The first book of Dennis Cooper’s George Miles Cycle Series, Closer, follows the fictional and beautiful George Miles who is a drug-addicted, depressed gay high schooler with what seems to be total disregard towards himself. It’s written in the form of a series of portraits of disenchanted young adults (and sometimes creepy old fuckers), with the common thread usually being despondency and the characters’ infatuations with George. As the book progresses, the coercion and exploitation of George worsens, sometimes devolving into brutal violence that George doesn’t seem to care to stop.   

What do you do with beauty? Can something be so beautiful it becomes disgusting? Is fucking loving?

There’s times I think Closer misses the mark, primarily the first half. The apparent shock value isn’t always redeemed by the stomach turning nihilism. There’s oftentimes we simply have to take Cooper’s word for things and we never really find out the reason behind George’s self bondage. I found the second half much more promising. (Please don’t read further if you don’t want to spoil the book).