Product Description

DOLLHOUSE is a book about a young man with problems. Tony Diggs has moved to the suburbs, crashed out with his girlfriend and her single mother. The soundtrack would be rock and roll (and a little bit of Neil Diamond), but between the opiates and the factory job, it's hard to keep the band together. From the nightclubs, diners, and rooming houses, alongside the lesbians, painters, musicians, drunks, coke freaks, pot heads, cab drivers and Chinatown hucksters, there's a lot to see on the road from Harrisburg to New York City. But only if he can avoid being sheet packed.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #955837 in Books
• Published on: 2007-06-15
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Customer Reviews

"Tap it like a drum"
This book has everything you're looking for. The title should be Sex, Drugs, and Rock & Roll. Dollhouse is good too. Both are apt and descriptive of the story. No need to give a synopsis cause it's all right up there but if you're into the anti-hero, people with problems, drug stories, music, sex...lots of sex, dirty, nasty, filthy sex, you might dig this book. It's not a porno book by any stretch but you get your fill before the first half of the book is done. That's the odd part about the book. The author changes voices and styles in the book more than once. It's at first a bit jarring but once you get used to it, it's pretty cool. While the first half features unadulterated porn type writing, the kind that might get you a little excited or sick to your stomach depending on your disposition, the second half is nicer and more toned down on the sex. The drugs however flow throughout. Coke, smack, dilaudid, whatever. Anything you can abuse is there for the taking. Boyle really does a great job of making you hate the character, Tony, at times for his behavior but you're with him every step of the way and of course you're rooting for him.
There's definitely a bit of Bukowski in there, maybe too much. It's not an homage but fans of his will certainly get into it. This certianly isn't any new kind of writing but the story isn't so old that you can't relate to it. In fact you can look up Diggs/Boyles band, The New Left, and listen to it as a soundtrack to the book. It will certainly help when he goes into great detail about the band (a huge part of the book) and his music. I found that to be one of the more interesting aspects of it. It's an easy read too. Not just the language but it's short. The author and editor know just how to keep a readers attention.
Oh yeah, there's guns in it too. Guns, drugs, music, sex. I can't think of too many other things in life that don't fall into one of those categories.

Dollhouse by Mike Boyle -- Stark and insightful
Having been a fan of the literary journal Thieves Jargon, I bought this book as soon as it came out. It was a damn good read, written in a sparse style, yet never lacking in observational integrity. Boyle really understands people, or at least the people who occupy the music underground of Harrisburg, PA. Sex, drugs, violence--they're all here, but you'll also get some really strong prose, and a plot with all the pieces present, well planned, well executed. Highly recommended.