The Losers Club

One of the more unique novels to come out of the literary underground is Richard Perez's "Losers' Club," a captivating little novel about love, writing, clubs, and New York in the mid-90s. Gritty and edgy, it's also darkly funny (even hilarious). And in a peculiar way, very sweet and romantic. Martin Sierra is a lonely aspiring writer in a dull, uninspiring job. He's searching for a woman he can talk to, a friend as well as a lover. And he has met that woman -- and she is Nikki, a bisexual gal struggling through the end of a dying lesbian relationship. They hang around the glittering clubs and bars of New York's nightlife, perfectly in sync, except for Nikki's lingering sense of guilt that she shouldn't be growing so close to Marty. Marty's addiction to the personal ads reaps a pair of promising responses: Lola, full of rage and anger, and with a disturbing personal life; and Amaris, a gothic "creature of the night" with morbid interests (she once let a vampire gal suck her bleeding finger), and who has flings with the students she teaches. Martin's professional and personal life takes several strange twists, leading him to where he should have gone all along. The New York of "Losers' Club" is a stained semiprecious stone. A superficial glittering mass of bars and clubs, full of people who expect no more from it. The inhabitants are all at least a little loserish, but intriguingly so (say what you will about Amaris, she ain't boring!). Transsexuals, goths and vampires, angry artists, frustrated writers, guys on eighteen-inch-glow-in-the-dark platform shoes, and some people who just like to hang out and watch Andy Warhol flicks. Despite the downbeat title, this is a genuinely funny, witty book (the most hilarious part is the collection of ad replies that poor Marty wades through -- some stupid, some discouraging, and some that are just creepy). The newly restored edition is radically different from the original, however -- large chunks have been put back into the narrative, which takes away the stripped-down feel. But it gives it better flow and more insight into the characters, and in the end it's worth sacrificing the "minimalist" style. There's also some extras at the back: a book discussion club guide ("In what ways might the main character be perceived as a 'loser'?"), some related writings, and an intelligent interview with Perez sprinkled with literary references. Perez's writing and study of his characters is reminiscent of 80s writers like Jay McInerney (except sprinkled with some very nice poetry). Maybe Dave Sedaris on acid. But he's not so busy appealing to readers' sense of cool that he forgets to keep them emotionally involved. Flashbacks reveal Marty's past with his mentally-ill, abusive mother, whom he harbors a sort of sadness for. Little flashes of dialogue reveal a lot about the characters' souls, and what kind of people they are. (Like whether they believe in fate, or talk to tombstones.) It's hard not to like Marty. He a

Honestly, I purchased this with A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby, expecting this to be the lesser novel, but as it turns out I enjoyed it more. Was it the British vernacular that got on my nerves after a while? I can't say for sure.Okay, about The Loser's Club: Complete Restored Whatever. It's a bohemian/coming-of-age novel of sorts that brings to mind a number of books: Hornby's High Fidelity, Carrol's Basketball Diaries, Miller's Tropic of Cancer, while being unique to itself.As the novel begins, the protagonist appears to be in a late-twenty-something crises. Hating his wage-slave job and without a significant other, he's starting to agonize over his life choices. Wallowing in a crises of faith, he is beginning to realize he's truly lost. Martin is a poet and writer, who remains unpublished, and each day in plucking rejection letters from his mailbox, he is reminded of his invisibility and insignificance.Only Nikki, his best friend, appears to have faith in him, bolstering Martin as he continues to lose heart. In this, the reader begins to understand how Nikki becomes the center of his universe. She, too, is a writer, someone who "understands." She not only provides emotional support, and something of a social education, but hope. So, why aren't these two very compatible people together? Life offers a myriad of complications. And apparently Nikki is involved in an ambiguous relationship with "Mariella," another woman.At Nikki's prodding Martin involves himself with the downtown personal ads. As the setting is New York City in the late 1990s, these are printed ads in a local newspaper. Martin's involvement with the ads, his neurotic dependence on them, takes up most of the novel. Two of the women, Lola, an East Village painter and Amaris, a gothic dominatrix become supporting characters in the narrative, and I won't go into Martin's misadventures with them, but let's just say that things get lively.Other people have called this a fun novel, and I agree. It reminds me of High Fidelity only in that we have a character who is self-consciously aware that he may be living a life of protracted adolescence. But isn't that always the case with creative people? Yes, Martin feels like a loser, but, as we find out, so does everyone else in this novel.Bukowski plays a small part in this book, as the one idol who personifies survival. Martin drinks and has imaginary conversations with the man. As "the poet laureate of skid row" Martin looks up to him, clinging onto the last vestiges of hope.One last thing I should say about The Loser's Club is that it's a fast read, heavy on dialogue, and mostly very funny. In the end, I'm glad I picked it up. As for the S/M scene between Martin and Amaris ... let's just say it's amusingly depicted and I doubt that many will be offended.

