Shuck

by Daniel Allen Cox

Book Overview

"Set in the late 1990s, Shuck describes with great clarity and verve the last gasp of a gritty Manhattan."--Bruce LaBruce, film director Shuck is the intense, dazzling diary of a male hustler in New... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• ISBN: 160751981X
• ISBN13: 9781607519812
• Release Date: January 2008
• Publisher: n/a
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Wow Factor

Startling is the first word that comes to mind when describing Shuck. But startling in a brilliant and beautiful way. The subject matter almost frightened me away, which is probably what made it so compelling in the end. What a terrific read. Daniel Allen Cox can string words together with a joyful bounce. This book's reputation will certainly grow over time.

Fragments of Life that Make for an Interesting Novel

Though SHUCK is not what anyone would expect as a 'novel', it is in fact a very well written collection of thoughts and experiences composed by Daniel Allen Cox in a quilt of easily readable portions that at the end of the book the reader realizes that the technique of writing does indeed make for a fine story. There are portions where Cox seems to intend to shock his readers with the true grit of the sleazier aspects of Manhattan's nightlife, these portions being delivered in the form of 'a hustler's week in New York City'. And in the category of shock value he at times outGide's Gide! But there are also the other aspects of being a loner on the streets of Manhattan, going from living in a laundry room to dwelling in upscale apartments. He manages to show the full spectrum of the life of a successful hustler, poser, movie 'star', wannabe writer, and at the same time draws vivid characterization of those who would take advantage of his talents. Throughout the book his main character interacts with the one person who offers him solid turf and understanding, and oddly enough that successful relationship is almost a platonic one! Daniel Allen Cox understands how to spin humor from the most unlikely situations. He also has the good sense to keep his outlandish main character a lad about whom we care. It works and that is enough to encourage readers to give this little first book a try. Grady Harp, November 09

More Please

Daniel Allen Cox's debut novel, "Shuck," is a breath of fresh air. Jaeven Marshall stars in porn films, poses for nudie mags, and peddles his services to the desperate gays of New York as a hustler to pay for his two favorite vices: meth and fiction writing. The closest we get to a traditional narrative are entries in Jaeven's journals. These document his rise from low budget prostitute to high end rentboy, a self-proclaimed "Boy New York." We also get a glimpse of an ongoing relationship with a man named Derek whom Jaeven sleeps in the same bed with nightly but does not consummate the relationship. We wonder throughout the book whether the relationship will ever come to fruition, and don't mind being distracted by Jaeven's melancholic digressions about what he finds in garbage cans, what the items say about New York in the 90's. We are also happily distracted by myriad lists and collections of objects Jaeven gives us in order for us to see the stunning, the sad, the gray puddle that is his life from which he is looking up from under. These lists and collections of items supplement a fragmented narrative in a very clever way. This is one of the main reasons I believe "Shuck" to be as successful as it is. For the aspiring writers we have the collections of literary magazine rejections Jaeven receives for his short stories, from Tin House to The New York Times Magazine--many of them personalized rejections, which tend to be the most revealing. For the porn junkies we have collections of all the magazines that are out there: magazines for size queens, ethnic fetishes, twink love, any kind of porn novelty you can imagine. And there are those that you can't. For lovers of language we have lists that border on the poetic, even if they're about the gradations of different kinds of urine: "amber molasses, lemongrass, oxidized copper, diluted tea, bruised spleen, chicken soup, nicotine ceiling...etc." So, there is something for everyone in "Shuck." Most importantly a new voice, illuminating and fresh--bound to shake things up in a literary world where the books everybody reads are dictated by a talk show host with a first name that rhymes with coprah. This book most certainly wouldn't be recommended by her. Which is more than enough reason to go out and buy it as fast as you can.

Diary of a Hustler

Cox, Daniel Allen. "Shuck", Arsenal Pulp, 2009. Diary of a Hustler Amos Lassen Daniel Allen Cox's, "Shuck" will not be released in the United States until April but I managed to get a sneak peek by having a copy sent to me from Canada and let me tell you at the outset that this is going to be a book to watch. The author, Cox, is a former porn star and high-end escort and it seems somewhat obvious that he used his real life adventures to write this book which traces the experiences of a New York hustler and porn star, Jaeven. We watch as he balances his life between tricks, porn, crystal meth, searching for love and trying to get a book published. Cox himself says that this is a work of fiction that is based on true events and the lines between fiction and truth "gradually blurred". The title "Shuck" refers to "shucking" one's pants and our protagonist, Jaeven Marshall, does this often. His story is episodic as we wander with him through New York City and it is a seedy trek that seems glamorous. It is a New York that is no more but Cox manages to recreate it for us. The novel is written in the first person but Cox shares star billing with the city of New York. The book is about New York and basically about the New York that is gone forever. When Rudy Giuliani cleaned up the city, things changed drastically. Cox also claims that about 50% of what we read actually happened and even more it is exactly as it happened. Jaeven is a somewhat homeless hustler who tries to find fame and fortune in the big city--he wants to be a famous porn star but he lives the life of a man who is not above dumpster diving. He is also involved in drugs as he attempts to get his novel published. He, however, gets swept up in the skin trade and his dreams of becoming a published author fade. This is not a pretty book but it will hold your interest all the way through. It is full of wonderful treats such as lists, acidic asides and some beautiful--almost poetic--passages. As for sex, there is plenty. Cox writes about the New York that we of an earlier generation will miss; of a gritty Manhattan that was here before wealth and privilege managed to divest the city of its street life. For a first novel, it startles. It is a coming-of-age story that explores the nature of friendship and the relationship between creativity and sex. Like Jaeven, Cox captures us and controls us as we read his novel. The opposites of writer and whore come together to give us one of the best reads we have had in a long time. It is a "meditation on art and eroticism and commodity..." as well as "a document of sexual and psychological awakening".