P

By Andrew Lewis Conn

P tells the story of Benjamin Seymour, a failed pornographer obsessed over his lost love, and Finn, a ten-year-old runaway girl genius. Separately and then together they wander the city, searching for home and family. Taking place mostly over the course of a single day, the novel telescopes out from Benji and Finn's quest to embrace a wide variety of characters and themes; the external journey matched by inward journeys into consciousness and the very nature of language and storytelling itself. One chapter of the book is written in the form of newspaper headlines and articles; one chapter is composed of thirteen vignettes following major and minor characters as they move about the city; one chapter is written in question and answer form; one chapter is a punctuation-less stream of consciousness monologue; and one chapter, the center of the book and its climax, is written in the form of a full-length screenplay.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1887128557
• ISBN13: 9781887128551
• Release Date: May 2003
• Publisher: Soft Skull Pr
• Length: 360 Pages
• Weight: 1.10 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Go Buy This Book

This is a fantastic novel, at once hilarious and heartbreaking. Careering between Tom Wolfe, Dickens and Damon Runyon, Conn creates some of the most memorable characters and situations found in the pages of a New York story. The story is simtaneously high brow and low down, as compelling as any cliff-hanger mystery. A word to the wise: Go buy this book.

Literate, Not Smut

This novel is both highly enjoyable and thoroughly provocative. Reviews and descriptions I've seen focus on P's technical accomplishment and outre humor, but these elements only serve to highlight a poignant, hopeful story of several deeply engaging characters. It's not for the squeamish or readers who rely on straightforward narrative, but its rewards are many for those who don't mind four-letter words and a strangely shaped tale. Forget about pornography and focus on literature - read P.

Benjamin Seymour for President...Buy This Book!!

I found a copy of this book in manhattan and bought it without even ever hearing about it. Trust me...it's worth it. It takes you back to a time when 42nd Street Times Square wasn't a place to bring the family for an entertaining evening on the town. It is the story of Pornstar/Producer Benjamin Seymour (who should be played by Ron Jeremy in the movie.)Conn writes in an interesting style combinging third-person narration alongside what appears as actual screenplay style formatting in the "movie" that has become Benjamin's life."P" is a heartbreakingly funny piece of work that shines a light on the conflicting sides of life in both the adult film industry and the human experience of living with heartbreak. It unfolds into a book unlike any I have ever read. Extremely thought- provoking without being over-philosophical. There are plenty of passages to go back to and ponder over long after you place the book on your shelf.

A brash and unapologetically ambitious first novel

It's laugh-out-loud funny, touching, obscene, full of dazzling verbal pyrotechnics, crammed with a wealth of detail about the texture of modern life. Novelists are too shy these days. Here's one who is daring to add his voice to a tradition that would intimidate most into silence. Two thousand years ago, Homer hiked the football. In the early 20th century, James Joyce took the snap. Today, Andrew Conn catches Joyce's forward pass.

This book is brilliant.

I fell in love with the cover, and now I'm in love with everything inside. I'm stealing time from the real world to spend time with this book. It's been a really, really long time since I've read such accomplished, adventurous, knowing fiction -- poignant without being cloying, clever without being cutesy, and most of all, charming and so very, very human(e).Kudos to Mr. Conn. My only misgiving about the book is that at some point, I'll reach the end.