The Value of X

by Poppy Z. Brite

Hardcover, 2003

Status

Available

Call number

PS3552 .R4967 V35 2003

Publication

Subterranean (2003), Edition: Signed, 185 pages

User reviews

LibraryThing member smurfwreck
The most frequent comment I've read of the novel is that it's a "coming of age tale of two young boys". The phrase makes me laugh a little, mostly because I feel the characters of the book, John Rickey and Gary "G-Man" Stubbs, would hate hearing it as much as I believe the author, Mrs. Brite,
Show More
might.
The story introduces us to John, Gary, and their families, and sets the stage for life as adults, as friends and lovers, as well as their introduction to the culinary world.
I read this after finishing Poppy's follow up novel, Liquor, so I was already aquainted with both G-Man and Rickey, and it probably helped me to enjoy this novel a little more since I was already familiar with the plot and was concentrating more on the characters themselves.

Taken by itself, the novel comes across to me as a little bit light, but I think that it lays some very important groundwork for the boy's relationship and aspirations that will pay off for readers in later novels, like Liquor, which follows the two through the opening of their first restaurant, and the forthcoming The Big D. For me this works, as if each entry is another glimpse of a much larger whole that will be filled in as time goes by.
Show Less
LibraryThing member pinkpenguin763
I read this at a point when I was reading anything by PZB that I could get my hands on. I remember liking it quite a bit at the time, and have been wanting to re-read it since then but haven't gotten the chance. I Didn't enjoy this book as much as Brite's horror fiction, but it still had the same
Show More
gritty edge, and an interesting enough story line. I liked this book a lot more than any of the latter books in this series, as I don't really think the latter books have the same edge that I grew to love from Brite.
Show Less

Language

Original language

English

Original publication date

2002

Physical description

185 p.; 9.5 inches

ISBN

1931081670 / 9781931081672
Page: 0.5654 seconds