Swagbelly: A Pornographer's Tale

I would read Levien's shopping lists, that's how well written this book is. Even if the plot hadn't have been great, which it was and even if I hadn't have found myself in the book quite a few times, which I did, and even if I hadn't have thought that the charactors were so well written that I actually looked for Swagbelly the magazine on the rack, which I did; I'd still have loved the book.The writing was artistic and beautiful. The only problem that I had with the book was the ending. However, it's been several weeks since I finished and now I even like how Levien closed the book. Simply put, life goes on. You make the most of it and keep trodging along.Seperated, divorced, think you could be at some point? Read this book.

SWAGBELLY by DJ LevienEnter the world of Elliot Grubman the king of porn, in SWAGBELLY, the latest novel by DJ Levien. Elliot thought he had it all, everything that his millions of dollars could buy. He has beautiful sexy women at his beck and call, who give him all the sex he wants any time of day or night. He has so much money that he's giving it away. He tips waiters 50% at the finest dining establishments just because. But yet, he has an ex-wife that he thinks about all the time, yearning for that special something they used to have. And, he has an only son who seems to want to become a Catholic, instead of preparing for his upcoming bar mitzvah. What's a father to do? What's a MAN to do?Elliot has enough on his mind than have to worry about his son. But because of his son, Elliot is now looking for respectability. Being the owner of a successful porn magazine, SWAGBELLY, does not help. It's opened as many doors for him as it has closed. But, if this magazine has brought him everything a man can want, should he throw it all away for a respectable publishing endeavor?The book opens to a sex scene with Elliot as it's main participant. The scene's hot, HE'S hot, and his girlfriend is pretty hot herself. Welcome to the life of a porno magnate. Life is grand! (Needless to say, this was one of the best sex scenes I've come across in a book in quite a while.) She's been the only love interest in his life since he's first had sex with her, and that's saying a lot, knowing that Elliot has probably slept with every centerfold that's come through SWAGBELLY. For some reason that no one can figure out, Yvonne is special to Elliot.She also has the bad habit of dressing like a hooker, not that she doesn't have the body for it. It also does not help that she looks old enough to be his daughter. But Elliot is trying to bring some class to his life, and when they go out on the town, especially to his favorite upscale Italian restaurant Tre Fiori, she damn well better look respectable. Unfortunately, as Yvonne and Elliot are dining at Tre Fiori that evening, Lauren the ex-wife and her muscle bound lover also make their way into the restaurant. Words are said, insults are hurled, and Lauren informs Elliot their son is going to be baptized a Catholic. This was not a good night.Elliot's problems are only just beginning. But, who said life for a multi-millionaire porno king was ever easy? DJ Levien creates a multi-faceted character in Elliot Grubman. Levien is also one hell of a storyteller. While I started reading this book thinking it would only be filled with gratuitous sex, I was in for a big surprise. There is a lot of depth to this story of the jaded Grubman, and if there is hope for someone like this porno king, there is hope for everyone. I came to like Elliot, and am glad I took the chance to getting to know him. SWAGBELLY gets 5 stars from this reviewer.

Swagbelly is a great novel that lets you live the man's man life you always dreamed of . . . and even shows you some of the pitfalls you might not have expected. Hot girls, fast living, lots of cash, plenty of power and even a banana?!!! This guy has it all. The action takes place in places you've walked through in New York City and through the eyes of someone every man has wanted to be. Its like Sex in the city for men, only better!

I would compare this book to the first half of Tom Wolfe's A MAN IN FULL. In the first half of that book, the protagonist, Charlie Croker, is hilariously going through a mid-life crisis. Then, Wolfe gets lazy and cheats the ending.Levien does't get lazy, and he doesn't cheat the ending, either. In a book that is literary and a bit raunchy, hilarious and surprisingly moving, Levien delivers from start to finish. Highly recommended -- and though I think that more guys will read this book than girls, I gave it to my girlfriend, and she was laughing so hard in some scenes, tears were running down her face. She said it was a lot better than the 'chick lit' she usually reads.

I wasn't expecting much of this book, certainly not that it would be this smart, funny and literate. Levien's characters feel real as life, and his prose simultaneously elegant and prosaic. Eliot Grubman is as repellent a capitalist pig as ever had his soul laid bare in print, but you'll enjoy every page you spend with the schmuck.