Cooper, D. (1991). Frisk. New York, NY: Grove Weidenfeld.

Dennis Cooper's debut novel, for which he received both praise and death threats. The story begins with the narrator, Dennis, describing a set of photographs that have haunted him his whole life - what appears to be images of necrophiliac sex with a young teenage boy. Years later he discovers that identity of the boy portrayed in the shots, Henry who is now 17. This sets Dennis off on a spiral toward self-destruction as he links desire with destruction, love and sexuality with murder. The novel follows Dennis from when he was 13 to his 30s, describing his relationships with Julian and Kevin (who are brothers) and one-night-stand with Henry, while he lives in San Fransisco, and his small obsession with Pierre, a male escort in New York City. It includes Dennis' fascination with a murder of an acquaintance of his, an S&M encounter gone horribly wrong. Toward the end, the book takes the reader to Amsterdam, along with a series of letters that Dennis writes to his old flame, Julian, about the several murders he commits with two Germans, in Dennis' attempt to understand where these urges come from and why he feels that he must take someone apart in order to see who they truly are. This book is not for the squeamish; it is incredibly graphic both in terms of gay sex and homicide. But its exploration into a twisted mind obsessed with how bodies do not lie, even in a society that thrives on images and fantasies, makes it a compelling read.

Find it here through Amazon.com

Find it here through Milwaukee Central Library (FIC COOPER)

Find it here through WoldCat.org