| By
Neil Dyson
Vernon
God Little by DBC Pierre won the Mann Booker prize in 2003, and
if you haven't read it yet, do so (books don't win the Booker prize
because they are bad!!).
Without
giving too much away, the book is set in Texas and revolves around
Vernon Little, a teenager who is unfairly implicated in a local
massacre and forced to run away from home. What follows is his journey
across the USA and Mexico and a realisation of who he is and what
he can expect from life.
What
DBC Pierre does so well is satirise the US. Having been born in
Australia and lived for a long time in Mexico, he has written an
'American' book from an outsiders view.
At
the Literary Festival he shared his thoughts on the view of the
US that the rest of the world gets, and if I mention the names Rikki,
Oprah and Jerry, you will all know what I mean!
The
characters in the book could all have come from one of these shows,
and DBC Pierre has tried to make every person in the book as stereotypical
as possible to emphasise this. It's like reading a book written
as if it's a Hollywood film or a US mini-series spectacular; all
the cliche's are there to be seen and enjoyed.
Yet
there are sub-plots and messages that run deep in this book (indeed
the interviewer last night admitted that not all the Booker Prize
judges picked up on the sub-plot of Vernon's missing father after
their first reading).
The
role of the media and corporate sponsorship at the expense of human
life and dignity is a theme that gets a good airing at the end of
the book, and I'm sure there are many more that I've missed.
And
if you are yet to be convinced about Vernon God Little, just pop
down to your local book shop and read the first page or two (like
the people who stand three deep at the computer magazine section)
and then buy it.
On
almost every page you will find a snippet of writing that makes
you laugh or double take at its cleverness.
And
listen to this - the author used 555 obscenities in the book, the
same amount of Conqustadors that landed in the Americas from Spain.
Strange, but then that is DBC Pierre (and if you have time, have
a look around for his 'life story', it's an interesting read!!).
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