A review by findingmontauk1
The Bedwetter: Journal of a Budding Psychopath by Lee Allen Howard
3.0
"In the house where we lived when Becky and I were in school, my mother's lying on the basement floor of our house, fugly and naked on the red linoleum, with the electric hair clippers jammed up her cooz."
That's a pretty powerful opening sentence for The Bedwetter, a story told in journal-esque format of a young man with a pissy past and a not-so-great present. Our protagonist wet the bed as a child and his mother punished him by shaving his head. He finally felt he could trust someone and she betrayed him by telling the whole school and he endured endless bullying, name calling, and teasing ever since. Now he is an adult who is quite twisted - he started wetting the bed again, he fantasizes about shaving women, and he is visited by The Piss Fairy in his dreams.
What I enjoyed most about this book is how the author really lets you see what a psychopath our main character is. And since we get to read it from his POV we can see just how highly and mighty he thinks of himself, too. Nothing is his fault and everything else can either be explained away or blamed on someone else. This is the guy that weirds you out and annoys you. And this is the guy that you don't want to be friends with. And, in the end, it's all for good reason.
3.5 stars for this one and I thank the author for the review copy! I can almost see more books with this protagonist from how it ended and now that he has "found himself" and fulfilled the dark desires of The Piss Fairy.
Trigger warnings: misogyny, homophobia, and animal cruelty.
That's a pretty powerful opening sentence for The Bedwetter, a story told in journal-esque format of a young man with a pissy past and a not-so-great present. Our protagonist wet the bed as a child and his mother punished him by shaving his head. He finally felt he could trust someone and she betrayed him by telling the whole school and he endured endless bullying, name calling, and teasing ever since. Now he is an adult who is quite twisted - he started wetting the bed again, he fantasizes about shaving women, and he is visited by The Piss Fairy in his dreams.
What I enjoyed most about this book is how the author really lets you see what a psychopath our main character is. And since we get to read it from his POV we can see just how highly and mighty he thinks of himself, too. Nothing is his fault and everything else can either be explained away or blamed on someone else. This is the guy that weirds you out and annoys you. And this is the guy that you don't want to be friends with. And, in the end, it's all for good reason.
3.5 stars for this one and I thank the author for the review copy! I can almost see more books with this protagonist from how it ended and now that he has "found himself" and fulfilled the dark desires of The Piss Fairy.
Trigger warnings: misogyny, homophobia, and animal cruelty.