Book Whore

Okay—this is gonna be like the quote of the week in that I’ll be listing current books I’m devouring… Since I read anything this could be a fun listing. And I’ll take suggestions.

First book—“Dance, Recover, Repeat.” By AlasdairDuncan. Most people I know will never read this book and it’s a shame. The book is about a gay teenager living in a small Australian city whose life is composed of pills, video games, fantasy, porn, drinking and sex—lots of it. This is no kid’s book though, it’s depth comes from the skewed mindset of Calvin which is composed of Ims, day dreams, nuanced observation and film scripted moments of self awareness which comes together to form a scary, degrading but truthfully lived life.

It starts as just another teen’s life, which is all about the parties, the sex, the lack of parenting and all the places these kids go that their parents don’t dare to see. Calvin’s life is just like any kid, the lack of thought about school, the constant pressure of his social life and the incest-like nature of his circle of friends and the hope to feel something more. It’s about the shallowness of sex and looks, about self-destruction and how so many young people feel disconnected to the lives they lead.

The end is shocking and disturbing and yet the only place that a character like this can go as upsetting as it is. I would definitely put “Dance, Recover, Repeat” in the same category as “Go Ask Alice”, “Lisa Bright and Dark” and “Catcher in the Rye” for its honesty, rawness and harsh tones. It’s been a long time since I read some that made me not reflect on my life but see shadows of the story in the lives of many people I have know. It is a book that should make the reading list of any college.