Tampa: A Novel
In Alissa Nutting’s novel Tampa, Celeste Price, a smoldering 26-year-old middle-school teacher in Florida, unrepentantly recounts her elaborate and sociopathically determined seduction of a 14-year-old student.
Celeste has chosen and lured the charmingly modest Jack Patrick into her web. Jack is enthralled and in awe of his eighth-grade teacher, and, most importantly, willing to accept Celeste’s terms for a secret relationship—car rides after dark, rendezvous at Jack’s house
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Into the Mind of a Female Sexual Psychopath,
Celeste has the intensity of a psychopath or even a serial killer when it comes to her sexual obsessions. The desperation in doing whatever it takes to satisfy her need was disturbing to say the least. Her complete disregard for how her actions would affect others in her life was unsettling. Celeste is hands down one of the most warped characters in literature I have ever had the pleasure of reading.
Comparisons to Lolita cannot be helped (although it could also be compared to Belinda by Anne Rampling, one of Anne Rice’s lesser known novels written under a pseudonym), despite the fact it’s actually quite different it still manages to touch upon the same subject. Unlike Lolita, this is not a retelling of events or even a confession but a first person accounting of the main characters sexual forays. But be warned, Celeste makes Humbert Humbert look tame in comparison. Nabokov wrote a truly lyrical story that managed to win over many readers despite Humbert’s wrongs; he became one to be pitied. Nutting has done the opposite with her character Celeste and does not ever intend for you to pity her or feel sorry for her affliction. She’s extremely lewd and vulgar and the pages reek with indecency and she’s not ashamed to admit it.
‘I found that sometimes it was a relief to do something unattractive in private, to confirm that I’m deeply flawed when so many others imagine me to be perfect.’
She found anyone that had begun to show signs that adolescence was leaving them to be completely foul and disgusting and was utterly envious of the female children of her class. The fact that she was flawless and appeared much younger than her true age I think was the only mitigating factor that prevented her from personally disgusting herself as she took extremely good care of herself to avoid showing signs of her age for as long as possible. It could also be said that her sexual encounters with the younger boys was seen as a purifying or cleansing ritual in her eyes. Bottom line, she was an extremely disturbed individual.
Tampa is a book that opens up the discussion that women are obviously not always the victim, that they can be just as guilty and just as psychopathic as their gender counterpart. It’s a topic that forces you to look at the stereotypes in society today whether it is gender stereotypes or even stereotypes based on looks alone. Also, it definitely brings to light how the pursuing of an older woman no matter the age of the pursuer has become slightly glamorized over time.
In an interview with Cosmo (incredible review, definitely worth a read), the author stated that there is a void in literature about female sexual psychopaths and she sought to fill it. I can’t think of any books related to the topic either but I have to applaud the fact that Nutting tackled this subject head-on and didn’t water it down simply to avoid controversy. The extensiveness of her sexual conduct did at times seem gratuitous and left you feeling just as empty as Celeste, however, there’s no denying this was an exceptionally scandalous yet efficiently written debut novel.
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|Reviews seem to be about the content, not the writing,
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|Makes you uncomfortable,
But I’m giving this weirdly uncomfortable book 4 stars. Why? Because only great writers make you feel REALLY uncomfortable with the topic you are reading about.
Let me explain. . .
Celeste is a (fictional) teacher in Tampa, Florida. She’s 26, gorgeous, married to a wealthy handsome man, and is so excited to start teaching English!
Why is she so excited? She wants to sleep with a fourteen-year-old male student and she can’t wait to meet “the one,” who turns out to be her student, Jack.
This book is sexually explicit. Which isn’t always a problem for people (See 50 Shade of Twilight Fan Fiction crap that was a bestseller. Seriously, it’s Twilight Fan Fiction. Google it if you don’t believe me.).
In Tampa, there IS a problem with the sexual explicitness: it’s with a 14-year-old and a 26-year-old. And it makes you feel REALLY uncomfortable.
But Alissa Nutting did a good job writing this book to make you feel that way on purpose. Eliciting a reaction (positive or negative) out of your readers is a goal of writing, and no one can deny that Alissa did that well.
I gobbled up Tampa, felt very disturbed by Celeste, but would read another book by Alissa Nutting in a heartbeat.
Not-really-related side note: In one short scene in the novel, Celeste and her husband are on the phone, and Celeste says, “Isn’t it against the law to be on your phone while you drive?” Her husband responds, “Not while you’re driving the cop car, sweets.” Just FYI for all of you (and to Alissa!!), it’s not against the law to be on your cell phone (or text) in Florida while driving. While it’s not really related to the book, it bugged me enough to want to add it here.
Thanks to Leah @ Books Speak Volumes & Jennifer @ The Relentless Reader for passing the book along!
So, is this book for you or is it one you will skip?
Thanks for reading,
Rebecca @ Love at First Book
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