Rating: 
Summary: "A Comedy In The Presence Of Death" & A Daring Novel!
Review: "Vernon God Little," Mr. Pierre's first novel, won the 2003 Man Booker Prize, which is the most prestigious award for fiction in the UK. The novel is an example of satire at its best, biting, witty and at times, just plain funny. The humor, however, is very dark. Mr. Pierre's writing clearly demonstrates his contempt for the media, the US criminal justice system, capital punishment, and our contemporary culture's pandemic materialism. He takes on the seamier aspects of life in America, or more specifically, in a small town in central Texas, Martirio by name. Pierre's scathing indictment of the townspeople - their acquisitiveness; greed; mean-spirited gossip; fast food obsessions juxtaposed with their zeal for the latest fad diet; their dependence on television; and their pandering to mass media, an ever present post-tragedy intrusion into their daily lives - certainly paints a bleak picture of a community whose citizens come off poorly under duress.
At the center of the turmoil is 15-year-old Vernon Little, a 21st Century Holden Caulfield who is desperately trying to come of age, while the people of his town are determined to give him the death penalty. Vernon narrates the story in highly idiomatic but expressive English, chock-full of malaprops. He is under arrest and charged as the accomplice in a brutal school shooting where 16 students were murdered. He has become the town's "skate goat" in the aftermath of a Colombine-style massacre committed by his best friend, "Meskin" (Mexican) Jesus Navarro. Vernon ponders his friend's death, "He keeps secrets from me, like he never did before. He got weird." Vernon, who is a flawed teen, obsessed with his bowels but certainly innocent of any crime, describes himself: "....lawless brown hair, the eyelashes of a camel, big ole puppy-dog features like God made me through a fu*ken magnifying glass. You know right away my movie's the one where I puke on my legs, and they send the nurse to interview me instead." Indeed, author Pierre's talent for giving Vernon a true adolescent voice, crude language along with some brilliant insights and a sense of honor, is part of what makes this novel so strong. Vernon is at once a hormone driven, alienated anti-hero, and at the same time quietly grief stricken and noble. As events surrounding the case become increasingly chaotic, Vernon unwittingly becomes the victim of a nefarious conspiracy. His eventual and unavoidable demise is chronicled here.
Author, DBC Pierre, (The "DBC" in his nom de plume stands for "Dirty But Clean"), aptly calls the novel, "A 21st Century Comedy in the Presence of Death. He is, in reality, a native-born Australian named Peter Finlay, who lived much of his early life in Mexico. Pierre effectively builds a sense of revulsion in the reader without using heavy-handed moralization. In fact he keeps us laughing through many a sick and twisted scenario. The author's narrative is uneven at times. There are moments of brilliance that fade into page after page describing the monotonous life of Martirio's citizens. The "redneck" dialogue and vernacular are colorful and believable, and Pierre's prose is often beautiful. He is a risk-taker and if you are willing to go along with him for the ride, it is certainly a wild one. The book's conclusion is a bit too facile and felt like a cop-out to me. However, the pluses far outweigh the minuses in this excellent and far-out novel.
If you are easily offended by criticism of life in Texas, or in America, especially when not written by an American - then this is not the book for you. Otherwise, enjoy!
JANA
Rating:
Summary: a very funny if somewhat overblown satire on America...
Review: 'Vernon God Little' by DBC Pierre is a curious book, made even curiousier by winning the 2003 Booker Prize (British Commonwealth equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize). The story is about Vernon, a teenager in rural Texas, accused as the accomplice in a massacre at his high school. No one believes poor Vernon, and from his eyes it seems everyone around him is a bit loopy ... especially a Geraldo Rivera-wannabe reporter. While the story is anything but believable, the author deserves kudos for his very insightful study of one hapless, confused young man. The essence of Vernon is captured perfectly, often hilariously. This saves the book from being a very cheap shot at rural America and its youth.I should add that people should NOT take 'Vernon Little God' personally. It is satire, and pure fiction. The book looks at the world from a introverted teenager, who seemingly sees the worst side of small town America. And the book is not anti-Texas. The author could have easily transported the setting to rural Canada or Australia. Worthy of the Booker Prize? No, I thought 'Oryx & Crake' was better (..and I haven't even read the other four nominated books). Bottom line: funny and at times insightful but its lack of depth and over-the-top storyline compromises for what could have been a great book.
Rating: 
Summary: Small town America gone haywire
Review: Anyone who has lived in a small town in America will love the descriptions in VERNON GOD LITTLE. Some of them are like MAIN STREET on drugs. But this book is really a combination of sarcasm, deep dark secrets, incredible humor, and food for thought. As some of the other reviewers have said, this book IS funny, but funny in the way Chris Rock is: profane, wry, witty, off-balance, and occasionally obscene. The book has a smikring quality, somewhat like CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES or possibly BARK OF THE DOGWOOD. More like the latter with it's child narrator and horrible incidents, all couched in great humor and knowing. If you have the good forture to read this novel and like it, I would recommend that you try Palahniuk's work also--it's somewhat similar and equally funny/disturbing.
Rating:
Summary: Lively and Entertaining
Review: As with My Fractured Life, Vernon God Little has some salty language and a few adult situations. If you don't mind such things, the story itself is lively and entertaining. Probably best recommended for adults and teens and not younger children. It's a fun and pleasing way to spend an evening or afternoon or two.
