Lulu, $12.06
Humor, 2007 (Reissue)

Previously published in 2005 under the more benign title Diary of a Creep, Fuck All is a really rude and vulgar “memoir” (I don’t know if this is really a memoir or not and I don’t want to be like Oprah Winfrey so I better err on the side of caution here) of a screwed-up fellow who nonetheless manages to get all the chicks in the story. In other words, I can’t be sure whether or not this is the product of the imagination of someone who thinks it is so la vie boheme to sleep on the streets, lie in your own vomit, and have plenty of sex and drugs because we need to hold hands and make life a never-ending Rent musical. Or something. The writing is borderline illiterate at times but there is nonetheless something very compelling about the narration that I can’t stop reading, heh.

I don’t know if this author is cashing in on James Frey’s Vanilla Ice stunt with that fake “memoir” of his but this one is somewhat comparable to Mr Frey’s contribution to the fratboy-thug niche of lad lit, A Million Little Pieces, at least in terms of theme. We have this screwed-up guy who ends up on the streets and later in jail and along the way he does all kinds of really bad crap that will make parents everywhere groan in disapproval.

I am generally cynical of such stories that tend to get all kinds of gushing from other people about how “honest” such stories can be because the way I see it, if it requires in-your-face crudity to drive home a point, it does not seem like “honesty” to me as much as it is a marketing gimmick. And honestly now, “Matthew Damon”? This may very well be the author’s real name for all I know, but I suspect the author won’t be too unhappy if some readers mistake this as a memoir by People‘s Sexiest Man of 2007. I know, I also have no idea what the people at, er, People are thinking but that’s not the topic here. Back to this book. With this book published on Lulu, I doubt there are many readers who will find this book in the first place, much less mistake the author for that Matt Damon, heh.

It’s a pity, that, because despite this book getting my cynicism all worked up, it is a most entertaining book from start to finish. The author has a strong and engaging style of prose and he has a knack in getting me to relate to the main character even when that fellow is doing some of the most screwed-up things around. Mr Damon also have a most appealing way with humor.

Fu(k All is not my cup of tea. I’m probably too much of a straight-laced schoolmarm type not to get cynical when I come across such “white boys gone wild” stories. A part of me rolls up my eyes at how calculated this book is at times when it comes to shock value, but another part of me is most willing to go ahead and have fun with this book. Maybe I need to read more of this author’s works to make up my mind about his work in general. As it is, he sure can tell a story.