Guide (Cooper, Dennis)

Over the past 15 years Dennis Cooper has established himself as the preeminent spokesperson and chronicler for angst ridden teens in Los Angeles. In Closer, Frisk, and Try, Cooper delineated the existential crisis of gay teen boys with no place to go but down, nothing to look forward to but death. Cooper's plots usually revolve around the idea that there are people--usually older men--who are willing to help them with this last desire. Cooper tells a similar tale in Guide, but has placed himself in the middle of the action as a participant. Beautifully and chillingly written, Guide is Cooper's most disturbing, transgressive tale yet. A visionary masterpiece as sublime as it is frightening.