R. Meltzer

[DFrost8547 at AOL.COM]

He actually re-wrote some of the same lines we did...They're both
equi-distant from-- and an improvement over- the original draft. And that's
hardly the least sinister element of the book! In fact, as much as I love and
admire so much of Meltzer's other work, what makes the book not work too well
as fiction is not so much the utter lack of plot (not to mention ephinany)
but how thoroughly repulsive the protagonist is. That is, if you care enough
to even wade far enough through to find him-- warning- this is not an easy
read. Too bad, because the absolutely hysterical chapter titles promise so
much more. Maybe he should've just left it at that. Given the expectations,
though, and the amount of time it took to put this together, it's
particularly disappointing. Maybe more rigorous editing was in order... there
are a lot of assumptions operating here, the primary one being that the
reader knows who Meltzer is and cares about any of his references...but even
for those who do, it may be asking too much....But for anyone who's fearless
enough to take on this project (not to mention numerous particularly
unappetizing sex scenes-- many of which contain only one consenting adult--
and none as funny as Portnoy's Complaint, which is, after all, about an
adolescent, whose similar neuroses are somewhat more age appropriate)...
well, additional comments and discussion are certainly welcomed...
--DF