Price: $16.32

December 21, 2008.

Twisty Sizzler!.

Rating: 5
This book wouldn't leave me alone. From the very first page I was hooked. What is real? What is drug-induced fantasy? And is there a place to stand between the two? I don't want to say much about the story--the hooks have already been written above--but I will say the the writing is beautiful and shifty and noir, and this is an author worth reading. And watching!

December 05, 2008.

If anyone close to you has been addicted....

Rating: 5
To any sort of hard drug, you MUST read this book.

A shockingly large improvement in writing style and story development since his last book (Contortionist's Handbook, which is also excellent). Dermaphoria is a love story, and an epic coming of age piece all rolled into one. Maintaining a clear style despite a clouded narrator's perspective and using ever sharpening wit, Clevenger does well keeping the reader in tune with the story as the narrator races to bring back memories lost in a lab accident while being pursued simultaneously by the police and the group that funded the drug lab that blew his memory to smithereens. While slowly revealing how all this happened Clevenger gracefully shifts in and out of ponderings on the morality and philosophy of drug use. A must read.

December 28, 2007.

His second is just as good as his first..

Rating: 5
Really loved this one too. CC is a vivid, intense writer, one of my all-time favorites.

December 04, 2007.

absolutely brilliant.

Rating: 5
Captivating diction, brilliant imagery, and I especially love the jaded & cynical monologue of the protagonist. Clevenger effectively brings the real mechanics of paranoia to the forefront of the reader's attention; and not in a stupid or adolescent manner. He brings you into the fear and sickness, the world falling apart around you. The enemy always watching, the codes they speak, the patterns they manipulate into your reality.

He makes me want to throw out all my manuscripts and never write again. Terribly jealous, esp w/ the use of bugs & chemistry as the metaphors for reality breakdown.

December 23, 2007.

Past? Present? Drug induced coma? Ah, Dermaphoria!.

Rating: 4
I'm a Palahniuk fan and therefore thought I should read Clevenger. I enjoyed "Contortionist's Handbooks." "Dermaphoria" was a bit different. His writing style hasn't changed, but reading this book was, at times, like watching "Memento" or "21 Grams" on shuffle.

The first 100 pages is more or less a drug-induced haze. This first half seems to be introducing the reader to the lingo, which is fine in 200 page quick read. After the first 100 pages, then the pace starts to pick up. And what has been happening becomes much more clear.

The only problem for "Eric" is that he's not sure what's real and what is not. Therefore, neither do we. At times, I felt cheated, other times, I felt like I had figured it out. By the end of the book, I was left feeling a bit empty and a tad unsure as to what had happened.

I gave this 4 stars since I enjoyed the ride. I really enjoyed the style and recommend this book to anyone who likes Chuck Palahniuk or this vein of writers. Look for a fast read, but don't look for a lazy read. You have to pay attention and be ready for the twists and turns the plot takes.