Fearful Symmetry: 8

by Greg Bills

Book Overview

On the day that Peter Keith moves to his new house in southern California, he is transfixed by the sight of Chaz Lambent, his disconcertingly handsome neighbour, hosing himself down in his front yard.... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525940812
• ISBN13: 9780525940814
• Release Date: June 1996
• Publisher: Dutton Books
• Length: 325 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

candy for the mouth and ears. exquisite passivity.

Okay-so the cheezy jacket copy lured me in. But once I read the book, I was struck both by the beauty of its prose and the emotional complexity of its characters, not to mention its plot. Bills's main character, Peter Keith, is one of the best depictions of pathological passivity I have read--and unlike other authors who explore this theme (Dennis Cooper, Mary Gaitskill), Peter is likeable and sweet, if at time incredibly irritating. The couple he gets involved with--Muried and Chaz Lambent--brought a woodie to this bisexual reviewer's hog. In all seriousness, I enjoyed this book very much. As a stylist, Bills is non-pareil. I was also rather interested in his portrait of Orange County, particularly the horrid town of Irvine, which is almost a fourth main character in the book. And did I mention that a kitten is integral to the plot? But perhaps best of all, it's ultimately not one of those tedious postmodern pseudo-erotic excursions into text; this is actually a novel, with all the virtues implied in the term. Read it now