Life is Nowhere. The Novel Permanent Obscurity by Richard Perez Reviewed by Kenneth Halpern

It's an obscene and lurid piece of work, even sickening in parts, sure to completely alienate the Oprah Book crowd with its flagrant disregard for mainstream American values; and both protagonists, Dolores and Serena, blithely out of control, both in terms of behavior and substance abuse.

Without ever taking itself seriously, this novel by Richard Perez actually covers a lot of serious ground (especially in the first part of the book), involving real life issues facing a lot of young Americans, particularly those struggling in the arts: sustaining employment (as in finding a balance between jobs and the time to make art), health care (or the lack of health insurance) as one of the protagonists becomes pregnant; and having to pay back staggering debt (as in student loans, which calls into question how complicit Universities are in contributing to the American idea of living in debt).

The narrative style of PERMANENT OBSCURITY is loose and spontaneous, somewhere between Irvine Welsh and Charles Bukowski. The rawness of the writing is often jarring and Bukowski-like and unschooled in a way that underscores the world of the Lower East Side (and the East Village) and the circumstances of the protagonists.

Told in three large acts, the final part of the novel is probably the most conventional and movie-like, with the ladies (shades of Almodovar's VOLVER) having to dispose of a little "accident." The climax also involves a wild car chase by hardcore drug dealers, a gun battle, and a final high-speed pursuit by the police, finally redemption -- at least in the case of our narrator, Dolores.

PERMANENT OBSCURITY is a perversely engaging read, cautionary tale or not, but it might be especially appealing to those in the know: meaning those in the arts who have suffered the slings and arrows of outrageous humiliation. Some might say this is a book about losers; of course, anyone in the arts saying that might best avoid looking at a mirror.If you've never lived (or considered living) the artist's life of desperation and poverty and helplessness and absolute indifference, then let this novel stand as an ironic warning.