Journal Entry 1 by AnonymousFinder on Saturday, April 17, 2004

Raw satirical look at contemporary America. 

Journal Entry 2 by AnonymousFinder on Sunday, May 16, 2004

Controlled release ... sent to goatgrrl 

Journal Entry 3 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Sunday, May 16, 2004

Journal Entry 4 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Sunday, May 23, 2004

Vernon Gregory Little is a fifteen year old high-school student in Martirio, Texas -- "the barbecue sauce capital of Central Texas". As Vernon God Little begins, he is accused of being an accessory to the shooting of sixteen students at his high-school, a crime apparently committed by his close friend, Jesus Navarro. (As Vernon himself puts it, "normal times just ran howling from town".) Martirio is mired in deep, self-indulgent, made-for-TV grief. Cellophane-wrapped teddy bears adorn the lawn of Vernon's bereaved neighbours (who are said to have put them there themselves, since no one actually liked their son). Meanwhile the neighbours' chief preoccupation seems to be acquisition of a new "Special Edition" refrigerator -- in almond -- purchased with insurance money collected as a result of their son's death.

Reviewers of Vernon God Little compare Vernon to Holden Caulfield, the protagonist in J.D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye. The similarities are striking, perhaps even intentional -- from the first page of the book, Vernon -- like Holden -- uses the expression "ole" (as in "ole Mrs. Lechuga"), and -- also like Holden -- speaks in the first person to "you" ("You'd remember ole ..."). Vernon is presented as the lone clear-sighted character in a town which has so long ago lost its soul to mindless consumerism, compulsive overeating and social climbing it seems barely to notice the tragedy of sixteen lost souls. While the American characters who populate the book seemed a little like "cartoon" versions of the Real Thing, I liked this book a lot. Thanks so much, Chris, for sharing it!