite his keen choice of role-model:

"Arnold teaches me to have goals, and to visualize the man I want to be", - from Still Life with Brass Pole.