Dennis Cooper’s My Loose Thread

From cover: “Larry, a teenager wrestling not only with his sexuality and a physical relationship with his younger brother, but with the very point of his existence. He is numb to most of what surrounds him. As the book opens, Larry is paid $500 by an older student to kill a fellow pupil and retrieve the boy’s notebook. It seems simple enough. However, once Larry ventures into the notebook, complications arise…”

It’s a difficult book to read. I was confused by it because it’s basically a book of mania. In that sense, Cooper did a good job. It was hard to follow what the main character was feeling, but that was the point. I couldn’t believe what was going on with all of the kids from the highschool. It’s like when you’re watching T.V. about mischevious juveniles, and thinking, “Where are their parents??” I had a lot of mixed feelings about the book. If it was any longer than it was, I probably wouldn’t have gotten through it. The unique suspense of it kept me hooked for the few hours it took to read. I have to say, Larry was an interesting character.