Vernon God Little

'Vernon God Little' is commonly denounced as an unrealistic portrayal of the tragedy of a school shooting, similar to the incident at Columbine High in Colorado some years ago. These type folks fail to realize that 'Vernon God Little' is only barely about a school shooting. It's about fancy writin'. Check it:

"Deputy Gurie tears a strip of meat from a bone; it flaps through her lips like a shit taken backwards."

A shit taken backwards! Is that even possible? Who cares, it rules! Gems of this sort preponder in V.G. Little.

People seem to think that 'Vernon' was meant to be to the Columbine Massacre as 'Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close' was to 9/11, or as the documentary 'Terminator 2' was to the coming robot rebellion. But it's not.

The show more school shooting is just an example of the larger malaise and absurdity DBC Pierre is pointing at with 'Vernon.' To even read the first sentence of the synopsis on the inside flap will show that Pierre is aiming a little higher than a recreation of the tragedy. The name of Vernon's Mexican friend who shot 16 kids and then himself is Jesus. Jesus killed a bunch of kids. Jesus is killing YOUR kids. And then killing himself. And Vernon 'God' Little is on the run from the cops.

This book has the very rare quality of being wildly funny and startlingly meaningful simultaneously. For this reason,a blurb on the back compares it to 'A Confederacy of Dunces,' and I agree. Although there is much more cursing and sex in 'Vernon,' which makes it automatically better.

Pierre also creates the most likable character I've read since, say, the protagonist in John Barth's 'The Floating Opera,' or what his face from 'The Sun Also Rises.' The sort of main character you can't help but want to see succeed. Or even William Stoner from 'Stoner' or Bjartur of Summerhouses from 'Independent People.' Characters who just can't catch a break, even though they probably deserve one.

Furthermore, all the narration is in Vernon's "fucken" dialect, which might get fucken old if it weren't so goddamn funny and Pierre was less tasteful and skillful with it. But he is, so it only serves to support the reader's warm feelings toward 'Vernon.'

The metaphor in 'Vernon' is trashily powerful. Can't find the page, but something like "The sky was like a bunch of lint balls on a soggy graham cracker." Mmm. Lint.

Suffice it to say, you should read this book, and you should should ignore the idea that it is meant to be a paean for the lives lost at Columbine High, because it's not. If you can divest yourself of that thought, you will at *least* have fun reading it, whether you agree with Pierre's assessment of American pop culture or not, because it is a masterful farce. Also:

"You don't know how bad I want to be Jean-Claude Van Damme. Ram her fucken gun up her ass, and run away with a panty model. But just look at me: clump of lawless brown hair, the eyelashes of a camel. Big ole puppy-dog features like God made me through a fucken magnifying glass. You know right away my movie's the one where I puke on my legs, and they send a nurse to interview me instead." show less

Vernon God Little by Dbc Pierre presents itself as a comedy, but the subject matter is very dark as it takes a hard look at American society. We follow the experiences of Vernon Little, a Texas teenager whose best friend has just killed sixteen of their classmates and then himself. The townspeople seek both answers and vengeance and because Vernon was the killer’s closest friend, he becomes the focus of their fury. Vernon comes across as a deceptively simple boy, rather cynical and certainly unlucky and relying heavily on gross-out humor.

While this satire effectively captures a teenager’s self-absorption, it also manages to skewer mindless consumer culture, the media’s penchant for turning tragedy into entertainment, and the show more craving of fame by average citizens. While humor and mass murder are uneasy companions, the author does manage to pull off a story that, although bizarre, holds one’s attention, and while I personally found myself wincing more than smiling, this irreverent book was certainly highly readable. show less

You know those comic novels which are supposed to be funny but aren’t, and where the narrator’s voice is supposed to be funny but isn’t… well, this is one of them. There has been a tragedy in the Texas town of Martirio. Vernon’s best friend, Jesus, has gunned down several of his schoolmates, and Vernon is still under suspicion as an accomplice. (He’s innocent, but no one particularly cares – Jesus is dead, and Vernon makes a good scapegoat). This is one of those novels where the entire cast are white trailer trash, and that’s sufficient to present them as comedy characters. Ignorance may be fertile soil for comedy, but there’s a right way to handle it and a wrong way. There’s a meanness to the characterisations in show more Vernon God Little which makes for unpleasant reading. It doesn’t help that Vernon is a thoroughly unlikeable narrator, nor in fact that none of the characters in the book are at all likeable – most, in fact, are closer to caricature than character. How this book won the Booker Prize is a mystery; how it was picked for the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list is an even bigger mystery. One to avoid. show less

