Rating: 
Summary: Suspenseful, choppy (no pun)
Review: The previous reviews on this book seem to be divided, which means if you like this kind of fiction, you will like it. It's not for everyone, but In the Cut is a gripping thriller. I have to relate that although I read it in 2003, I remembered a violent excerpt I read in a review when it first came out. It made that much of an impression on me, although I could not have told you where I read the excerpt until I found it near the end of the book. I believed Franny, the main character, and thought she was believably out of it, as many people I know in NYC are, particularly in academia. She's so into her subject, language, that she feels insulated from reality. I liked Malloy, the cop, and it might not be a bad idea to keep him going in future books. The plotting was good, although the red herrings were a little misleading, particularly one that I won't give away, but some of that was because the book is so short. Too much happens too soon to really savor. It would have been better with more time for suspense to build, and to develop the obsessive relationship Franny has with Malloy, who sees her as a side thing. The sex scenes are written well enough. The much-mentioned anal sex scene in the office is only so realistic. I mean, they hardly know each other, they live in NYC, and not a single thought of safe sex crosses her mind? How self-destructive/stupid is she? Or am I the one who's out of touch? (I'm Franny's age, female and have worked in academia.) Other aspects, such as her description of Malloy's body, were evocative. I appreciated the neat twist that Franny's poor eyesight put on things. I know from experience with a friend that the world is a different place than it is for us 20/20s. Brava, and I am now reading The Whiteness of Bones. I look forward to more from this author.
Rating: 
Summary: i don't know what the critics are talking about...
Review: This book is fantastic. Yes, it's brutal and yes, it's at times painfully graphic, but the prose is remarkably intelligent and witty, the story moving along at a mesmerizing clip. The ending truly is a jarring surprise. Moore keeps you guessing the entire time, but she also keeps you interested, something few novelists can do, in my estimation. I also loved the protagonist's preoccupation with etymology; I loved her narrative voice; I loved the gentle and not-so-gentle ironies laced throughout. It's refreshing to read a book where the narrator (and for that matter, the author) is expansively, demonstrably intelligent. It's refreshing not to have to read a rehash of Patterson or Cornwell or Kellerman. Moore's style and voice are decidedly different, authentic and full of life. I recommend this book wholeheartedly, though don't expect to be charmed. It's lovely like Silence of the Lambs (the book) was lovely. It's riveting like Lovely Bones was riveting. Which is to say although it is most certainly harsh, it's nonetheles cruelly captivating, therefore a worthwhile read.
Rating:
Summary: A Erotic Thriller - Not For The Faint Of Heart!
Review: Susanna Moore's tight, crisp, descriptive prose lends a special flavor to this darkly erotic thriller of a woman who lives life on the edge. Moore's novel is literary eroticism at it best and not just a mystery thriller about a vicious serial killer. Her manner of telling the tale is what makes it so unique. Frannie, the novel's narrator, is an attractive 35 year-old divorcee who lives in a two room apartment on Washington Square. She teaches creative writing at NYU to a group of inner-city "low achievement teens" with high intelligence. She is also a connoisseur and scholar of language and is writing a book on street slang and its derivatives. Frannie takes chances. She is a sexual risk taker. However, she lives in her own private world where she spends an incredible amount of time pondering the nature of language, which leaves her vulnerable to her surroundings...and reality. Frannie is not at all street savvy. And her near-sightedness allows her to disengage even more from the potentially dangerous world in which she lives. One late afternoon in a neighborhood bar she makes a trip to the ladies room and inadvertently walks-in on a couple engaged in an intimate act. The man's face is obscured by shadow but she does notice that he has a unique tattoo on the inside of his wrist, (she has her glasses on). A few days later a NYC homicide detective, James E. Malloy, seeks Frannie out for an interview. There has been a brutal murder in the neighborhood. The victim is the woman Frannie saw performing the sex act in the bar. The evening Frannie saw her was her last. Malloy takes risks also. He totally defies all rules about relationships between a detective and potential witness and acts on the tremendous sexual attraction between Frannie and himself. Malloy epitomizes the "tough guy with a badge," his frank blunt language adding to Frannie's turn-on... Ms. Moore increases the suspense when Frannie is violently attacked on a dark street late at night. Then another murder is committed and the tension becomes almost too palpable. The climax is shocking. Warning - don't read the end of the book first. This is not a novel for the faint of heart. If you are a reader who is repelled by expicit sex or vividly portrayed violence, this is not for you. On the other hand, if you appreciate a well crafted, beautifully written erotic thriller, this one is excellent and original! JANA
Rating:
Summary: Grim and uncompromising storytelling.
