Finished Su 8/7/16
I saw the movie starring James Franco and Ed Harris a couple of weeks ago, and found that the library had the book, so I got it.
Set in Rogers Park, Chicago and the San Francisco Bay Area
Elliott is a college graduate and writer with an extremely troubled past. Runaway, alcohol and drug problems, bizarre history of BDSM sexuality, stripping, prostitution, and a combative and adversarial relationship with his father. The father is also a writer.
The book is about a strange murder trial that Elliott is covering and it forces him to deal with his past.
Stephen grew up in a series of group homes and foster care. He feels that he was driven out of his house by his abusive father, but the father saw him as a threat and he threw him out for his sanity and the well being of the remaining members of the family.
Kind of an emotional Rashomon; each one plays 'the blame game' but the other sees something radically different. I liked this aspect the best in the movie, although it wasn't that developed. Stephen's mother died of MS when he was fourteen. Inexplicably, his father blames Stephen for this.
LInk to Hans Reiser murder case on wikipedia-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hans_Reiser
Writeup at amazon-
"As a writer stymied by past success, writers block, substance abuse, relationship problems and a serious set of father issues, Elliott's cracked-out chronicle of a bizarre murder trial amounts to less than the sum of its parts. Not long into the 2007 trial of programmer Hans Reiser, accused of murdering his wife, the defendant's friend Sean Sturgeon obliquely confessed to several murders (though not the murder of Reiser's wife). Elliott, caught up in the film-ready twist and his tenuous connection to Sturgeon (they share a BDSM social circle), makes a gonzo record of the proceedings. The result is a scattered, self-indulgent romp through the mind of a depressive narcissist obsessed with his insecurities and childhood traumas. Elliott is an undeniably good writer, but his voice has more to do with amphetamines than the author himself or the trial at hand. Elliott's frustration with himself is contagious; any readers expecting a true crime will be bewildered".
Not an easy read because of too many characters and the extreme sexual activity was so far out that it was truly hard to grasp. SadoMasochistic relationships invert the normal Pleasure Drive for sex. If Pain is Pleasure then everything is up for grabs(my humble opinion).
Writing style was interesting; not quite 'Gonzo' (HS Thompson), but like if LEAVING LAS VEGAS dealt obliquely with a True Crime incident.
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