Meike's Reviews > Safe

Cooper's debut, now a rare collector's item (and re-published in its entirety in the short story collection Wrong), presents itself as a triptych of interconnected stories, starring the beautiful, young Mark Lewis. All of Cooper's classic themes are already there: Youth, death, sex, mediated depictions of sex, reality vs. imagination, drugs, the longing for human connection, and violence - though the latter to a much, much lesser degree than in his later works. Let's look at the three individual parts:

"Missing Men"
Where is the comparative study between Cooper's peer Bret Easton Ellis, Harmony Korine, and Cooper? "Safe" was first published in 1984, Less Than Zero in 1985, and the vibe is the same, especially in "Missing Men". Here, Mark is dating an enigmatic writer named Rob (in later novels by Cooper, there will be a whole array of characters called Dennis), answers a sex ad, and he accompanies his artist friend Carl to a an opening at a gallery, where Carl hooks up with the guy whose works are exhibited. I particularly liked the many references to art and art production - now I want a Dennis Cooper Künstlerroman. Do it, Dennis!

"My Mark"
Perfection. This story was first published as stand-alone, and it's a stellar meditation on desire and longing strongly rooted in Cooper's work as a lyrical poet. The narrator is a writer named Dennis (ha!), and he thinks back on his complex relationship with Mark, ruminating about his feelings and the psychological movements he has experienced. Full of melancholy and cooperesque imagery, especially in the sex scenes which ponder the attempt to explore consciousness by crossing physical boundaries, thus blurring the concept of interiority. Beautifully written, and George Miles also makes an appearence (though not by name).

"Bad Thoughts"
In the last part, Mark has died, and we live through the aftermath of people missing and remembering him - feat., of course, the convergence of sex and death.

This is an impressive debut, and it's crazy how Cooper went from this to radically transgressive works like Frisk. Fascinating.