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Rating: 
Summary: Going Within
Review: Going Within would be a more appropriate title for this soul-searching novel. It explores so many universal subjects that people worldwide face each day -- spirituality, religious beliefs, political beliefs, geopolitics, personal health, tastes in the arts, specifically music, and other meaningful issues. This novel was extremely well thought out and took much courage to write. Mr. Jasinski's book is not meant for a mass audience. It requires a deep need to explore one's inner-most thoughts and challenges. Bravo, I say, to Mr. Jasinski!
Rating: 
Summary: Where are the values?
Review: I read this book based on Mr. Gulbraa's review and because I respect and enjoy his work. However, in the case I must disagree with his assesment. It is true that Trish Vinson is the star of the book, but Mr. Hardin seems to enjoy spending page after page recounting in vivid detail her sexual exploits. This in itself wouldn't be so bad if her character was moved by a pursuit of values and her experienceing sex as a fulfilment of those values, but that discussion is virutally non-existent. Chapter 15 was especially gruesome and more fit for a Thomas Harris novel than one supposedly expressing a moral and esthetic principle. Mr. Anton, the novels primary artist, expresses rage far better than he does explaining his artistic motivation. While there is some discussion of esthetic values the context, and the near constant stream of profanity, prevent the message from being taken seriously. It reads like an afterthought to the primary purpose of describing Miss Vinson sexual appetite. On the whole, if you think you are getting a serious novel which challenges moral conventions you're not going to be pleased with this work.
Rating: 
Summary: Portrait of the Artist as a Gunslinging Vigilante
Review: Joseph Anton is a great artist, a painter half Jan Vermeer, half Patrick Nagel, who specializes in female nudes that glorify the spirituality of sex. Although popular with the small public that knows him, Anton is sneered at by critics and gallery owners. When Anton hooks up with Trish Vinson, a beautiful journalist who becomes his model and lover, Anton is inspired to create his greatest paintings yet. And when the best of these paintings is used by a businessman to test a new graphic arts reproduction technology, Joseph Anton becomes the most popular artist in America--and Trish Vinson the greatest sex symbol. Galled by Anton's success--and offended by Trish Vinson's guiltless joy in her own sexual value--nihilistic forces within the art world plot violence against Trish--and censorship against Anton, forcing the great artist to drop his brush and pick up a gun. The first two-thirds of this novel are simply magnificent. A brisk narrative pace and razor-sharp dialogue make the writing a joy to read. Although the dialogue is a touch on the raw side, most of it is so original and laugh out loud funny that it's easy to forgive the obscenities. Besides, most of the foul language is coming out of the mouth's of villains and is used as an expression of their hatred for values--especially for women and sex. Hardin's portrait of the degenerate imbeciles who populate the modern art scene in New York is so vivid it is the literary equivalent of a stylized caricature. The strong values and rationally romantic orientation of Joseph Anton and Trish Vinson make a nice contrast to this freak show. Trish Vinson is by far the star of this novel, the most original and finely drawn of all the characters, and the one we spend the most time with. Imagine a combination of Marilyn Monroe and Madonna--with the slutty side dominant! Trish is a benevolent nymphomaniac who regards her voracious appetite for sex as normal and moral--and who experiences no guilt about the manner and frequency with which she satisfies herself. I don't believe author Hardin is actually advocating nymphomania as a virtue. Instead, he surrounds Trish with men for whom sex is an act of self-hatred, who despise Trish for the guiltless joy she flaunts, and shows how sex-hatred follows logically from any nihilistic, anti-man philosophy--while Trish's love for her own sexuality follows logically from any pro-man, pro-values philosophy. Also, Trish's over-the-top sexuality gives Joseph Anton a chance to step in and "cure" Trish, his virtue and love for her helping her to become a one-man woman. My only complaints about this novel: the author has a tendency to use big fancy words in places where small simple words would do fine. (To give the author credit, I think this happened out of a quest to describe scenes with as much originality as possible, not realizing that using strange words to describe a conventional scene still makes the scene conventional--as opposed to using simple words to describe a scene that actually is in fact different or unusual.) Also, this novel has one sequence with some of the most graphic, shocking violence I have ever encountered in a novel--and it doesn't belong in this story, doesn't belong in the same universe as Trish Vinson. This sequence, although a necessary action and important to the plot, should have been handled in a more abbreviated manner and merely hinted at. Reading this sequence (Chapter Fifteen) almost spoiled the novel for me. However, the ending was handled rather adroitly, and the first two-thirds of the book are so good, that I closed the book still feeling it was a worthwhile read, still willing to recommend it to readers hungry for a little romanticism in their literary diet. I would expect to see this book attacked by the usual packs of rationalistic nitpickers eager only for the chance to engage in moralistic grandstanding, congratulating themselves (and expecting ovations from the gallery) by displaying their prowess at demolishing whatever lacks technical perfection. Easy enough to do. However, they miss the point. In an artistic age dominated by nihilism, man-hatred, and the esthetics of destruction, it is more important to seek out, find, and enjoy art that takes values seriously, glorifies Man and human nature--and uses the esthetics of beauty and reason to communicate all this. Rejecting art portraying profound metaphysical values merely because it lacks technical merit is to reject the essential nature--and central value--in all art: the spiritual fuel given by a stylized portrayal of values you take seriously. Speaking for myself: I love the spirit of Trish Vinson and Joseph Anton, I think their values are important, and since I have no desire to be praised for being a critic, that is good enough for me! So thanks to Dennis Hardin for writing a book for readers interested only in the personal pleasure they can gain by reading it.
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