PERMANENT OBSCURITY:

Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)

  • 6 Want to read

My Reading Lists:

Create a new list

Check-In

×Close
Add an optional check-in date. Check-in dates are used to track yearly reading goals.
Today

  • 6 Want to read


Download Options

Buy this book

Last edited by ImportBot
October 8, 2021 | History

PERMANENT OBSCURITY:

Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)

  • 6 Want to read

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)

  • A youthful bohemian satire,
  • a story of alienated nonconformists,
  • a "girls on the lam" story,
  • a sexploitation and S/M romp,
  • a spoof of cult celebrity and "true-life" tabloid sensationalism

MORE ABOUT THE BOOK:

PERMANENT OBSCURITY is not "erotica," although it has BDSM overtones (leaning toward so-called "femdom"). It's really a dark comedy about bohemia and the difficulty of relationships (female/male and female/female) and finally the big question for anyone in the arts (or in the tabloid media): sudden fame vs. permanent anonymity. The style of the novel is inspired by '60s over-the-top sexploition films like those of Russ Meyer (FASTER PUSSYCAT KILL KILL, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) and those Something Weird Videos, like A SWEET SICKNESS and BAD GIRLS GO TO HELL [so-called "cautionary tales"]) -- updated to the Bush era (circa 2006).

alt text

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: Or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography and Death by Dolores Santana (as told to Richard Perez)
Written in the 3 parts:

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: PART 1 - THE KINKY HOOK ... Whereupon we are introduced to Dolores and Serena and their kinky shenanigans.

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: PART 2 - STRANGE HUNGERS ... Whereupon Dolores and Serena grapple with relationship/sexuality issues, life-threatening drug dealers, irreversible money woes. Culminating in a desperate attempt at making a so-called "femdom" film.

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: PART 3 - NO MAN'S LAND ... Whereupon Dolores and Serena find themselves in a place not expected. Namely, hell.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: Read 4 FREE book excerpts now!

PERMANENT OBSCURITY

Inspired by the underground sexploitation films of the 1960s, this bold updating of the "roughie" subgenre and lampoon of auteur filmmaking largely takes place in New York City's East Village (circa the Bush era), and it chronicles the rise and fall of a unique and intense relationship. Dolores and Serena, two chemically dependent, down-and-out artists set out to take control of their lives by making a fetish-noir/femdom movie. Of course, things don't exactly turn out as planned.

"Ready-made for Russ Meyer--assuming, that is, if Meyer was around and still at his peak."
--Josh Alan Friedman, author: TALES OF TIMES SQUARE, WHEN SEX WAS DIRTY

"The American Baise-Moi!"
--Lynn Breedlove, author: GODSPEED

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~: Make this bohemian romp yours: Amazon or B&N

alt text

PERMANENT OBSCURITY by Richard Perez

"Richard Perez has the ears of the angels--lend him yours."
--Barry Gifford, author: WILD AT HEART, PERDITA DURANGO

"Perez's is an exciting talent and his work goes far beyond most of what is published today."
--Henry Flesh, author: MICHAEL and the Lambda Literary Award-winner, MASSAGE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~:

PERMANENT OBSCURITY:
PART 1 - "The Kinky Hook"
PART 2 - "Strange Hungers"
PART 3 - "No Man's Land"

The trade paperback contains all 3 "episodes" or books also available separately from Amazon.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

alt text

Initially published small literary magazines, Richard Perez has also written for The New York Times (a newspaper he doesn't read.) His first novel, The Losers' Club (aka: The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition) has three foreign translations to date: Korean, Turkish, Italian. PERMANENT OBSCURITY: or a Cautionary Tale of Two Girls and Their Misadventures with Drugs, Pornography, and Death -- his second novel -- also reflects his infatuation with bohemia and willful nonconformists.

PERMANENT OBSCURITY: yours now! "Notebook" for the novel: PermanentObscurity.Com

alt text

About Richard Perez's first novel, THE LOSERS' CLUB, which is a romantic comedy set in downtown New York City of the 1990s:

"Every generation must describe for itself what it means to be a young writer or artist struggling with anonymity and a mountain of rejection slips in a city like New York. Richard Perez's THE LOSERS' CLUB tracks the poet Martin Sierra's melancholy and yet somehow humorous and hopeful life with an acid, yet not unsympathetic, pen. Perez has written a sharp, quick-paced satire of the personal ads subculture and the generally doomed semi-relationships it leads to, the bizarre and manic club life, where slam-dancing and other dangerous sports fail to mask the chronic - one might say terminal - loneliness of the participants. I especially like how the kaleidoscopic whirl of people and objects energizes the author and delights the reader with an almost photographic sense of time and place."
--Robert Siegel, author: Best-selling author of THE WHALESONG TRILOGY

"Richard Perez's THE LOSERS' CLUB moves fast without blurring, and documents New York City in all its self-invented variety: kitsch/retro bars and cafes, goth vampires, dyke rock bands, desperately clever personal ads, the endless cruise for a parking space, and loneliness so relentless its victims wind up feeling stillborn. In its quicksilver way, Perez's novel manages to be cheerful, bleak, and edgy all at once."
--John Vernon, author: A BOOK OF REASONS, PETER DOYLE

Set in downtown New York City, THE LOSERS' CLUB tells the story of Martin Sierra, an unlucky writer addicted to the personals. His journey brings us into the East Village, pre-9/11--and in contact with Nikki, his dream woman, who remains unattainable romantically yet becomes his friend and confidant during his illuminating misadventures. A romantic comedy and coming-of-age story.

