I have been going through a Peter Sotos buying spree, the
highlight of which was finding a used copy of Total Abuse at a near eighty dollar price. Cheap.
Upon telling a friend about this find, he asked, “Why do you even read
that stuff? It’s beyond sick.”
Yeah. It is. As the back copy of Total Abuse reads, “Peter Sotos is the world’s foremost
practitioner of verbal brutality.” That
is an understatement.
The things Sotos writes about aren’t pretty, and he doesn’t
handle them with kid gloves (no pun intended).
Murder, rape, pedophilia, pornography, Nazis, rough trade, self-loathing,
racism and the like shouldn’t be the subjects of casual reads. Sotos, more than any other writer, rubs your
face in the filth and makes sure you taste it.
It is uncomfortable, to say the least.
Reading his work is obviously not for the faint of heart, and nor is it
for those who are easily offended. I
read it because I find it inspirational, but not in the way of a budding serial
killer or cowardly rapist. I find it
inspirational as a writer.
When I write something, I hope to move the readers in some
way. I want to horrify them, make them
laugh or cry … any reaction other than one of utter boredom. Sotos does that at the most base and
instinctually gut-wrenching level. Few
authors (Jack Ketchum, Hubert Selby Jr., and James Ellroy come to mind) can
even come close to what he has achieved.
(That’s why used copies of his books command such high prices.) If my work can cause even a fraction of that
sort of reaction, then I am satisfied.
That’s why I read him. I want the
reaction. I want the inspiration. I study the way the words flow and the images
he conjures with their use and repetition upon the page (Ellroy, again, does
something similar).
If all of that sounds slightly magical, that’s because it
is. Reading is a magical experience. It
is unlike any other artistic medium. It
engages its audience in ways that few arts can.
The reader is just as much a part of the art as the writer, too, and
anyone who is serious about writing understands what a delicate dance the two are
engaged in during that process. A lot
has been written about this tango, but what needs to be remembered is that writing is also magical. In fact, it is the main ingredient in the
spell because without it there would be nothing to experience. Without the writer, the reader wouldn’t
exist, and that doesn’t go both ways.
Sotos, whether or not he would admit it, has an
understanding of that magic and he uses it to cause the worst reactions in his
readers. He knows how the words need to
flow on the page (any writer of worth needs to understand that sentences, like
music, must fit into the greater composition just so or run the risk of
becoming disruptive). He knows what patterns
to utilize. He gives just enough of
himself that when the readers fill in the “blanks” they are touched in the vilest
of ways. He forces his readers to create
images of unspeakable crimes, and then they become complicit in them. They aren’t just merely reading about these
acts. They are in the room smelling the
smells and hearing the cries. Whether he
puts you in the mindset of predator or prey, the end result is that you suffer.
It is an amazing feat to pull off, and it is dangerous, but when it
works it is sublime.
My friend was right.
It is sick stuff. Beyond sick, as
he said. Shouldn’t it be? Shouldn’t writing about such dark subjects be
sick and disturbing? Sure, some readers
will want to stay away from it for whatever reason (and they should if they
have any doubts about their ability to handle it), but for the daring, for
those who appreciate the magic, the experience is unlike anything you’ll ever
read, and why wouldn’t you want to embrace that?
I understand Sotos isn’t for everyone. In fact, there are times I question whether
or not he is even for me, but I respect him, and if I respect an artist, I
engage in his or her work. It’s not
always a pleasant job, but it beats reading the latest James Patterson novel,
where everything is safe and you know the story before you read it. Patterson’s yarns are like a fast food
breakfast for the reader’s soul. Sotos,
however is not so easy to digest. It
takes an investment of time and intellect that many readers will eventually
regret, scarred and scared by what they have experienced. I would have it no other way.
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