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Old 09-26-2007, 11:32 AM
KilgoreTrout KilgoreTrout is offline
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Join Date: Aug 2003
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Default Re: Books: What are you reading tonight?

Penis size, like many other things, is an absurd concept. It's totally out of our control whether we're blessed with a big unit or cursed with a winky, yet males in our culture are always compensating and competing to see who has the bigger one (figuratively speaking). He's having fun with that concept, because the narrator, as a device, has access to "facts" that we the reader and other characters have no access to. I forget the character, but someone has a big one and the narrator says something like, "you never know" who's packing heat down yonder.

That's a fundamental problem we as humans face when confronted by others. We have no way of knowing the other's intentions, their penis size, their make-up. We make social judgements that are only half informed.

Note the narrative style of Champs. It's written as though the audience (the reader) is from another planet. We need illustrations to understand routine concepts (like


and wide open beavers, AJAX trucks, etc.). Signs, symbols, signifiers are all culturally contexted. The context is further mired in the individual versus the Other relationship - the battle of wills and agendas.

Think about the cross-dressing car salesman and how his expectations are crushed.

There;s obviously a lot more going on in Champs than these couple of issues, and I thoroughly enjoy the playfulness of the narration throughout.
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