More Author's Opinions:

"I was hooked. I couldn't put it down until I finished.... I was simply impressed that these were real, instantly recognizable people ... poor lonely bastards of every stripe resorting to utter humiliation and personal endangerment in the barest hope of hooking up with a kindred spirit. It's a brave book with a great deal of heart."
--Poppy Z. Brite, author: LOST SOULS, LIQUOR: A NOVEL

"A story of youth, very well told, and it dwells in the mind long after a reader finishes it." --Joanne Greenberg, author: I NEVER PROMISED YOU A ROSE GARDEN

"A very beautiful valentine to a time and place almost faded from existence."
--Mary Gaitskill, author: BAD BEHAVIOR, VERONICA

"Funny and endearing--and wisely not so hip as to avoid a good grab for your heart." --Marcie Hershman, author: SAFE IN AMERICA, TALES OF THE MASTER RACE

"Richard Perez is a clear-eyed chronicler of the New York club scene and a compassionate observer of the lives lived in the carnival at the center of the world. He is a sociologist and a historian, telling the truth about the way we live now. He's funny, honest, and compassionate. We can only hope that THE LOSERS' CLUB is but the first act in Richard Perez's Human Comedy."
--John Dufresne, author: LOUISIANA POWER & LIGHT, LOVE WARPS THE MIND A LITTLE

"THE LOSERS' CLUB evokes a real and genuine sense of place--the world of the East Village--and people--single, young and desperate--written with zest, energy and enthusiasm."
--Tama Janowitz, author: SLAVES OF NEW YORK

"Funny, touching, and very much alive, THE LOSERS' CLUB throbs with the subculture of East Village night life. Buoyant and highly entertaining--I couldn't put it down."
--Stanley Cohen, author: ANGEL FACE

"THE LOSERS' CLUB gives a complete panoramic view of the downtown New York scene of the '90s, and along with all its flamboyant extremes... this novel has an appealingly old fashioned love story at its core."
--Madison Smartt Bell, author: ALL SOULS' RISING, TEN INDIANS

"A fast, fun read."
--Richard Rhodes, author: A HOLE IN THE WORLD, THE MAKING OF THE ATOM BOMB, Pulitzer Prize Winner

"Rich Perez is a rare writer who moves with ease through the blasted lyric pain of childhood, the mysterious and sensuous and powerless world of being a kid, into the spotty drastic charm of '90s downtown flashy and downtrodden New York...having arrived at adulthood so that he can taste it with pleasure..."
--Eileen Myles, author: CHELSEA GIRLS, COOL FOR YOU

"Mr. Perez has written a kind of contemporary fable of his generation's life in Manhattan, a fable at once humorous and poignant."
--Alan Lelchuk, author: BROOKLYN BOY, AMERCIAN MISCHIEF

"THE LOSERS' CLUB is a fine novel. Richard Perez has a wonderful eye for details of the club scene and the humor to be found in urban decay. It is a book to be savored."
--Tim Sandlin, Sorrow Floats, Social Blunders

"Richard Perez's THE LOSERS' CLUB is a bittersweet trip through the East Village.... It's a tale of love lost and found among the coffee shops, mosh pits and art galleries. Take it from someone who's spent half a lifetime archiving the scene--this one's spot on!"
--Ron Kolm, poet, author, member of the Unbearables

"THE LOSERS' CLUB is a vibrant and hopeful anthem for all of us 'losers' who choose not to wallow (for too long!) in our despair and who find the will to keep searching."
--Heather Lowcock, Joseph-Beth Booksellers, Lexington KY*

-- BOOK SENSE 76 TOP TEN PICK! --

Purchase a copy of THE LOSERS' CLUB now!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Publish Date
Publisher
Ludlow Press
Language
English
Pages
460

Buy this book

Previews available in: English

Edition Availability
Cover of: PERMANENT OBSCURITY
PERMANENT OBSCURITY: For Kindle
2010, Ludlow Press for KINDLE
Digital Ebook
Cover of: PERMANENT OBSCURITY:
Cover of: Permanent Obscurity
Permanent Obscurity
2010, Ludlow Press for Nook

Add another edition?

Book Details


Edition Notes

Published in
New York, USA

The Physical Object

Format
Paperback
Number of pages
460
Dimensions
8.4 x 5.4 x 1 inches
Weight
1.2 pounds

ID Numbers

Open Library
OL24405828M
Internet Archive
permanentobscuri00pere
ISBN 10
0971341540
ISBN 13
9780971341548

Links outside Open Library

Community Reviews (0)

Feedback?
No community reviews have been submitted for this work.

Lists

This work does not appear on any lists.

History

Download catalog record: RDF / JSON
October 8, 2021 Edited by ImportBot import existing book
November 8, 2010 Edited by Lluvia-Fria edited for clarity
November 8, 2010 Edited by Lluvia-Fria Added links
November 8, 2010 Edited by Lluvia-Fria Added a lot of essential information.
November 8, 2010 Created by 71.255.77.172 Added new book.