The Passion of the Christoph

"The Passion of the Christoph" doesn’t fit into neat sub-categories, and that’s just what (former porn store manager and military school survivor) Christoph Paul wants. "Passion" is literary in its style and references, yet is downright pornographic in its content, stretching the boundaries of what is acceptable to print. If this was the eighties, Christian groups might burn this book, despite Paul’s affinity for Tim Tebow. Set up as a series of hilarious short stories, satirical essays, political opinions, and the occasional poem, "Passion" covers hard-hitting topics like how to choose the best adult titles (using "Infinite Jest" by David Foster Wallace as inspiration) to fill porn store inventory and ways to judge the economy by evaluating strip club etiquette, which Paul coins “Strippernomics.” In more light-hearted fare, Paul explores the pain of addiction during a misunderstood youth and highlights his time stuck in both military school and teenage rehab. Many "of the short stories are reminiscent of a memoir, but this is no Eat, Pray, Love," more of an “X, X, X” . . . Porn, not the bad Vin Diesel movie.