Assault on the Senses
Assault on the Senses is a novel written by Michael P. Ferrari. The book is a dark college comedy that follows Kalvin Gray (known to his friends as "Kal"), a self-deprecating college student going semi-crazy trying to make sense of his hard-drinking, self-loathing college career.
Plot summary
Still suffering heartache over his lost love, Jill—the on-again, off-again girlfriend who most recently left for another ex-boyfriend—Kal's world becomes even gloomier when the whole college assumes he is the attempted rapist pictured in a wanted poster displayed throughout campus. After establishing an unlikely alliance with Katie, a vivacious campus newspaper reporter, the pair set out to prove Kal's innocence, find the true culprit, and possibly develop their own relationship in the process.
The major theme the novel approaches is the wandering mentality quickly becoming synonymous with college students and recent graduates. Kal represents an extreme of that theme, constantly worrying if he's making the right choices about school, his major, his social life, his drinking problems and so on to the point of neuroticism. In his moments of deep pondering and worry, Kal often floats deep into a trance he coins "The Stare," similar to the "1,000-mile Stare" war veterans are known to have. During The Stare, Kal is oblivious to his surroundings, somehow focusing only on an internal voice in his head, imaginarily personified by a 16-year-old version of himself who is thoroughly disappointed with how the present version of himself has turned out.
The book juggles a variety of subplots into one, as opposed to following a singular, linear story line. As the story unfolds, it takes turns between focusing on Kal and Katie's quest to find the real assailant and Kal's attempts to pull himself out of his self-made puddle of misery.
Characters
- Kalvin L. Gray: The main character and narrator of the novel. Kalvin is college student with a taste for beer and a talent for self-hatred. He attends the fictitious Berkshire University in an unidentified part of Pennsylvania. Kalvin starts off in the novel's prologue as a happy-go-lucky frat guy, however, six months later when the novel truly begins, Kalvin has transformed into a bitter mess who copes with all problems large and small with excessive binge drinking.
- Katie Moore: A svelte, sexy classmates of Kalvin's that works as the Assistant Editor of the school newspaper, whom he's been lusting over prior to the story. Katie is a yin to Kalvin's yang. While Kalvin is a lazy slacker, Katie is ambitious and has no problem doing what it takes to get what she wants. She takes a journalistic interest in Kalvin, and offers to help clear his name, only to reveal other hidden motives later in the story.
- Connie Ward: A promising student who was mysterious assaulted and almost raped outside of Dill's, the local bar. When word gets out of the attack, a police sketch with Kalvin's appearance and likeness begins posting throughout the campus, leading peers and fellow students to assume he is the attacker. Though she doesn’t appear in much of the novel, she has an impact on most of the main characters in the book.
- Jill: Kalvin's ex-girlfriend, whom he spends the better part of the story brooding over. Prior to the story, Jill attempted to leave Kalvin for an old flame while still attempting to remain friends—an attempt Kalvin rejected. While still on civil terms, Jill and Kalvin have a hard time reconciling. Jill eventually plays a pivotal part in proving Kalvin's innocence.
- Chip: Kalvin and Katie's professor who has a penchant for smoking copious amounts of marijuana and sharing inappropriate stories with his students. Chip enters the story as an aging hipster with who Kalvin seems to be on odd ends. Chip shows concern and charity towards the attack on Connie Ward, and Kalvin and Katie's investigation constantly brings them back in his direction
- President Luther: The oddball, seemingly eccentric president of Berkshire University and an old college chum of Chip's. Luther takes a mysterious interest in Kalvin's situation and offers his resources to help him prove his innocence.
- Lana: One of Kalvin's best friends. Lana takes a guardian role with Kalvin, constantly worrying about his massive alcohol consumption and the self-afflicted abuse he's been putting himself through. Despite his respect and fondness for her, Kalvin often finds himself abusing Lana as well, either through insults, subconscious mind games or just generally abusing her generosity and friendship.