'Me ves y sufres', 17 July 2012
By
sally tarbox

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This review is from: Vernon God Little (Paperback)
I really enjoyed this novel; there's no question that Pierre took inspiration from 'Catcher in the Rye' (one of my favorite books), but managed to create an entirely original work. Our teenage narrator is a 21st century kid, full of raging hormones, child of an inadequate mother. In the aftermath of a mass shooting at his school in Texas, carried out by his best friend, Vernon finds himself held accountable...
Holden Caulfield dreamed of paradise in a field of rye; Vernon aspires to a beach hut in Mexico (in the company of the gorgeous Taylor Figueroa). Holden derided the phoney adults around him; Vern is well show more aware of the corruption in the media, everyone out to make a buck. Both characters retain a touching naivety that keeps the reader rooting for them throughout. Brilliant. show less

...cleverly characterises the claustrophobia suffered by those for the whom the American Dream is nothing short of a nightmare,

Pierre’s adventure tale of the pursuit of poor little Vern by virtually the entire machine of ‘Merica is a combustive mix of satire and suspense. The pace doesn’t let up. From the moment you meet the eponymous hero until his final homecoming, you feel as out of breath, as uncertain of your surroundings as he is. It’s a novel that very cleverly characterises the claustrophobia suffered by those for the whom the American Dream is nothing short of a nightmare.

Vernon is the product of a dysfunctional single-parent family in Couldbeanytown, Texas. His mother dreams of a limited edition refrigerator while show more Vernon dreams of simply being accepted. He attends a local high school where something has gone horribly wrong. What exactly took place, you piece together as the story unfolds. Exactly what role Vernon played in it is what everyone else wants to know.

Through the introduction of some of the most comic US-lit characters since Ignatius J. Reilly and Yossarian, we find the authority of law enforcement and the voice of mainstream media lampooned like never before. All the while, Vernon grows up faster than he needs to and is beset on all sides by enemies both real and imagined.

The strength of this novel comes not only from his biting satire but also from the style that Pierre has employed. The US has always been easy to mock, strewn as it is with stereotypes, laughable if not horrific foreign policy and, best of all, ever too sensitive to take it all with a pinch of salt. The satire should therefore come easily to even a modestly talented writer.

What makes Vernon special though is that the writing is constructed as a perfect embodiment of the very culture it sets out to critique. Vernon’s narrative is offensive, cynical, self-absorbed, angry, confused, paranoid and pessimistic. While he’s busy lambasting his mother’s dependence on her rotating door of lovers, he’s lusting after his own dependencies. At the same time he’s scathing of society’s incompetence, he’s unable to organise even the simplest tasks for his own welfare.

The result is a tirade that can be taken two ways at the same time. While it seriously questions the fundamental aspects of USAnian society, Pierre also seems to be asking whether you can in fact actually take the writing seriously. On the one hand Pierre’s novel seems to find absolutely nothing of cultural worth. On the other, the very fact that this culture is so delicious a farce makes it worth so very much to an art form that strives to help us understand the human condition. Fact. show less

Get past the slightly bizarre first few pages and this is an absolute gem. I guess the rest of it is pretty bizarre too, but brilliantly satirical with it. Some of the most imaginative prose I have read in years.....it won't be to everyone's taste, but I loved it.

I'm reading all the Booker Prize winners since its inception. Follow me at www.methodtohermadness.com.

This is a great book. A great f***en book, as our hero, Vern, would say. Vernon Gregory Little is a little guy accused of a big crime: the mass murder of over a dozen of his Texas classmates. But he didn’t do it. He just can’t prove it.

Poor Vernon is trapped in a web of loyalty: to a sad mother, who falls for the scumbag televising his case; to a girl who passed out at a party; to a father whose body can’t be found; to the bullied friend who actually did the shooting. He’s the sweetest kid you’d ever hope to meet on death row.

Vernon’s desperate attempt to escape his fate is both gritty and lyrical. And up until the last ten show more pages, I had literally no idea how it would end. Pierre brings all the pieces together masterfully, and Vernon recreates himself as (almost) a god. Poetic writing and a show-stopping plot, plus a quirky character you can’t help but love: it’s definitely worth the read to see how Pierre pulls it off. show less