sotos

Started by FreakAnimalFinland, March 04, 2010, 08:29:07 PM

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Unheard

Quote from: RyanWreck on July 20, 2010, 11:41:07 AM
I don't have Comfort & Critique either. Out of Comfort & Critique, Kept and Show Adult which one did you personally like most, or at least which would you suggest first?

Comfort is by far one of the best. Very personal, intelligent, well written.
In my personal ranking, the first place is still taken by Total Abuse (especially for Parasite and Tool)

HongKongGoolagong

Comfort & Critique is my favourite of all his books - the structure works really well. Show Adult was something I thought was a lazy mess on first reading but I've returned to it like a dog to vomit many times.

RyanWreck

Quote from: HongKongGoolagong on July 21, 2010, 02:59:50 AM
Show Adult was something I thought was a lazy mess on first reading but I've returned to it like a dog to vomit many times.

I felt the same way about Lazy but I've probably read it more than any of his other books except for Selfish, Little which is one of my favorites.

RyanWreck

For the big Sotos fans I have a question which I have been meaning to ask for years. In Lazy Sotos uses three different styles to write; one is the normal typing, standard font and is pretty disheveled at times, even for Sotos. Then you have writing which is in italics, under the headlines (always opposite the other pages), these are usually short one or two paragraph statements that run for a fun pages then stop and pick back up later on with a different story, they are coherent and concise for the most part. Lastly are the quoted sections. I read these the first time assuming they were quotes from somewhere else (I read Lazy before I read most of Sotos' other material) but now I can tell it is he who wrote those pieces, these sections are spread through out the normal typed material but their style is way more "down to earth" and reminds me more of Sotos in his Pure days. Anyway, does anyone know why Sotos did this. Is there any interview where he speak in detail about Lazy? Are the quoted sections only quoted to stand apart from the other material or is he quoting himself from another book, possibly even his diary or something like that?

HongKongGoolagong

It's not just Lazy, there are 'quoted sections' in some of his other books - notably the apparently confessional passages in Comfort & Critique. I see it as a literary device to help remind the reader that the narrator should not always be taken for Sotos himself. The 'voices' speaking throughout have different tones and different obsessions and they blend in with the found documentary material. The 'I' can never be definitely said to be him and in fact when he uses material from his own interviews from magazines in the books (eg in Selfish Little) this only further confuses the notion of identity. They're not fiction, they're not non-fiction - they are Peter Sotos Pornography.

Haven't seen the layout of the latest Collected edition but I did think Lazy suffered when reprinted in the Proxy collection without that alternate page thing.

FreakAnimalFinland

Looks great! Much better than expected!
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kittymagic


RyanWreck

No one has mentioned it in this particular thread but I am positive that every Sotos fan with an internet connection knows about it. It has been around for awhile and most Sotos fans also follow Cooper. Cooper writes some good stuff too (well, sometimes), a lot of the photos found in the book American Campgrounds (the book that the other two people above us are talking about) are from that exact blog.

RyanWreck

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on September 28, 2010, 06:43:36 PM
Looks great! Much better than expected!

How is Sotos' introduction? Is it inconsequential to the rest of the book, as most Sotos introductions are or does it tie in nicely?

tiny_tove

Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on September 28, 2010, 06:43:36 PM
Looks great! Much better than expected!

no news here about that :/
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neverlie2me

Quote from: RyanWreck on October 21, 2010, 01:28:45 PM
Quote from: FreakAnimalFinland on September 28, 2010, 06:43:36 PM
Looks great! Much better than expected!

How is Sotos' introduction? Is it inconsequential to the rest of the book, as most Sotos introductions are or does it tie in nicely?

I'd call American Campgrounds essential. Needs its own thread if theres not one.
Soto's intro is intense. His examination and treatment of Best is brutal.
I have the unlimited paperback version. Hard to put down!

RyanWreck

Quote from: bitewerksMTB on October 21, 2010, 06:29:43 PM
"Cooper writes some good stuff too (well, sometimes), a lot of the photos found in the book American Campgrounds (the book that the other two people above us are talking about) are from that exact blog. "

So Best is taking his imagery from Dennis Cooper's blog? Some of the imagery looks like it was taken from issues of National Geographic. At least, what I remember seeing on Best's blog. Not a style I dig very much; images next to each other with his signature at the bottom.. I'd be curious to flip through the book if I ever find myself near a copy.

Oops, I meant Best not Cooper. I get those blogs confused.

rottingmouth

How can I get a copy of American Campgrounds now that the pre-order link is down?  I see no way to purchase it via Creation, anyone on here carrying it in the US?  I'd imagine Timeless will probably distro it at least.

FreakAnimalFinland

I can be wrong, but I guess, that the ltd edition 69 copies type of thing is sold exlusively by Creation. If it sells out by pre-orders, probably reason not listed on site? Perhaps worth to email them about availability.
I don't think there are distributors for these limited titles, since Creation controlling whole distribution seems to be the idea.
E-mail: fanimal +a+ cfprod,com
MAGAZINE: http://www.special-interests.net
LABEL / DISTRIBUTION: FREAK ANIMAL http://www.nhfastore.net

RyanWreck

If anyone wants to trade books PM me, it doesn't even have to be permanent. Back on the old Yahoo! group (not the moderated one) I exchanged books with a guy from Oregon and sent them back after a week, read 3 new books this way and so did he. I have books that aren't Sotos that may be of interest as well.