Supporting Characters
- Spaz: A fraternity brother of Kalvin's who works in as an intern with the university police dept. Spaz shows off a typical Napoleon complex, using his position to bully around students, Kalvin included. With a little bit of "motivation" from Katie's seductive charms, Spaz eventually plays a significant part in proving Kalvin's innocence.
- Barry: One of Kalvin's three roommates and fraternity brothers. Barry is one of Kalvin's best friends and feels the need to look after him as well as mock him during his troubles. Despite being even more of an alcoholic than Kalvin, he tends to offer some sensible advice throughout the story.
- Jay: One of Kalvin's three roommates and fraternity brothers. Jay is the "old man" of Kalvin's house and runs a tight ship, constantly yelling at and belittling his roommates.
- Wally: One of Kalvin's three roommates and fraternity brothers. The baby of the house, Wally shares a room with Kalvin. Wally's the first to notice the police sketch's resemblance to Kalvin, and, being the jokester of the group, goes out of his way to mock the situation.
- Doug: One of Kalvin's fraternity brothers and drinking buddies. Doug offers comic relief to the story and, like his other friends, finds humor in Kalvin's situation.
- Dutch: Another of Kalvin's fraternity brothers. Dutch is a senior washed with dread due to his impending graduation, and because of that, seeks to make the most of every second he has left in school—usually by drinking as much as he can and bringing Kalvin a long for the ride. Dutch shows throughout the story a tendency to get drunk and place his genitals where they don’t belong, a continuing occurrence that indirectly stymies Kalvin's goals a number of times.
- Dude: A nameless campus scumbag who brags embellished tales about his drug abuse and fake criminal record in order to meet women. He attempts to come between Kalvin and Katie on several occasions.
Silver Age Comics References
In the Sept. 2007 (issue 1633) edition of Comics Buyer's Guide, columnist Beau Smith reviewed a copy of Assault on the Senses with positive reviews pointing out, "there is a very cool tint of homage to the Silver Age of comics in this story, and if you're a master of comic trivia like Mark Waid or Peter David you may just figure it out."
The following are some of the comic book references discovered:
- Kalvin L. Gray's name is a take off of Superman's original Kryptonian name, Kal-El. Kalvin, who's referred to by his friends as "Kal," has the middle initial "L." In other words, Kal L. Gray.
- Several of the main characters that play a pivotal part to the story share a name, characteristics or both with many characters in Superman mythology. Luther, the president of the university and an antagonist in the story, obviously shares a name with Lex Luthor, Superman's nemesis. He's also described in the novel as being bald and looking similar to Gene Hackman, who played the villain in the original Superman films. Lana, Kalvin's close friend, shares a name and timid, caring nature with the Superman character Lana Lang. Katie's character, though not shown through her name, is an ambitious, sexy news reporter similar to Lois Lane.
- Kalvin's three roommates—Barry, Jay and Wally—share names with the three most popular alter egos of The Flash. Each character in Assault on the Senses has similar personalities as the Flash character with whom they share their namesake. Jay is the most mature and "grown up" of the three, like the Flash character Jay Garrick. Barry is the most sound-minded and most willing to dispense logic, like the Flash character Barry Allen. Finally, Wally is the youngest and most impulsive of the household, like the character Wally West.
- There's a character in the book names Hal, who is presumably named after "Hal Jordan," the alter ego of the Green Lantern, despite the fact that there are no similarities in the characters.
- Throughout the book, there are references to popular Marvel Comics creators as well. One of the buildings at Berkshire University is named "Stanley Hall," a nod to Marvel writer and creator Stan Lee. One of the professors who teaches at the university is named "Dr. Romita," a clear nod to artist John Romita, Sr. or possibly his son, artist John Romita, Jr. The Marvel Comics character Spider-Man is also referenced at one point, when Kalvin tells Katie that as a child he wanted to grow up to be the wall-crawler.