Review: A literary novella with underpinnings in the erotic fiction and murder-mystery genres, Susanna Moore's "In the Cut" attempts-in its brisk 180 pages-to be many things at once: an examination of class struggle and identity, a study of feminine obsession and desire, a meditation on the role of slang in street culture. In the end, however, "In the Cut" will probably be remembered most for its somewhat explicit depictions of sex and violence. Not that there's anything you'll find here that hasn't already been done before, in more garish detail and to higher extremes of depravity. But there is something mildly disconcerting in the way that Moore's strikingly elegant style of prose is put to the service of the story to such shocking effect. This isn't your typical work of hardcore erotica or splatterpunk. Rather, it is a quiet psychological exploration into the mind a white, middle-class, thirtysomething female making her way through a volatile cultural and emotional landscape. Frannie, the story's protagonist, is a mild-mannered English teacher with a fascination in the regional colloquialisms of urban minority groups. Her research frequently takes her into the streets of New York City where, late one night in a bar, a stolen glimpse of an illicit sexual encounter sets off a series of events which may or may not connect her to the victim of a grisly murder. Soon she finds herself engaged in a passionate liaison with a rugged police detective who could be hiding a dark secret. The book is not structured as a conventional murder-mystery; for the most part Frannie has little interest in finding the killer and nor, it seems, do any of the other characters. The murder serves as more of a backdrop to Frannie's ever-increasingly complicated relationship with the detective. Likewise, although sexually graphic, the book is not a conventional work of erotica. Instead, the sex is used as a way of probing Frannie's inner psyche, revealing deep-seated needs and fixations, leaving the reader feeling more anxious than aroused. The most problematic aspect of "In the Cut" is that Frannie is not a very sympathetic heroine. Though intelligent and articulate, she is abhorrently self-centered, a reckless risk-taker, and exceedingly stuck-up. It is not until the book's final thirty pages that we begin to feel much compassion for her, which means that the first five-sixths of the book will be, for some, rather frustrating to get through. I am assuming that this is quite intentional on Moore's part; the story's unsettling conclusion seems to reveal a kind of karmic logic that validates much of what leads up to that point. Many have found the book's morbid and gratuitous ending to be morally offensive, but it is ultimately Moore's refusal to supply the reader with an easy resolution that makes the story resonant and affecting. What is particularly notable about "In the Cut" is the quality of its prose. Moore is a bold and assured writer, and fills the story's passages with style and edge. It is a smart, graceful and refined work of literary fiction that employs the conventions of popular pulp genres as a device for exploring deeper emotional terrain. A worthy read for those interested in gritty, uncompromising storytelling, but not recommended for the faint of heart.
