Quicklime Petterson is
still kicking around campus two years after commencement. But as the
post-college daze is petering out, an offer comes in: pen a porn script
for the policeman who just busted him, get his charges dropped. With no
time to workshop, the erstwhile English major pounds out an
introspective, Oedipal flesh-flick entitled "Conceptual Tart." The
project attracts a tween star in search of an edgy role, and media
frenzy ensues. As the would-be one-off deal threatens to become a
vocation, Quicklime attempts to find the honest career he meant to start
after college, amidst growing renown as a pornographer.
*May Contain Spoilers*
Andrew Branch creates a pornographic satire with his novel, Dark Chatter. The main character, half sperm donation heir and half hired hand, is Peter who re-names himself Quicklime creating an air of mystery around his personality.
Peter is a drug using, undecided college grad with a calculated quick wit. His lack of seriousness and his aim to use shoddy pick-up lines lands him in trouble with only one way out: to be the hired writer of a porno. The porno, which is shared with the reader, is a disturbingly unbelievable snippet of script that somehow takes off when it is purposely leaked. Peter has so many various, seemingly unconnected traits, that readers will be able to connect with him on at least one level. A college graduate without a job in their chosen field. An unaccepted family member who can't live up to their forced potential.
The plot of the novel is a confusing heap of random situations which takes Peter from a messy roommate to his father's mansion to Dubai where he falls in love and back again. The writing style of Dark Chatter is almost too satirical to me, but I understand where certain lovers of the genre would greatly enjoy this comic attempt.
Rating: 2/5 Cups