I'll start off by saying I enjoy urban love stories. Primarily, The Losers Club is doomed love story. It's also, strangely, a comedy. Martin Sierra, is a young writer wanna-be, of some promise, who is slowly realizing that the "idea" of being a writer is better than the reality of it. What is the reality of it? Rejection. And disdain. Constant and daily. No community. No comfort. No support. With a "mountain of rejection letters" in his studio, threatening to consume him, Martin takes solace with the image of Charles Bukowski, patron saint of losers and outcasts. He also takes solace in New York's East Village, and in his friendship with Nikki, a gal and like-minded soul he met through the downtown personals. Martin is obviously in love with Nikki, who is involved in an on-again, off-again relationship with another woman. Feeling somewhat rejected by her at one point, in his boredom and despair, Martin tries to lose himself in the downtown personals, becoming neurotically dependent, even addicted to them. We meet Lola, an East Village painter and madcap neurotic. We meet Amaris, a single mother and party-girl, who is in the "Looking For Mr. Goodbar" stage of her life, rediscovering her sexuality following her recent failed marriage. Along the way, the book is a kind of portrait of a time and place. Perez writes with very specific knowledge of the hangouts and clubs of the day, and some of the descriptions of the East Village in the book constitute some of the best writing. I enjoyed this novel. The chapters are short and the narrative is lively and sometimes furiously energetic. The "restored edition" also features a glossary of "Spanish insults" in the back, for Spanish curse words appearing throughout the book. (The protagonist is Spanish-American.) If there is a fault with the book, it's that the protagonist is so madly passionate; in his late twenties he seems as emotionally immature as a teenager, as wildly romantic as the character of Romeo from Shakespeare's play. Martin also shares the qualities of most obsessives: his fixation with Bukowski is evidence of this, his mad infatuation with Nikki especially brings this to mind. And of course there is the fixation with "rejection" and "failure" which is a staple of any artist's life. On the positive, it's also quite funny in part and the book, in general is well laid out, well structured, a fact you only realize when you've made it to the end and realize how all the pieces fit together. Bottom line: a good read, a book I enjoyed. Be forewarned: there is some vulgarity and at least one sexually explicit episode that borders on S/M.

This is a "guy" relationship book. Martin Sierra, an unpublished poet who idolizes Bukowski, can't catch a break. Nearing the age of 30, he's still desperately clinging to his dream of being a writer, though all he has to show for his efforts, so far, is a mountain of rejection letters. Unlike a Bukowski character, however, Martin is the sensitive, shy type; so along with his lack of literary success, his dead end "non-career," he can't find a date. His best and maybe only friend is a woman who takes on the big sister role, advising him as he tries to negotiate the surreal world of personal ads and the downtown singles scene.The format reminded me a little of Fante's "Ask The Dust." Short chapters, lively characters, and a willful main character made this an entertaining read. Parts reminded me of "High Fidelity," and "Sex Lies and videotape." I enjoyed this fun book.