Vernon God Little
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| Author | DBC Pierre |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Black comedy |
| Publisher | Faber and Faber |
| Released | 20 January 2003 |
| Media Type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| Pages | 288 pp (hardcover edition) 288 pp (paperback edition) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-571-21515-7 (hardcover edition) ISBN 0-571-21516-5(paperback edition) |
Vernon God Little is the debut novel of Australian-born author DBC Pierre (real name Peter Warren Finlay).
Contents |
[edit] Plot introduction
The title character is a fifteen-year-old straight boy who lives in a small town in Texas. When his friend Jesus Navarro commits suicide after killing sixteen bullying schoolmates, suspicion falls on Vernon, who becomes something of a scapegoat in his small hometown of Martirio. Fearing the death penalty, he goes on the run to humble Mexico.
The book satirizes trailer park residents, the media, and most of all, those who believe that life in the United States is just like what they see on the TV news. The Booker Prize judges described it as a "coruscating black comedy reflecting our alarm but also our fascination with America".[1]
[edit] Awards and nominations
Published in 2003, the novel was awarded the Man Booker Prize for Fiction which included the £50,000 prize. Upon winning the prize, Pierre said that the money was "a third of what I owe in the world" and promptly used it to repay old debts.[1]
[edit] Film, TV or theatrical adaptations
In 2005, Variety reported that Pawel Pawlikowski was working on producing a film adaptation of the book, with FilmFour Productions.[2] Rufus Norris will direct a stage adaptation at the Young Vic in 2007[1].
[edit] Trivia
- The character of Vernon as a troubled teenager has drawn comparisons with the character Holden Caulfield in J. D. Salinger's The Catcher in the Rye novel.[3]
- The German translation of the book is titled Jesus von Texas (Jesus From Texas).[4]
- Formerly a conman, Pierre wrote the novel in London as a means of atoning for his activities in his youth, which included conning an elderly artist out of his home.
- The town in which Vernon lives, Martirio, is the Italian and Spanish word for martyrdom. This could ironically foreshadow some of the novel's ending. Whether Vernon dies or lives by the end of the story is debatable.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ a b "Author Pierre wins Booker prize", BBC, October 15, 2003.
- ^ Adam Dawtrey. "Pawel Pawlikowski", Variety, Reed Business Information, January 18, 2005.
- ^ Sam Sifton. "Holden Caulfield on Ritalin", New York Times, November 9, 2003.
- ^ Steven Zeitchik. "As American as... German Translations?", Publishers Weekly, Reed Business Information, December 7, 2004.
[edit] External links
| Preceded by: Life of Pi |
Man Booker Prize recipient 2003 |
Succeeded by: The Line of Beauty |
