I Lost My Nose...In A Good Book

Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore: A Novel by Walter Mosley
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

When Bill Clinton was president, as he was either boarding or leaving Air Force One, the press noticed that he carried a book with him. It must have been a very slow news day, because the media was suddenly passionate to know what Clinton was reading. It was a novel, one of the Easy Rawlins mysteries, by Walter Mosley. Mosley was relatively unheard of in those days, but if Bill Clinton was reading him to pass his in-air time, surely he must be a noteworthy author. It was a carefully staged and calculated move on Clinton's part, and it added even more "substance" to the opinion that Clinton was our first Black President. It also shot Walter Mosley into the spotlight as THE author to read. Fast forward to now, and I'll bet the farm that if Bill Clinton were looking for a way to ingratiate himself into the Black Community, **Debbie Doesn't Do It Anymore** wouldn't make the cut for what novel to promote. Although with the Clinton mentality and Mosley's venture into pornographic lit, they'd be a good fit for each other.

DDDIA is about a woman who makes pornographic movies for a living. She is married to Theon who produces the movies and occasionally makes one for his own pleasure. When Debbie arrives home after a hard day of allowing herself to be degraded and humiliated in ways the porn industry loves so much, she finds her husband, Theon, in the bathtub, naked, with an underage teenaged girl on top of him. Both Theon and the girl are dead. There was a slight mishap with the camera Theon was using to film his activities with the young girl. The camera was precariously situated above the duo, and while they were in the throes of simulated passion, the camera got knocked into the bathtub resulting in electrocution for both of them. Debbie now finds herself inundated with debt Theon never told her about, and she never bothered to ask when it came to all those papers she signed without reading them or questioning what their purpose was.

I am certainly no authority on what constitutes a "good" erotic novel as opposed to a bad one because I don't read that particular genre. I requested this book based upon author name recognition. I believe I read one of the Easy Rawlins books and thought it was worth no more than 3 Stars. Apparently Walter Mosley is not the author for me, but DDDIA goes beyond author preference. I don't understand why Mosley chose to write this kind of book when he so obviously doesn't have the knack for churning out such nasty material. Given his reputation, I thought that even if the story wasn't very good, there would be a writing style to carry it. DDDIA reads like a 5th grader wrote it and used the guideline of throwing everything at the wall hoping something will stick. Debbie has no personality to speak of, and she associates herself with the dregs of her world having no clue about what she's getting into. This behavior becomes repetitious at first, and finally downright boring. Debbie never manages to scrounge up any sympathy or even dislike. Even her suicidal thoughts seem contrived and flat.

I rated this book 1 Star because no stars is not an option. I would not recommend this book to anyone.

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