Rating:
Summary: A very good 'thriller' to serve women's studies
Review: Since I was unfalimiar with Moore's previous works that seemed have already aqcuired people's recognition and stable acclaims, I could pick up this novel without any presumption and found it just mindblowing. This was one of the very well designed 'thriller' that was to serve another purpose. Here the author had some theoretical question that had been dealt with for some time by some women in the Feminism industry and now the author is presenting her own working explanation to it; she questioned the premise of the institutional sadism toward women in the society where women end up participating it when they pursue their own womanhood and sexuality without knowing it. Because it is the structure where two different creatures, men and women, are involved to survive. The gruesome homicide where those characters got involved in the story functioned as a vehcle to offer the extreme but good metaphor of woman's life taken and her body torn to be punished for her exercising power to pursue her own sexuality as performing (...) sex to someone supposedly she had just met that same night. I am still figuring, though, if there were a couple of elements that could have been better otherwise; the very ending of the whole novel somehow threw me off for its abruptness and, in a way, predictability. (...) The (...) dissatisfaction I had was that Cornelius's representation was not challenged enough in terms of a man of color represented in the relation with a woman of non color. If the heroine was represented as a white woman who happened to be an unusual blend of being previledged and free from racial and class bias at the same time (or as a too (...) white woman to know where to set the boundary), all the more reason the way Cornelius was described could have been improved to challenge the norm of stereotypical represention in the (...) media and of course, for literature is one of them. But those problems I found in the novel, the ending and Cornelius, might be somehow the author's deliberate choices rather than unconscious one that happend to come out of her lack of idea or ignorance. They could be the outcome of the author's acknowledging the limititation; women's unconscious participation to the institutional sadism was somehow unavoidable in the structure. Struggling to get out of it, though, they can only leave injuries on thier bodies just to show at least they fought to resist it, as the heroine said in the end, to reach out to her lover detective in vain. (...) Added to the brutal observation that had the absolute truth in, what I found marvellous was all the insight's the heroine's linguistic enthusiam unfolded. The triumph of the novel was a combination of two; her simple and strong writing style and ideas that were cleverly associated with her incredible linguistic sophistication.
Rating: 
Summary: Pretentious, silly, and idiotic.... Beware!
Review: Let's consider the 'official' reviews of Susanna Moore's In the Cut. 'Brilliant.... beautifully crafted,' says the SF Examiner. 'Extraordinary,' says Time. 'Remarkable, erotic, intelligent, and daring,' says Vanity Fair. Wow. Even if we allow for the typical hyperbole of book reviewers, In the Cut must at least be pretty good. Right? Wrong. And wrong on so many levels that it's difficult to know where to begin. I'll start with the 'heroine' Franny. She is a professor at NYU; she thinks about language quite a lot, particularly obscure street slang; she invests the most mundane actions with overwrought meaning. Thank goodness Moore didn't include a chapter with Franny shopping for groceries. I can imagine it now.... Franny torn between red wine vinaigrette and zesty ranch dressing. The possibilities are endless. Franny, you see, is deeply silly but we're clearly supposed to find her intelligent and interesting. The fact that she is having sex with a detective who may be a serial killer - well, it's just an edgy risk, dear reader. You can't expect her to be sensible. Nothing about this book makes sense. The main characters are all ciphers. There is no depth, nothing to stir our interest or sympathy. The police officers are portrayed in a consistently lousy light. Franny's black student Cornelius is the typical 'noble savage' of modern lit. Heaven forbid we could have a minority character of complexity and wit and real humanity. Actually, in this particular book, I think Cornelius is the most believable character. He seems as disgusted and dismayed by Franny as the reader. Franny's lover, Detective Malloy, is supposedly great in bed. How do we know this? Franny tells us so! The 'daring' and 'erotic' sex scenes are thankfully brief, but do provide a few laughs. Imagine Playboy edited by an earnest grad student and you'll get the idea. The conversations about sex between Pauline and Franny are depressing and should be prized by celibacy advocates. Relations between men and women are equally depressing. The characters are incapable of connecting beyond an orgasm. As for the 'mystery' at the heart of this book, it is simply pathetic. The killer is obvious from the start. And, as is typical of so much trashy modern fiction, the act of torturing and murdering women is invested with transcendental meaning by Moore's language. Not her writing style, mind you, but her choice of words. Her writing itself is one choppy sentence after another. The following quote encapsulates all: 'A man who knew he could f***. Getting dressed. The woman