Bridgman reviewed Candy by Terry Southern
Review of 'Candy' on 'Goodreads'
2 stars
Published in 1958, Candy is dirty enough that even now many readers will snort “Filth!” and throw it in a trashcan.
Written by Terry Southern (1924–1995) and Mason Hoffenberg (1922–1986), it is not, if the Wikipedia entry is accurate, a satire based on Voltair’s Candide. (That’s fine with me as I haven’t read that.) It was first published under a pseudonym and widely banned in its day, though it eventually became a best seller. You still wouldn’t give it to a 14-year-old, even though by that age they’ve probably seen things as graphic on the internet.
Southern and Hoffenberg co-wrote it in a series of letters and were surprised at the Candide comparison.
Did I like it? Well, no. I read it because it was published the year I was born and it’s beginning reads more like a campus novel than a deliberately dirty sex farce. Note that I’m …
Published in 1958, Candy is dirty enough that even now many readers will snort “Filth!” and throw it in a trashcan.
Written by Terry Southern (1924–1995) and Mason Hoffenberg (1922–1986), it is not, if the Wikipedia entry is accurate, a satire based on Voltair’s Candide. (That’s fine with me as I haven’t read that.) It was first published under a pseudonym and widely banned in its day, though it eventually became a best seller. You still wouldn’t give it to a 14-year-old, even though by that age they’ve probably seen things as graphic on the internet.
Southern and Hoffenberg co-wrote it in a series of letters and were surprised at the Candide comparison.
Did I like it? Well, no. I read it because it was published the year I was born and it’s beginning reads more like a campus novel than a deliberately dirty sex farce. Note that I’m using the word “dirty” and not “erotic.” There’s not an arousing moment in it, to me, anyway. This isn’t Anais Nin.
The copy I got is the same as the one pictured here and is misleading. The girl on the cover is very much of the mid-to-late 60s generation. The girl in the book is in her late teens in the late 50s, a very different time. But we never judge a book by its cover, right?
The sex is silly at times—there are phrases like "jelly box" and "lamb pit"—but contemporary at others.
