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[bryant]

Blah blah Tom Wolfe writes bad sex scenes blah. Well...

I Am Charlotte Simmons is not a great book. It's not a lousy book either. In any case, though, there's nothing wrong with the sex scene in context. It's written as clinically and as awkwardly as it is because Wolfe is using Charlotte Simmons' voice in that scene, and from the first time we meet her it's exceedingly clear that she uses dry, clinical language to separate herself from aspects of her life which make her feel awkward. It's not Tom Wolfe writing uncomfortably about sex, it's Charlotte Simmons thinking uncomfortably about sex.

Comments

[iamnikchick.livejournal.com]

I heard an interview with Wolfe on NPR when the book came out and he basically said exactly that. He was not writing the tedious, graphic sex scenes to be "sexy" and he definitely didn't expect them to be turning people on.

Or so he claimed. :)

[bryant]

"otorhinolaryngological" was the dead giveaway for me. ;)