watching from bed. Leaving before morning. He believed, I could see, in the principle of deferral. Like most men. Bafflement, distance, absence.' And so on. Since when did stringing three adjectives together become a sentence? Perhaps I've read too much PD James, but I've developed a healthy respect for plot, pacing, and logical conclusions in mysteries. This 'mystery' had nothing of the kind. Actually, In the Cut is nothing more than snuff porn marketed as literature. I have far more respect for writers of straight pornography, to be honest. You see their books in the store, either written by 'Anonymous' or a clearly false non de plume. It's as though they're ashamed of the books. They shouldn't be. They write pornography. It's sold as pornography. One look at the cover tells you all you need to know. Writers like Moore want to be more popular, I suppose. So they cast about for edgy subjects. Gritty, urban culture! Sex! Violence against women! Those are edgy topics, right? They're guaranteed to draw an audience. Ah, the confluence of art and the marketplace. But make certain the book cover is suitably refined; it's trash, but it needs to be the sort of trash people can read on the subway without feeling embarrassed. I read some of the five-star reviews of In the Cut. The 'shock' ending, the alienation of urban life, dark, bleak, beautifully written, etc These are from actual readers, and not professional book reviewers who have either a) lost their minds from the dreck they must read for a living, or b) are personally friends with the author (happens more than you think), or c) perhaps had some sort of professional sympathy for Franny due to a shared English lit degree. So actual readers, ordinary folks like me, liked this book? I don't get it. It's neither erotic nor a thriller. And its language romanticizes brutality in such an appalling way. I had three immediate reactions to this book. First, I was grateful that it ended relatively quickly. Second, I wanted to kick the friend who recommended it. And third, I wanted to ask my fellow readers - is this really the best of modern fiction? If so, I'll stick to the classics section of the bookstore.
Rating:
Summary: Don't believe the detractors; read this book!
Review: Despite being tagged with the unfortunate label "erotic thriller" and having a bad movie made out of it starring the woefully miscast Meg Ryan, I decided to give this book a try. I'm glad I did. This book is an intense, violent, explicit and WELL-WRITTEN story. The negative reviews I've read here seem to be by people who were offended by the extreme subject matter. Well, if you don't like vivid descriptions of sex and murder/mutilation, then don't read a book that has it! Didn't these people know anything about "In The Cut" before reading it? I also take issue with the comments that this book is "choppy" and "poorly-written". It isn't. One reader claimed that the ending would leave you "yawning". I find it hard to believe that anybody would be "yawning" at the ending of THIS book. When I read it, my heart was pounding and I had nightmares later. I was left thinking about it for days; it was devastating! If you don't have the stomach for this tale of a teacher in New York who takes unnecessary risks with her life and safety, who gets entangled with a cop investigating the gruesome murders of women, then pass it up. But anyone who does give this a read will be astonished at how this book will affect you. I haven't read anything this disturbing in a long, long time.
Rating:
Summary: I Truly Enjoyed This Book!
Review: To those who did not I can only assume they were looking for Patricia Cornwell crap.
These characters ring true in almost every sense and the book is beautifully written.
It is VERY dark and don't expect a happy fairy tale.
I definately recommend!
Rating:
Summary: Very Good!
Review: I thought this book was excellent! The descriptions do get annoying sometimes because Moore takes so long to fully descibe them, but other than that it was awsome! I recommend this book for anyone 16 and up because there is graphic sex scenes and graphic violence along with tons of cussing...but a very good novella from susanna moore!
Rating: 
Summary: Undeveloped plot, unthrilling, but you'll love the ending
Review: Read this book was quite a bore. I was skipping pages - although I rarely do that. So many unncessary descriptions, such as the definitions of words Frannie, the protagonist of the book, is exploring. The plot does not know where its heading until the very end...Same goes for some characters. What is the point of Cornelius, her student? Or for John Graham, her friend? What purpose are they supposed to serve in the book? To make us, the readers, think, that THEY are the danger? Sure, the reader might suspect them, but in the end....their character remains quite useless. I picked up this book thinking it's a thriller, and it turned out to be more erotic than I though was necessary. Not that I'm against reading some sex lines...but this book has too much, and I as a reader, felt, "get to the point" alredy!! I did fall asleep a bunch of times while reading this book, and I could hardly wait to read the end!! Let me tell you. The best part about this book is the end. It is the ULTIMATE climax, the ultimate surprise. Shocking, unforgettable, and stays in your memory forever. You won't forget this book, even if you won't love it. RECOMMENDED, WITH RESERVATIONS... -Alina Uzilov / 2004
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