Rating: 
Summary: Boys will Be Boys
Review: "This is not a generational novel, and these boys are not typical. But their stories have very definite, if inchoate, things to say. In Braithwaite's remarkable hands, [sex] becomes the connective tissue, as often tender as it is rough, that binds the entire social world he's concerned with, transcending even the boundaries of music."
Rating:
Summary: Boys will Be Boys
Review: "This is not a generational novel, and these boys are not typical. But their stories have very definite, if inchoate, things to say. In Braithwaite's remarkable hands, [sex] becomes the connective tissue, as often tender as it is rough, that binds the entire social world he's concerned with, transcending even the boundaries of music."
Rating: 
Summary: Nice to see somebody writing something different.
Review: At last Lawrence Braithwaite has put out something more substantial than his first work, Wigger, and it's good to see that he hasn't lost his edge. Ratz Are Nice is even more violent than Wigger, which is no mean feat. However, although the characters do not have the most economically stable lives, unlike most books about the supposed Gen X generation, they don't spend their time whining, but rather get on with living their lives, trying to squeeze as much sex and beer out of it as they can. As usual Braithwaite avoids gender classification. Some men sleep with men, other men sleep with women but there's no simple labelling as gay or het, not everybody is living the disco queen life. Braithwaite's dialogue is as sharp as ever, and reminds me of what Dave Sim does with Cerebus where he writes the dialogue so that you hear the speaker's accent in your head. After reading Braithwaite I wish that Ratz could be made into a film, it flows so well. An added bonus is the glossary which helps smooth over the rough spots and is better than having characters give detailed explanations of what they're saying which always looks forced and artifical. Unfortunately, it will probably be used by wankers to give theselves instant street cred. My only complaint is the price.What marketing genius dreamed up the $17.95 Canadian cover price? I highly doubt that this book appeals to day traders or dot.com owners, the kind of people that could afford this price. Do you know how much beer that is? Looking forward to see the next twisted bit of fun that emerges from Braithwaite's mind.
Rating: 
Summary: Ratz Are Nice (PCP) Is Pure Garbage
Review: I started reading "Ratz Are Nice (PCP)" with an open mind right after finishing a great novel entitled "American Skin." That was my biggest mistake. Whereas Don De Grazia's "American Skin" was a cohesive, inventive narrative revolving around finely developed and believable characters within an admittably "fringe" subculture, "Ratz Are Nice" immediately climbs uphill with a narrative style that is incomprehensible, gimmicky and just plain boring. Quite frankly, Braithwaite's writing here is pure gibberish. Often it wasn't even clear to me who was who or why certain "characters" (for lack of a better word) were included in his story at all. The best three things about "Ratz Are Nice (PCP)" are (i) the front cover photo of a group of interacial skins and streetpunks, (ii) the entertaining (although sometimes inaccurate) "Author Notes" and (iii) the fact that the thing is short. Avoid at ALL costs!
Rating:
Summary: Ratz Are Nice (PCP) Is Pure Garbage
Review: I started reading "Ratz Are Nice (PCP)" with an open mind right after finishing a great novel entitled "American Skin." That was my biggest mistake. Whereas Don De Grazia's "American Skin" was a cohesive, inventive narrative revolving around finely developed and believable characters within an admittably "fringe" subculture, "Ratz Are Nice" immediately climbs uphill with a narrative style that is incomprehensible, gimmicky and just plain boring. Quite frankly, Braithwaite's writing here is pure gibberish. Often it wasn't even clear to me who was who or why certain "characters" (for lack of a better word) were included in his story at all. The best three things about "Ratz Are Nice (PCP)" are (i) the front cover photo of a group of interacial skins and streetpunks, (ii) the entertaining (although sometimes inaccurate) "Author Notes" and (iii) the fact that the thing is short. Avoid at ALL costs!
Rating:
Summary: Robert "Nerve" Miller
Review: In Ratz are Nice (PSP) Braithwaite exposes a generally little known and entirely misunderstood culture existing not in London or Toronto but in Victoria, B.C. Until now best known as the land of the newly wed and nearly dead, one feels as though a rock has been overturned in the pristine rain forest; underneath, a seething, alarming and complex world draws one downward for a closer look, triggering feelings which range from dismay to utter fascination.Ratz are nice(PSP) is an intelligent, wild and at times unbelievable commentary on sub-society deserving of attention and understanding. Cheers to Braithwaite for taking on such a monumental project and for completing it.