Rating: 
Summary: Life is too short
Review: Call me dumb if you like, but I found this book to be one of the most unfunny, unreadable nonsense I have attempted to plough through in a long long time.OK so its supposedly a commentary of American life etc etc etc., but please, take my advice and give it a big miss. Poorly written with veiled failed attempt to be hip as per Catcher in the Rye. Not enough hours left in a life to waste them trying to finish rubbish such as this.
Rating:
Summary: "Confederacy of Dunces" meets Columbine
Review: Dateline Martirio, Texas: our antihero -- the verbose, isolated and panty-obsessed Vernon Little, is suspected by the entire town of instigating a school shooting rampage committed by his best friend, Jesus.
In this sendup of American culture that is at times hilarious, scary, and poetic, DBC Pierre plays on characers' obsessions and relationships to display the painful fractures at the root of the American psyche while he describes the national-news drama unleashed on one small Texas town.
I found Pierre's writing style maze-like and enjoyable to navigate, but some readers may be turned off by it at first. However, the relationships between the characters, whether superficial or deep, make navigating Pierre's prose worthwhile. Vernon's guilt-ridden interactions with his mother, the opportunistic con man/reporter Eulalio Ledesma's pursuit of the town's divorcees, and a cast of weird minor characters worthy of a Simpsons episode provide the highlights. Although the plot takes a backseat to the character-based satire and the over-the-top descriptions of the world from Vernon's point of view, it didn't diminish my enjoyment of the book.
I also thought the ending was worthwhile because it illustrated the adults of the town trying to whitewash their problems while blaming teenagers for the evil in their midst. I think that Vernon God Little would be an excellent book to read with teens -- they would first enjoy the outrageous style, and the book's scope would also allow for a more measured discussion of many serious issues.
Rating: 
Summary: Mostly disappointing
Review: DBC Pierre is an unusually talented wordsmith, with a keen sense for unique metaphors and similes. But his ability seems not to extend beyond such small-scale exercises. The novel is meandering, tedious and riddled with plot holes and improbable twists, and lacking in the kind of anecdotic detail that gives a story depth and texture. The topic is ambitious, grandiose even, but the treatment is amateurish and uninsightful. Finally, and most annoyingly, the allegedly Texan voice is utterly fake. It is incredibly ambitious for DBC Pierre to attempt to write in a vernacular that is not his own, and he fails miserably. The use of ridiculously quaint character names and homonymes is initially cute and works well, but overuse ultimately kills it.
Maybe one day we'll find out why this book won one of the most prestigious British literary prizes. Peter Finlay's ultimate scam?
Rating:
Summary: If you liked Donnie Darko...
Review: Firstly, apologies for comparing a book to a movie, but this was the easiest way of explaining the feel and impact of this book to my wife (and with the film rights sold, the shooting of the movie may well have begun). Like Darko, this story has sinister overtones wrapped around troubled but decent youth. It took me back to S.E Hinton's "The Outsiders", which I first consumed in an afternoon of reading twenty-five years ago as a fifteen year old. Now that I'm 40, Vernon Little takes me back to the confusion, innocence, crassness and vulgarity of my youth.
Not for the faint hearted or 'nice decent folk' (I wouldn't recommend it to my Dad), I found Vernon God Little to be the most refreshing, engrossing, and frustratingly funny book I've read in years. 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: At least its cheaper than going to the movies.
Review: I don't know why this book won the Booker in 2003. Oryx & Crake is a far better read. Least its out in paperback now, so if you just have to read it, its cheaper than going to the movies.
Rating:
Summary: Not so little, not so much God
Review: It seems this book is really dividing opinions and I can see why it wouldn't be for everyone. The frank discussion of what goes on in this teenage boy's mind and the language that comes out of his mouth may not be palatable to everyone but if you can look beyond that I defy anyone with a heart not to be charmed by this story. Reality TV, girls underpants and the f word; this book truly has it all. Vernon G. Little, who I found to be a modern Holden Caulfield with a bit of Eminem, is an anally fixated 15 year old who witnesses the murder of 17 classmates, the murderer being his closest friend, a Mexican student named Jesus. In his debut novel, Pierre takes us into the world of BBQ, Texas sewing circles and the hardest part about being surrounded by "phonies": no one wants to hear your story because they are too worried about their own wants. The realistic dialogue and the distinctive voice of Vernon create an atmosphere of dusty midnight bus rides and the salty promises of Mexican air. After Vernon's mother's affair with a supposed TV reporter from CNN and the eventual finger pointing at Vernon himself, for a crime he clearly did not commit, the beauties of American media unfold and a satire not too far from reality sinks in. Because this book has received so much media attention from winning the Man Booker, there are plenty of possitive and negative reports, but I am casting my vote "for". Not necessarily to say that it will be as important as CATCHER IN THE RYE, but it certainly shines a new light on "modern" American society and shows the difficulty of being a teenager, especially when everyone around is so willing to believe what is portrayed for them on television. At first I wasn't completely bowled over as I expected to be having watched the Booker Prize on TV but it didn't take long to get into this boy's mind and to feel the same embarrassment he feels about the behavior of the adults around him, to sympathize with his adolescent inarticulacy. Vernon has given up even trying to be understood by the stupid people around him who won't even listen to a word he says. His wry sense of humor resulting from this treatment is infectious and brings one back to the same adolescent feeling of rolling ones eyes at the helpless older generation. In this situation that's so ridiculous it's hilarious, what else can you do? The book gathers momentum throughout keeping the reader on tenterhooks till the wonderful climax at the end. I really enjoyed this book but I guess there are still plenty of people who just will never get that lovable character Vernon God Little.
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