Naked Came the Stranger

By Penelope Ashe

Book Overview

In 1969, a group of reporters at Long Island Newsday decided to have some fun. They were appalled at the poor writing in the then-current bestsellers by Jacqueline Susann, Irving Wallace and Harold... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0722112394
• ISBN13: 9780722112397
• Release Date: March 1971
• Publisher: Sphere
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 0.20 lbs.

Customer Reviews

I WONDER WHEN THERE WILL BE A SEQUEL - OR HAS THERE ALREADY BEEN ONE?

The stories behind this book are pretty well known now, but let us drift back to when it was first published. I can remember it vividly and remember all the hoopla surrounding the event. Unlike most of the reading public, and unlike half of you reading this review right now, I fully admit that I bought and read the thing when it was first published. Now, in my defense, both my wife and I, after reading it, thought it was one of the most horribly written books we had ever come across. But the point is, we actually paid out good cash for the thing as did hundreds and hundreds of others. This, I think, is the point the multiple authors were trying to make. The book is indeed terrible. But I have to admit that I gave it a second read recently, this time knowing what it was, and I do have to give the authors credit. They did their job well. As others have pointed out, the plot nonexistent, the characters shallow, the sex is boring (actually, sort of funny on some level), the organization of the book is terrible and it was the type of book that you did not want to be seen reading. As I said, the authors did their job. Now it is easy to set back now that we know the full story behind the writing of the book and knowingly nod our heads, but I can actually remember some pretty well know T.V. types that were quite impressed with the work and I can remember some book reviews that actually give it pretty good ratings. I do feel the book showed us something about ourselves, and that is a good thing, even if we don't particularly like what we see. I have often felt we have been duped from time to time, not only in literature, but in art (Andy Warhol comes to mind), and suspect we will be again in the future. Any time we get to feeling a bit smug about our "sophistication," I think a good slap in the face like this work is good for us. The only thing I fear is that all of the finger pointers, i.e. those who said and are saying, "look, see what a bunch of unwashed, uncouth and uneducated yahoos the men and women on the street are," are the actual folks that should be taking heed to this sort of thing. A quick read through publications such as The New Yorker and its ilk make my point. Read this one for the pure joy of reading really rotten literature, but remember, as Pogo once said, "We have seen the enemy, and he is us."

It's brilliant, it's a parody, it's a horrible book

The five stars are for the concept which was to write a terrible, formulaic book. They succeeded.

Unintentionally Classic

It's a terrible book. The characters are uninteresting, the motivations are obscure, the machinery is obvious, the sex is strange and unerotic, the writing is terrible. But in spite of everything, Naked Came The Stranger is a hoot. There's nothing you can point at and say, "This redeems", but the book is so weirdly enjoyable that it really doesn't matter. Read it in autumn, hide it from your friends, finish it in an afternoon. One of my all-time favorites.

A great poolside read!

Knowing beforehand that each chapter was written by a different author was what led me to read it (I had to borrow it from a college prof since it's so hard to find)--and it in no way hindered my reading! The book came together extremely well and was a thoroughly enjoyable romp through the intertwining lives of the characters. It's become a staple on my bookshelf for when I just need a good quick read.