Rating:
Summary: Robert "Nerve" Miller
Review: In Ratz are Nice (PSP) Braithwaite exposes a generally little known and entirely misunderstood culture existing not in London or Toronto but in Victoria, B.C. Until now best known as the land of the newly wed and nearly dead, one feels as though a rock has been overturned in the pristine rain forest; underneath, a seething, alarming and complex world draws one downward for a closer look, triggering feelings which range from dismay to utter fascination. Ratz are nice(PSP) is an intelligent, wild and at times unbelievable commentary on sub-society deserving of attention and understanding. Cheers to Braithwaite for taking on such a monumental project and for completing it.
Rating: 
Summary: The real deal and Ratz and ratzpatrols in my own words
Review: My town is a small town and I live pretty proudly in it, despite the hate and hardtimes. It's called Victoria in KKKanada. It's not where my heart is but it's where I dance (write and fight)you might say. It's rich and poor and very little inbetween. The real poor kids know not to buy into the hate and and know the deal comes down to class--they rebel real clever--never become jadded. We're all kind of swotty about things--no bums. It all offers some surprizes sometimes. I'm not really from here(born and bred) but as one Somalian kid said and I do this everyday-"I've seen you walking around. I can tell that you've never been a "nigger". You've always been Black." My daddy never was either (I guess he taught me something)and he was originally "Rude". It's always a struggle no matter where you are, big and small places, but I keep that in mind and remember, never to walk like anything but what I was raised to be--never compromise you're ethics and Edison in Ratz are Nice (PSP)does the same. Even through a pretty terrible situation that he tells you about in a street Creole all his own. Edison will not be colonized. Edison goes to the source of true rebellion, to fight the badness that's in his life and in his hood and on his block. The source is the Rudeboy. Those who can't become the source become Skins or even Wiggers and do it all in brotherhood, maybe even a little style. What was just starts again. As James Baldwin said, "My life is a wittness. I ain't making this stuff up."
Rating:
Summary: Ratz are Nice = the book of the year
Review: Once you've got your mind around "Wigger," the previous novel by Lawrence Y. Braithwaite, you're spoiled for other books, other writers. That's how good he is. Now the new book is one I've been looking forward to for a long time, and it's finally here. Warning! The book contains some scenes of extreme violence and brutality, and it's not for everyone. That said, I don't hesitate to recommend it to everyone. Braithwaite's got a magic touch when it comes to telling a story, and gets so deeply into the minds of his tormented characters you feel you are slipping directly into their skins. Some people like to pigeonhole Braithwaite into a convenient niche: "he's a gay writer," "he's a black writer," "he's a punk writer," but on the evidence of WIGGER and RATZ ARE NICE that doesn't make much sense. Think of him instead as a grand novelist with the sweep and techincal bravura of Faulkner, Toni Morrison, Gunter Grass, the Joyce of "Dubliners," or someone like Don DeLillo. That's how good he is. Rarely have I read a modern novel with as much depth perception as RATZ ARE NICE. At first it's a bit confusing, but happily Braithwaite has provided a glossary of unfamiliar terms at the back of the book that helps to ground the reader (and all by itself it's a marvelous document, funny and ironic and touching by turns). He comes armed with madness! Get on the bandwagon, it's Braithwaite's world and we just rent space on his far corners!
Rating: 
Summary: Another voice searching for tongue space
Review: Short and sour. "Ratz Are Nice: (Psp)" is a small book that pushes big buttons. Author Braithwaite obviously knows what he is about and tells a story from the intra-abdominal site. Characters are believeable and he makes us care about them. But the problem with wading through the hieroglyphics and lingo, page layout and punctuation oddities in the end detracts from the idea of the novel. It just becomes kitsch. If you feel you must read this book, I suggest you start with the Author's Notes: this reads with great ease and wit and venom. For the rest, the work involved in getting there doesn't seem to justify the payoff.....at least to this reader.
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