Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Skippy Dies, Paul Murray. New York: Faber and Faber, Inc./ Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2010. e-book, 629 pps.

     Skippy dies in the donut shop near his male-only boarding school abruptly. His buddy Ruprecht is with him. The waiter thinks that Skippy is choking but he isn't. We learn all of this in the Prologue before Chapter One.

     The rest of the book is an extended study in character and motivation of Skippy and the people around him. Each chapter deals with the events of a specific period of time either before or after Skippy's death.

sapphoq reviews says: My initial reaction to the length of the book was something akin to a small panic. As I continued to read, I began to appreciate the tale that Paul Murray has laid before us. 
     Everything is in there: bullying, teen angst, teacher problems, a girls' counterpart to the boys' boarding school, screwing around with science until it becomes unrecognizable, drinking, bits of teen sex [but not in much detail], and how our desires and actions or non-actions reflect who we are and shape us into who we are becoming.
     Adults may wish to preview this book before allowing their teens to read this one. There were very few curses in Skippy Dies-- the word "shite" is the most common one-- but there are bits of drug selling and drug taking along with the other stuff.
     I found Skippy Dies to be an intricate and satisfying read. Highly recommended for those adults and mature teens who don't mind a long but deep novel. 

Enduring Shame by Anonymous

Enduring Shame: A Sex Offender's Journey Through America's Legal System, [by] Anonymous.  self-published, 2013. e-book,  130 pps.

[N.B. Craig's List, FaceBook, Twitter are all companies which own and operate advertisements on line and/or social media. No infringement of their trademarks, registrations, or copyrights is intended. This is a book review. The author of the book being reviewed mentioned these three services so I did also. None of the companies approve of this book review in any fashion. Copy trolls are not welcome in the space of this blog.  ~ sap]

     The author of this book was diagnosed as having Asperger's. He admitted in Enduring Shame to be somewhat obsessed with having sexual chats with adult women on-line. This sort of thing put the fascination on him. He decided to run an ad on Craig's List to have sexual chats with "younger women" online. Someone responded to his ad. She claimed to be a fourteen year old female. Since there were no other non-spam type responses, Anonymous Author sent her some pictures of the x-rated variety.

     The author arranged to meet the girl in a park. He says that he did not bring a condom. He changed his mind about meeting her and he was arrested. He stated in the book that he had turned his car around and was proceeding away from the park when he was pulled over and arrested.

     The man received legal consequences for his actions in accordance with the laws of his state. The man appeared in his writing not to understand that he should not have corresponded with someone who was not a legal adult in the first place-- never mind sending her dirty pictures through e-mail. His excuse that he wanted to "break up with her" or terminate the [budding?] relationship that day in the park I consider to be fecal bovine matter.

     The professionals described in Enduring Shame were portrayed as mean and petty. That a shrink would remark to a secretary that he wants to 'retard proof' something is horrid. On the other hand, I found the sending of porno pictures through e-mail (especially to someone who plainly claimed that she was not an adult) to be reprehensible.

     That the adolescent turned out to be a police officer does not lessen the crimes that Anonymous Author committed. The author was not falsely accused of something. He was guilty of criminal actions from the moment he e-mailed the cop who was pretending to be fourteen.

     I can understand why the author was legally barred from both FaceBook and Twitter. There are those that want to sexually assault teens on both sites as well as teens themselves. The author did not have sex with teens, but sex crimes-- like other criminal behavior-- can escalate over time. By providing legal supervision to the author in the community, it is hoped that his likelihood of sending sexually explicit photos or raunchy e-mails to teens will lessen to zero. It is highly likely in my opinion that the arrest of Anonymous Author prevented his committing any future crimes against teens.

sapphoq reviews says: The writing itself was adequate. The book has some small value in demonstrating the excuses that sex offenders use to justify their criminal actions. Here is a short list of excuses used by sex offenders:

1. I didn't do it, I wasn't going to do it, or I did do it but I could not help myself or I didn't know that the mark was under-aged.

2. It doesn't really count because the "young female" or "young male" was actually a cop. Since no real teens were involved, what I did, wanted to do, or was going to do shouldn't matter. Besides that, I was entrapped. I never would have taken any of the actions that I took if the cop or decoy didn't approach me first.

3. I don't understand what the big deal is anyways. Teens are horny and are waiting in line to have sex with creeps like me.

4. I have a psychiatric diagnosis, psychological problems, a disability or something that ought to excuse me from taking any responsibility for my actions. Or, I am in therapy for this and the therapy isn't working yet.

5. I was meeting with the teen in order to 'mentor' him or her and explain why teens should not engage in conversations about sexual matters with scumbags like me.

Now that I've given you this partial list, you don't have to waste your time reading this book.