Try (Cooper, Dennis) Paperback – 9 Mar. 1995

I doubt that this novel would be published nowadays because of the explicit descriptions of child abuse, which are distressing and shocking. The writing is powerful, driven and compelling. The novel's purpose is a moral one, and having taken the reader through the horrors of drug-driven abuse the ending offers some kind of salvation through love and friendship.

Big fan of dennis cooper, i have a couple of his books now. These books are not for everyone cause there very out there. I find it interesting reading a story which i wouldnt see in everyday life. Good read! Buy it if your new to dennis cooper or even the book 'the sluts', and want to read something new and out there.

I saw this book hiding underneath the bottom of a shelf in my local book store, picked it up and found myself attracted to the cover. It's the gray version, featuring a bed, television, etc.As I began to read, it horrified me but I had a strong urge to continue reading. Ziggy reminded me of a friend of mine, loveably confused and obsessive .. I don't think I could read it again, nor would I recommend it to anybody else - it's just a truly horrific, very surreal look at child abuse.

Although a lot less superficially shocking than his previous novel 'Frisk', Dennis Cooper's third work of fiction is in many ways infinitely more dangerous and disturbing, dealing as it does with the profoundly contentious issue of homosexuality's relationship with paedophilia. Ziggy is the adopted son of two gay men, whose attempt at heterosexual-style domesticity has collapsed spectacularly. Now a deeply disturbed teenager, Ziggy lives with one father in Los Angeles who has been raping him since he was eight, while his other dad, a music critic in New York, has only reestablished contact with his son as a result of his own sexual agenda towards teenaged boys in general. Added to this are Ziggy's Uncle Ken, a producer of home-made kiddie porn who spends most of the novel in the company of Robin, a thirteen-year-old Heavy Metaller who has come to Ken's house in the expectation of payment for sex; Nicole, a poor-little-rich-kid who is interested in Ziggy principally as a status symbol; Cricket, a teenaged transvestite with an Edward Furlong obsession; and Calhoun, Ziggy's herion-addicted 'best friend', whose drug dependence inspires in Ziggy an intense love and protectiveness which Calhoun cannot reciprocate. The novel follows the lives of these characters over several days as their paths cross and collide, charting their abortive attempts to articulate what they think and feel, frequently revealing their inability to actually feel anything.In Ziggy, Cooper manages to capture the psychology of the helpless victim more convincingly than any other sufferer of literary sex abuse. The complexity of the character stems from his capacity to experience a wide variety of contradictory emotions simultaneously. The prolonged persecution he has faced from those who should have protected him only causes Ziggy the persecute himself even more, while his crippling 'neediness' makes him cling feebly to his abusers - his fathers, Uncle Ken - or to those he knows cannot or will not return his affection - Calhoun. As is usual in Cooper's work, most of the characters try to blot out, or at least blunt, the harsh realities of their lives through drugs, a strategy which ultimately only makes things all the more confusing or depressing, no matter how much they might help in the short term.In this book, Cooper goes some way towards jettisoning the more deliberately sensationalist aspects of his previous work in favour of a deeper, more emotionally complex study of an intricate and unhappy situation. Given the explosive nature of the subject matter, the novel is actually remarkably tender and funny. His ongoing struggle to find a vocabulary to describe such a complicated set of cirsumstances is more immediately evident in the text than ever, filled as it is with 'um's, 'er's and innumerable sentences which trail off with a... It's also the first of his novels to come with something approaching a soundtrack, and a knowledge of the bands Husker Du and Slayer certainly contributes to a greater appreciation of the book.Having attained this new level of complexity in his work, having said pretty much everything there is to say about perversity and obsession, Cooper's subsequent novels begin retreating into increasing minimalism and self-referentiality. Situated in the centre of his five novel cycle, 'Try' is perhaps the most emotionally accessible, but also the most emotionally disturbing of the lot. It is also, in my opinion, the best.

I tried this book because I had heard Cooper compared to J T Leroy, whose books I really enjoyed. However, I found the book really boring mostly because of the characters. It really annoys me when authors cannot create 3 dimentional characters and get us to sympathise with them. He seemed more concerned with trying to get the "teenage speak" correct (which he didn't).

Dennis Cooper is an incredible writer who dares to go places very few other authors refuse to touch. His books are shocking, grotesque but also masterfully structured, beautifully written and seem even more vital than ever in 2020. If you can stomach the extreme depictions of sexual violence you’ll find an incredible and indelible voice you’ll never forget.

Too graphic for me.

I've read five books by Cooper over the years and he's my favorite transgressive writer next to Bret Easton Ellis. He's sexually violent and disturbing and nothing positive happens in his books, ever. If that is up your ally, don't start here. Start with Closer. but I'm excited to crack this one open.

This was my first Dennis Cooper book. I had a very hard time getting through it. I actually put the book down several times, swearing I would not finish reading it. But I did want to know more about the main character, Ziggy. The subject matter is very dark and disturbing. I think what probably disturbed me most was the fact that someone had known enough about such deviant behaviors to write about them. The most difficult for me was reading about "Uncle Ken", a disgusting, overweight, child molester/pornographer. He truly made me feel sick to my stomach. But in the end, I did finish the book, which is why I gave it three stars. It's somewhat interesting if your can stomach it.

I truly have no words for this book other than reader beware. I had heard great things about this author, and this book was NOT what I had expected. I have to a friend to read because I didn’t want it in the house after reading it and one of my kids picking it up....