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.

No Plot? No Problem! by Chris Baty

No Plot? No Problem!: A Low-Stress, High-Velocity Guide to Writing a Novel in 30 Days, Chris Baty. San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 2004. e-book, 145 pps.


     For those who do not know this, Chris Baty is the founder of NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month. The idea is to write a novel in the month of November without any editing or re-writing. After completing the novel (of at least 50K pages), the writer can then proof-read it, edit it, publish it or search for a publisher.

     The first section of No Plot? No Problem! is the sort of preliminary stuff that some writers will go through before actually writing. Also included are tips on how to get the people around you to become your cheerleaders.

     The second section deals with a week-by-week breakdown of the process of writing the novel and the emotions that are sure to bedevil the NaNoWriMo participants. The author cautions not to read ahead on Section Two but rather to read it week by week.

     I did not decide to write a novel until November 13th. Thus I did not officially sign up on the NaNoWriMo website. Nor did I want to participate in a silent group of people getting together to write. But I did want to write a novel in thirty days. And I did do that. My novel was completed on December 13th, one month after I made my decision to write it. I am currently re-writing, editing, and proof-reading.  I expect to self-publish Up the Rebels! as an e-book by the end of February 2014. After that, I plan to write and self-publish two more novels in the year 2014.


     No Plot? No Problem! was my personal cheerleader. Although I did not manage to convert my housemate into a supporter (he groaned about the computer being hogged during the time that I was writing), I did have a bunch of people on [tm]Twitter known as the #BogBuds and a couple of lawyers cheering me on. sapphoq reviews says: The lack of a plot was the thing that held me up from writing a novel. I've written many poems, short stories and a few essays. I've had my work published in a bunch of zines, lit mags and magazines a bunch of times. But something was lacking. That something was the satisfaction that I derived from writing a novel. With No Plot? No Problem! on my e-reader, I was able to achieve a dream. So yeah, if you are serious about writing a novel and just haven't yet, get this book and challenge yourself with writing 50K or more words in a month. Highly recommended. Infinitely more satisfying than the formula writing how-to tomes abundantly available. 

Sex,Lies, and the Classroom by James P. Wilcox

Sex, Lies, and the Classroom, James P. Wilcox. self-published, 2012. e-book, 799 pps.

Sex, Lies, and the Classroom is a bit deceiving at first glance. It reads like a poorly written memoir but in fact it is a work of fiction. There are some things that the author got correct in the book and perhaps a few things that he did not, in my opinion.

The teacher, Mr. O'Connell, styles himself as a maverick in the inner city school that he teaches at. The students are poor and mostly black. (The Black English-- or Ebonics-- is something that James P. Wilcox got right). The principal views Mr. O'Connell as a pain in the ass. I understand why.

Three students plot to get back at the teacher and they do. They accuse him of sexual misconduct. And they plot to have others do the same. Predictably, Mr. O'Connell is suspended and then fired after a Board of Education hearing, even with his attorney who is pretty good. He is also reported to Child Welfare and he is ordered to stay away from his own two children. Several of the parents of the students start a lawsuit.

sapphoq reviews says: The book was too long. The conversations between all of the people in the book who are (considered to be) not black and poor were stilted and overbearing. This was a major failing in Sex, Lies, and the Classroom.  I wanted to take a pen and slash the dialogues down into more realistic and manageable pieces. Even the more pedantic among my acquaintances do not talk that way. The prologue and the epilogue were the best parts of the book. Give this one a pass unless you want to torture yourself needlessly. Not recommended at all.

Fluke by Christopher Moore

Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings, Christopher Moore. New York: HarperCollins e-books, 2002.  340 pps., including excerpt from another book.

     Fluke is set in Hawaii. It starts off as a story about researchers studying whale song. There are the good guys-- which include a hot chick and a howlie who wants to be an Hawaiian Rastafarian-- and the bad guys and some neutral folks all studying whales for their own purposes.

     Something happens when you don't expect it. Fluke suddenly becomes a tale involving an underwater dystopia, weapons-testing, and captivity. People who were given up as dead grace the pages. And there is a genetically engineered race of a human-whale hybrid.  Plus a nice twist at the end.

sapphoq reviews says: Christopher Moore did quite a bit of research in order to make Fluke feel realistic before the reader is swallowed up into the belly of a whale. After that, the reader has to adjust to a changing fictional reality. My favorite character is Kona, the pot-smoking young man. And yes, there is something appealing about the tail of a whale that reads "Bite me." (That's on the cover of the book).  The reason given for the singing of the whales felt contrived and almost spoiled Fluke for me. But I stuck through it and thought it was a worthy investment of my time. Recommended to those who like the ocean, whales, and dystopian fiction.

Hotel Honolulu by Paul Theroux

Hotel Honolulu, Paul Theroux. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company/ Mariner Books, 2001, 2002.  452 pps., e-book.

     Buddy owns an eighty-bed hotel and gives a howlie (non-Hawaiian, in this case also the narrator) a job managing it. Seems the other manager did things like bricking up the door of a guest's room when he didn't see eye-to-eye with the guest. So he had to go.

     The howlie-- whose name we never learn-- goes native and marries Sweetie. Sweetie is the daughter of the hotel resident prostitute. Sweetie and he have a brilliant child named Rose. The family lives in the hotel.

     Besides managing the hotel, the howlie reads Tolstoy. Buddy likes that his manager has written a book and does not hesitate to tell everyone that. The howlie's muse is on strike and nothing is forthcoming. Meanwhile, the howlie learns the backgrounds of many of the hotel's guests and divulges them in this fictional tale. 

     This review does not do justice to the book.

sapphoq reviews says: Paul Theroux is my favorite travel writer and I am finally getting around to reading more of his fiction. His ascorbic humor is evident in Hotel Honolulu. I liked this book. The rats dashing around the hallways, the drunks in the bar, and the beautiful Hawaiian weather made me want to visit the parts of Hawaii where tourists fear to tread. Hotel Honolulu is sort of an adult coming of age party. Outstanding and highly recommended to all fans of Paul Theroux. Those who require something different in their fiction will also like this book.