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Book Reviews of Exquisite Corpse

Exquisite Corpse
Exquisite Corpse
Author: Poppy Z. Brite
ISBN-13: 9780684822549
ISBN-10: 0684822547
Publication Date: 8/5/1996
Pages: 240
Rating:
  • Currently 3.7/5 Stars.
 17

3.7 stars, based on 17 ratings
Publisher: Simon Schuster
Book Type: Hardcover
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

9 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

woodworm avatar reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 92 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 4
One of the most macabre and disturbing books I have read in a very long time, had trouble putting it down.
constant-reader avatar reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 130 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
This is a good novel, but ebon black is not dark enough to describe the mood. If you're in the mood for a depths of depravity look at humanity, this is the perfect book for it. It depressed and saddened me too much to finish it.
lildrafire avatar reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 117 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I cannot express how much I found this book disturbing. I'm used to Poppy Z Brite writing about blood and sex, but this book takes a turn that the weak of stomach should not take. I had heard that she used what she thought serial killers much feel-Jeffrey Dahmer-how they must develop an uncontrollable desire to caress, smell, taste their victims entrails.
reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 17 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
The first Poppy Brite book I ever read...but definately not the last. This book was something I couldn't put down. I loved it! Brite has a twisted mind that has me searching for more and more unusaul things to read.
reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 15 more book reviews
Very Disturbing. Physhological horror
gratefulapril avatar reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 4 more book reviews
This book is amazing. I have read it several times, and simply love it. Poppy has the ability to reach right into the serial killer mind, or the mind of most anyone for that matter, and show us what's inside.
This is a very dark, very morbid book. I would never recomend it to, well, to most people. It is very explicit, containing drug references and use, death, murder, extreme details about it all, homosexual sex descriptions, and likely some other things most people don't want to hear about. From hearing that, alot of people are turned off on the content, but it's the story that lies beneath here, and the way it's shown to us so uniquely and so clean. Like breakfast in bed... with a murderous phycopath.
barbsis avatar reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 1076 more book reviews
This is a horrible book. It chronicles the life and times of four gay men with AIDS and two of them necrophiliacs.

The book stars with Andrew Compton - convicted serial killer of young boys - who escapes from jail and travels to New Orleans. Andrew likes to kill these young boys and then f*** their corpses for days. YUK! From the back cover, the book seems to be about him and at some point Jay Byrnes. However, the book starts with Andrew and then morphs into a tell all story about 3 other gay men with AIDS.

Jay Byrnes - a serial killer of young boys. Jay uses his photography skills to entice boys back to his place. Jay doesn't want to have sex with them, oh no, he likes to kill them and have sex with their internal organs. Double YUK!

And don't forget Lucas Ransom, underground radio personality with very advanced AIDS. Oh and suicidal to boot. But he doesn't want to go alone, he wants to take Tran with him by injecting his diseased blood into Tran.

And of course we have to have Tran Vinh, a vietnamese kid who loves Luke but who knows Luke will be the death of him so he goes to Jay instead.

This is utter crap and I can't believe I actually read the whole thing. I must be nuts too!
krichmond avatar reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 7 more book reviews
This book was disturbing.... which is kinda what I was looking for. However, the solidly male cast of this story was not exactly what I was expecting.

The whole story was great, but there was just a few places where I was unsure weather I wanted to keep reading or not. I wouldn't read it again, and I hope that the rest of Poppy's books are a bit more gender-diverse or this would be a major downer since she is a fantastic author.
reviewed Exquisite Corpse on + 211 more book reviews
A lot of people really like this book, so I thought I would also. I was wrong - the subject matter is icky and after wading through the gore the ending was unhappy. The only redeeming feature was that the author knows how to write a compelling tale and to develop characters, characters that seem like people you really know.

Let me just express my true feelings about the content: Ewwww. Sick! The book has Graphic depictions of violence, blood and gore. It's not the bloodiest book I have ever read, nor the sickest, but it was plenty disturbing.

Why did I keep reading it? It's a really compelling story. The author dangles a series of happier outcomes then repeatedly quashes them. So I got taken along for a ride. The ending was appropriate from a literary perspective, but I hated it. My personal preference would have been an ending that made me happy that I read the book, not disturbed by it. I know I'm being silly, but after the sickness of the book, it would have been nice to know that all is right in the world when you reach the final page.

I liked the writing a lot, even though the book is relatively short, the author does a first rate job of character development.

If you like books about psychopaths, you may like this book. If you like the technical aspects of good writing, especially character development, this might be the book for you. If you like books with heroes saving the day, this is not the book for you.

The author is a great writer, I really enjoyed her other books. I honestly would have been happier if I never had read this particular story.