A married man (generously called Adonis) engages in various sexual escapades with a parade of different women. Readers begin the story knowing that Adonis has died, and the author uses a variety of different formats to tell the story of his downfall. These include poetry, short prose, quotes (some of which are in French), and scripts (for both screen and stage). Each section is paired with a particular song that is meant to \u201crun parallel to the works but not in real time, not in sync.\u201d These songs are listed in small blocks throughout, while a separate companion book titled Crystalline Green includes a playlist with additional poems, plays, and song tracks that accompany Adonis\u2019 journey. The songs range from mainstream (\u201cRun This Town\u201d by JAY-Z) to more obscure (\u201cA Forest\u201d by Clan of Xymox). Characters and scenarios throughout both volumes include the mundane (employees working at an office) and the fantastical (God massaging someone\u2019s feet; the Devil surfing). Booras occasionally crafts some truly thought-provoking passages: \u201cThis is why I prefer foreplay to sex. This is why I write more than I live.\u201d Unfortunately, there\u2019s not a relatable character to be found; Adonis\u2019 immaturity is downright alienating. While Tha\u00efs, his married colleague and \u201ctrue love\u201d is in the hospital, for example, Adonis explains that he cheated on her because, \u201cYou were sick.\u201d Intense eroticism (\u201cI penetrate myself \/ so I may feel what you feel\u201d) alternates with performative introspection (\u201cHave I not invented this pain? \/ This cock that bends \/ toward sadness \/ like a flower made heavy by rain?\u201d). This results in a text that\u2019s essentially an overblown ode to maleness. The experimental form is unique\u2014but, like its main character, the book does little to endear itself to readers.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
A married man (generously called Adonis) engages in various sexual escapades with a parade of different women. Readers begin the story knowing that Adonis has died, and the author uses a variety of different formats to tell the story of his downfall. These include poetry, short prose, quotes (some of which are in French), and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":2628,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2627"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2627\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2628"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2627"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2627"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bookloves.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}