Craig Clevenger - Dermaphoria

Praise Praise Dedication Epigraph Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Keep Reading P.S. Ideas, interviews & features … About the Author About the Book Read on Acknowledgments About the Author Also by the Author Copyright About the Publisher

From the reviews of Dermaphoria :

‘An experimental adventure … What makes this worth reading is Craig Clevenger’s extraordinary prose: the pleasure of text is everything’

Guardian

‘It’s dizzying stuff, and the seedy LA underworld is potent in its heat and squalor; no wonder Chuck Palahniuk is singing his praises’

Metro

‘What makes the book so unique, so compulsively readable, is Clevenger’s ability to make complex images seem so unforced’

Independent on Sunday

‘Playful, intellectual, carefully formed and stunningly executed’

Sunday Business Post

‘Part noir detective thriller, part crystal meth fuelled freak-out through bug-infested motel rooms, Nevada diners and low-rent strip joints’

Dazed and Confused

Dedication Dedication Epigraph Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Keep Reading P.S. Ideas, interviews & features … About the Author About the Book Read on Acknowledgments About the Author Also by the Author Copyright About the Publisher

To JILL NANI

Epigraph Epigraph Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Keep Reading P.S. Ideas, interviews & features … About the Author About the Book Read on Acknowledgments About the Author Also by the Author Copyright About the Publisher

We, amnesiacs all, condemned to live in an eternally

fleeting present, have created the most elaborate of human

constructions, memory, to buffer ourselves against the

intolerable knowledge of the irreversible passage of time

and irretrievability of its moments and events.

—GEOFFREY SONNABEND

Obliscence: Theories of Forgetting and the Problem of Matter

From the first day I saw her I knew that she was the one

As she stared in my eyes and smiled

For her lips were the colour of the roses

That grew down the river, all bloody and wild

—NICK CAVE

“Where the Wild Roses Grow,” Murder Ballads

Contents

Cover

Title Page

Praise Praise Praise Dedication Epigraph Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Keep Reading P.S. Ideas, interviews & features … About the Author About the Book Read on Acknowledgments About the Author Also by the Author Copyright About the Publisher From the reviews of Dermaphoria : ‘An experimental adventure … What makes this worth reading is Craig Clevenger’s extraordinary prose: the pleasure of text is everything’ Guardian ‘It’s dizzying stuff, and the seedy LA underworld is potent in its heat and squalor; no wonder Chuck Palahniuk is singing his praises’ Metro ‘What makes the book so unique, so compulsively readable, is Clevenger’s ability to make complex images seem so unforced’ Independent on Sunday ‘Playful, intellectual, carefully formed and stunningly executed’ Sunday Business Post ‘Part noir detective thriller, part crystal meth fuelled freak-out through bug-infested motel rooms, Nevada diners and low-rent strip joints’ Dazed and Confused

Dedication Dedication Dedication Epigraph Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Keep Reading P.S. Ideas, interviews & features … About the Author About the Book Read on Acknowledgments About the Author Also by the Author Copyright About the Publisher To JILL NANI

Epigraph Epigraph Epigraph Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four Chapter Five Chapter Six Chapter Seven Chapter Eight Chapter Nine Chapter Ten Chapter Eleven Chapter Twelve Chapter Thirteen Chapter Fourteen Chapter Fifteen Chapter Sixteen Chapter Seventeen Chapter Eighteen Chapter Nineteen Chapter Twenty Chapter Twenty-One Chapter Twenty-Two Chapter Twenty-Three Chapter Twenty-Four Chapter Twenty-Five Chapter Twenty-Six Chapter Twenty-Seven Chapter Twenty-Eight Keep Reading P.S. Ideas, interviews & features … About the Author About the Book Read on Acknowledgments About the Author Also by the Author Copyright About the Publisher We, amnesiacs all, condemned to live in an eternally fleeting present, have created the most elaborate of human constructions, memory, to buffer ourselves against the intolerable knowledge of the irreversible passage of time and irretrievability of its moments and events. —GEOFFREY SONNABEND Obliscence: Theories of Forgetting and the Problem of Matter From the first day I saw her I knew that she was the one As she stared in my eyes and smiled For her lips were the colour of the roses That grew down the river, all bloody and wild —NICK CAVE “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” Murder Ballads

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Three

Chapter Twenty-Four

Chapter Twenty-Five

Chapter Twenty-Six

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Keep Reading

P.S. Ideas, interviews & features …

About the Author

About the Book