Book Review : Jackie Ess - Darryl (2021)
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LGBTQ+ issues are in a interesting place right now. They’ve never been so popular or widely discussed, which is a great thing. Because we live in the world we live in, everyone is trying to make a quick buck out of them. Every corporate entity is waving the rainbow flag and screaming into the void: “WE’RE WOKE, BUY OUR STUFF.” I was mildly worried about that when CLASH Books sent me Jackie Ess’ Darryl to review. I shouldn’t have been.
Ess is LE-GIT and Darryl is… the best thing I’ve read so far in 2021?
Darryl is narrated by a man named Darryl Cook, who lives in Oregon and who enjoys watching other men fuck his wife. He’s what you could call a cuckold. Although Darryl is trying to convince himself that this is wants he really wants and who he really is, his substance abuse freaks out his wife’s boyfriend Bill and lands them in couple therapy. Their therapist Clive will insert himself into their sexual routine and unwittingly sends Bill into a new world of exploration.
How to talk about sex in 2021
Darryl work so well mostly because its protagonist is insanely relatable. I mean, cuckolding is not exactly a relatable activity, but Darryl’s honest and earnestness are. Just like so many of us, Darryl feels out of place living a conventional lifestyle with a nuclear family and he uses these feeling as fuel for his journey of sexual exploration. Darryl is very much the story of a man looking to break free of that poisonous myth that is normalcy.
I thought this was great, because it painted LGBTQ+ issues in a very relatable way. The idea of normalcy makes us all miserable in one way or another, because it makes us all feel inadequate for having desires that veer away from the one conventional, Judeo-Christian model. Darryl feels like a second fiddle in his own home because he’s not meant to live that lifestyle. Whether that impulse is of a sexual nature or not for you, I’m sure you can relate.
There’s still this gap existing between LGBTQ+ folks and other people in society. It came a long way in a couple years. We want them to be happy and to live their truths, but we don’t exactly relate to them. A book like Darryl will help bridging that gap, because it features a protagonist who always reveled in his own “conventional” ways only to find out it was inadequate for him. Sometimes it’s not us that are inadequate, it’s what the world wants out of us.
Blowtorch writing
Another aspect of Darryl I really liked is the in-your-face honesty of its writing. Jackie Ess writes in short, telegraphic chapters and with a complete lack of fear of judgement that reminded me of Chuck Palahniuk on his best day. I’m not going to spoil what the awesome first chapter of Darryl is about, but its cuts deep into the protagonist’s vulnerability and inner world. It gives you a razor sharp image of who Darryl Cook is and how he exists in the world.
The honesty and the lack of fear is absolutely searing. It smacks you right in the face and demands your attention. It reminded me of Tom Perrotta and Alissa Nutting too, who are also great at exploring the underbelly of normalcy. Ess has such a knack for cultural observation that if I had a criticism of Darryl, it’s that I would’ve loved to see him interact outside of his sexual bubble more, but it did not detract from my enjoyment of the novel at all.
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Darryl will be available everywhere on May 18th and I strongly recommend that you pre-order it directly from CLASH Books here. It’s not me trying to be woke by recommending a trans author. I do genuinely believe that it’s a novel that will help bring people closer together. It has humor, heart and powerful, scalding honesty about it that can reach into anyone’s heart. Jackie Ess is somewhat of a revelation to me. Remember the name, folks… and read Darryl. It’s a freakin’ trip.
