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Out for revenge are the townspeople, the cable news networks, and Deputy Vaine Curie, a woman whose zeal for the Pritikin die is eclipsed only by her appetite for barbecued ribs from the Bar-B-Chew Barn. So Vernon does what any red-blooded American teenager would do; he takes off for Mexico. Pierre was awarded the Booker Prize for fiction on 14 October 2003 for his novel Vernon God Little. The United Kingdom's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. Vernon wasn't there when the massacre happened: his teacher sent him on an errand, and his loose bowels make for an embarrassing alibi -- so embarrassing he (ridiculously) refuses to mention it for far too long. Finished reading this novel last week, but needed more time to start writing this review. Still amazed. Here we are...
Vernon God Little | Young Vic website Vernon God Little | Young Vic website
The book is written in contemporary vernacular, with the use of satirical invective and witty irony. The town in which Vernon lives, Martirio, is given the Spanish word for martyrdom.Michiko Kakutani mentioned in her New York Times review that the events "ricochet mechanically between the predictable and the preposterous," resulting in a less than “convincing or compelling story." Was the story convincing to you?
The Guardian Talk this way | Books | The Guardian
Set in America, Pierre's book is not just bad; it is so awful that its victory suggests there is something deeply wrong with British literary culture. To an American reader the book provokes neither amusement nor outrage, but puzzlement: are the British literati so ignorant of the US that they can think this is a competent parody ? (...) Pierre's solecisms provide accidental comedy in this tedious book" - Michael Lind, Prospect Everyone tries to get in on Vernon's supposed guilt, from the townsfolk who stage a hoedown in honour of the dead to a rapacious TV repair man who poses as an on-the-spot reporter. The further Vernon runs, the more he is assumed to be a serial killer until he winds up on death row where the networks invite viewers to vote on which of several murderers should be executed. Hailed by the critics and lauded by readers for its riotous and scathing portrayal of America in an age of trial by media, materialism, and violence, Vernon God Little was an international sensation when it was first published in 2003 and awarded the prestigious Man Booker Prize. Well I learned you don't need to spell correctly to win the Man Booker Prize, as long as the misspelling is funnier and more poignant than the original word. Vernon lives in Martirio; until recently it was "only the barbecue sauce capital of Central Texas", but suddenly the eyes of the nation are on it.
Pulver, Andrew (22 October 2012). "Werner Herzog to bring Vernon God Little to the big screen". The Guardian . Retrieved 22 October 2012. DBC Pierre was born in 1961 in Reynella, Australia. He was brought up in Mexico and the UK, and now lives in Ireland. Vernon also seems far too unaffected by what happened, in contrast to his day-to-day concerns (of escape and survival) over most of the book.) Pierre goes a long way in undermining it at the very outset, in the first paragraph, as he describes Mrs Lechuga: What happens to Vernon is a horrible miscarriage of justice, but the author squeezes the lemony goodness of satire down to a pulp(y) sh*tstorm. Laughing and crying at the same time, I found I couldn’t put the book down.
would make my life better? A tapir” DBC Pierre Q+A: “What would make my life better? A tapir”
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact. The chairman of the judges, Professor John Carey, said his team chose Pierre by a margin of four to one. Most things about this violently satirical debut novel are remarkable and some are just inimitable. (...) Unfortunately, most of Pierre's characters are, at best, two-dimensional and it's not always clear whose side he's on, who is being satirised and for which sins. (...) Pierre could write Proulx into the ground: fierce, crazed and passionate, his first novel may not be the most balanced book to emerge out of America this year, but it must be one of the most driven." - Jonathan Heawood, The ObserverVernon Little is fifteen years old and lives with his mother in Martirio, a flea-bitten Texan town. His best friend just massacred sixteen of their classmates before killing himself. The town wants vengeance and turns its sights on Vernon, who is arrested at the start of the story. This is a whirlwind of a book. A must-read; although I suppose should mention it contains explicit language, anal-fixations, abuse and a whole load of other triggers. 21st century The Catcher in the Rye, and taking no prisoners! Pierre landed a publishing deal for his first novel one hour before the first plane hit the World Trade Center on September, 11, 2001. "Ever since, I feel like there's some dark destiny swirling around the book," he said. ( Author bio from Barnes & Noble, courtesy of Faber and Faber Ltd.) Eulalio ("Lally") Ledesma, supposedly a CNN reporter, ingratiates himself to Doris, Vernon's Mom, and promises to help Vernon "shift the paradigm" of his story. Instead, Lally betrays Vernon, who is returned to jail pending a psychiatric analysis. We publish a Literature Newsletter when we have news and features on UK and international literature, plus opportunities for the industry to share.
Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre | Waterstones Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre | Waterstones
Last spring, "Elephant" won the top prize at the Cannes Film Festival, and now "Vernon God Little" has won the Booker Prize. Coincidentally, both Gus Van Sant's movie and D.B.C. Pierre's debut novel have just been released in the US. But perhaps not coincidentally, both these prize winners are based on the Columbine high school shooting in 1999. Uh-huh. Let me explain that my job is to uncover the truth. Before you think that's a hard thing to do, I'll remind you that, stuss-tistically, only two major forces govern life in this world. Can you name the two forces underlying all life in this world?' What actually happened that fateful day is barely mentioned for much of the book; unfortunately, it's not because of the sheer, overwhelming horror of it. Is the kind of cruelty shown by Jesus”s classmates on the day of the shooting simply a fact of adolescent life, or is it a symptom of an unhealthy society? Do teenagers have a right to be free from teasing and harassment, or are they, as Charlotte Brewster suggests, naturally subject to the tyranny of the majority of their peers? Can the social persecution of Jesus be compared to the persecution of Vernon by media-influenced public opinion? If I have to make a comparisons, I can compare this novel to 'Wonderboys' by Michael Chabon. Both stories are messy, while Chabon's can be considered as a civilized novel. This novel can also be compared to Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" (no, not because both have the word 'God' in their titles), for its inventive, flexible, experimental use of English words/phrases, while Roy's can be considered as a contemplative one and Pierre's as a not serious one.When sixteen kids are shot on high school grounds, everyone looks for someone to blame. Meet Vernon Little, under arrest at the sheriff's office, a teenager wearing nothing but yesterday's underwear and his prized logo sneakers. Moments after the shooter, his best buddy, turns the gun on himself, Vernon is pinned as an accomplice.
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