There are so many reasons we find ourselves either loving or hating a book, and these are things that are completely idiosyncratic to each of us. That thing that makes a story or character resonate can be a combination of many things in the writing, but often it can truly seem an alchemy of intangibles that is hard to put your finger on.
Our reasons for reading any book in particular are even harder to pinpoint at times. Surely, we don't read books to be constantly amused. We, most of us, I would think, read to be amused, educated and sometimes challenged.
As a bookseller, reading is a necessity as well as a privilege. But when I read, I always have my customers in mind, which means I have hundreds of people piggybacking my thoughts on every page.
I bring this up because of the book that has become persona non gratis in many Australian bookshops, to the extent that even the US and UK have reported on the controversy it has caused here.
Tampa, written by Alissa Nutting, is a book that quite a few people think you shouldn't read, and a book that select bookshops in Australia have decided to ban from their shelves.
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| Australian jacket |
It is the story of Celeste, a 26 year old school teacher and paedophile. The story follows her journey towards the successful seduction/abuse of two teenage boys in explicit and uncomfortable detail.
Celeste herself is an unashamed predator, whose predilection for young and inexperienced boys motivates her every action - her marriage, vocation and appearance are all vehicles to get her closer to her victims.
There are some interesting questions raised not only by the subject matter of this book, but also in the way Alissa Nutting chose to write the book.
There is no comeuppance for Celeste, no boundaries and certainly no context provided for her actions. The sex is written in titillating fashion, and it is abundant. And of course, that is where the controversy surrounding this book stems from.
Alissa Nutting, the author, was inspired by a true story. Her motives were to explore why society in general doesn't take the sexual abuse of boys by adult women as seriously as the opposite and why in so many cases such as that portrayed in
Tampa, the adult women are seen as victims of sexual precocity in teenage boys.
The failure to recognise women as authors of their own desire is also common in literature. The phenomenon of the best-selling
50 Shades of Grey, based on the sexual education/submission of a woman by the older and wiser Mr Grey, is a case in point.
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| US jacket |
So whilst Celeste is disgusting, at least Alissa Nutting doesn't find romantic or convenient excuses to explain her rampant sexual appetite or suggest that she is a victim in any way. Her deviance lay not in her desire for sex, but in the manner in which she procures and safeguards it.
It is the honesty of this book that makes it so equally compelling and confronting, and in my mind, it is not a book to be avoided, but one to be taken very seriously.
You don't have to read
Tampa to know that you don't want to read
Tampa. Books are endeavours we take ourselves on - we inhabit lives for the duration of the story - and one can certainly understand why readers would be reticent to spend time inside Celeste's head. However, the same can be said of many other recent best-sellers, including
The Slap,
The Corrections and
Notes on a Scandal.
Bookshops - particularly those that are petite like Potts Point Bookshop - discriminate whenever choosing books they wish to promote and keep on their shelves. In this case, booksellers who felt that their customers would not want to inhabit the world of Celeste could simply have chosen not to carry
Tampa instead of dramatically "banning" it.
All the author would ask of you is that you don't give in to the idea that this is a sensationalist exercise simply due to it's parts. All we would ask of you is that you look beyond the cover to find out more about the audacious talent of Alissa Nutting.
In the end, it is up to you.
More articles about Tampa
The Guardian
The Herald
Three Guys One Book
Tao Lin is not like other touring writers. He hates reading his own work, doesn't respond well to the question and answer format and seems a little like he'd prefer to be somewhere else at his own event. Okay, okay, he's probably a lot like other touring authors, but there is something about his obvious apathy that is either utterly affronting or back-thumpingly heroic. The crowd that attended the NYWF event hosted by Alaska Projects, for the most part, belonged wholeheartedly to the latter school of thought. They laughed when he awkwardly sidestepped answering questions, empathised about the mainstream critical response to his books, endured with great humour a long slideshow of seemingly random images and commented over and over again about how much his work resonated with their lives. Tao Lin is the author of three novels, two books of poetry and one short story collection. He runs his own publishing house called MuuMuu House (which mainly accepts content found on the internet) and according to Bret Easton Ellis "is the most interesting prose stylist of his generation".
Twitter, blogs, online forums, Tumblr - these are the worlds of Tao Lin and his readers and where Tao Lin shines. His is an intertextual universe where more than one medium is employed to tell the whole story. Other authors, such as Sheila Heti and Miranda July, similarly incorporate social media into their writing and novels, which sometimes gives them the feel of a collaborative art project. Tao Lin's Taipei is strictly a novel and is written with little elaboration. It may authentically capture the mood of a "connected" generation, but it feels like it is authenticity in a bubble as Taipei is a book about a generation of adults who don't know how to act or talk to each other face to face. When the real world beckons, just like it was for Tao Lin at Alaska Projects, awkwardness and boredom ensue and mistakes happen. No matter how you see the work, there is no denying that Tao Lin is showing us how a new generation lives and engages with the world. "Reading makes me feel less alone" said Tao Lin that night and it's obvious that many of the large crowd agreed with him. One only wonders if it would be his own work that Tao himself would reach for when looking for solace.
From 
At 2pm, Fairy Poppilina, our storytelling fairy, will transform herself into Furry Puppilina............
Have you chosen your outfit for our (Wo)Man's Best Friend inspired National Bookshop Day? Here's a few shots to get you thinking from the extraordinary Couture Dogs of New York.
When we held our event with Anne Summers on June 25 at Yellow House Pop-Up, we knew some things.
Anne's thought-provoking questions -why is it after 40 years, women are still paid less than men and that men still dominate the top ranks of leading organisations - her pointers to objectives - financial independence, fertility control, freedom from violence - indicators of success - inclusion, equality & respect - and viewpoints on equality - is equality a good idea? - were discussed in great length long into the night. "If Misogyny is the theory, sexism is the practice."
