3 out of 5 Stars
Beautiful Children
Author - Charles Bock
I had mixed reactions to this book. I decided about halfway through reading it that I didn't care for it very much. Certain descriptions of the seedy underbelly of the world of pornography made me slightly queasy -- not that this is necessarily a bad thing -- in retrospect those are the parts of Bock's writing that I thought were best. I thought some of the stories about runaway teens were slightly preachy and stereotypical. They weren't sugar coated but still seemed relatively less brutal in co...more I had mixed reactions to this book. I decided about halfway through reading it that I didn't care for it very much. Certain descriptions of the seedy underbelly of the world of pornography made me slightly queasy -- not that this is necessarily a bad thing -- in retrospect those are the parts of Bock's writing that I thought were best. I thought some of the stories about runaway teens were slightly preachy and stereotypical. They weren't sugar coated but still seemed relatively less brutal in comparison with Bock's honesty about other aspects of Vegas life. I found the chapters about Lorraine and Lincoln boring. I thought Bock's strongest characters were Cherry and Kenny. It's a worthwhile read for a first novel.
