Little Oscar: A Novel of Erotic Realism

Although incest has been masterfully confronted in fiction, from Iris Murdoch's A Severed Head to Earl Thompson's A Garden of Sand , such is hardly the case here. Writing in graphic and frequently illiterate detail, Fiore ( The Barrier , Vendetta Mountain ) has produced a sordid account of a mother and son bound together in squalor. She's white; his black father died before he was born. She's a whore with a drug and alcohol problem, and he's growing up a tough street kid. Her boyfriends get too rough? Hey, no problem: the kid kills them off one by one so he can have Mom all to himself. The author, a former social worker (and, believe it or not, elementary school teacher), offers a veneer of social commentary throughout so we'll understand that Little Oscar is a product of his environment. The trouble with this ``novel of erotic realism'' is that its reach exceeds its grasp. If the author had only set out to write a pornographic potboiler then this book wouldn't be nearly so appalling. While the subject matter is disgusting in its own right, it is the exceedingly bad writing that is overwhelmingly offensive. (Nov.)