Literature or Trash? Tampa by Alissa Nutting book review

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Book details/Content warnings:
Title: Tampa | Author: Alissa Nutting | Publisher: Faber | Pages: 256 | Publication date: 5th June 2014 | ISBN: 9780571303335 | Source: Purchased
Content Warnings: Child abuse
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[@pazuzu126]

I have never read a book that horrified me the way this book did. Being inside that woman's head was so unsettling. When she successfully seduces a boy and they begin a sexual relationship I actually started getting severely depressed knowing something really bad was going to happen. I debated not finishing it because of how much it unsettled me, yet I couldn't stop reading! It has been almost a year since a read that book and every single scene remains etched into my brain. If you ask me, it is brilliant in that every single scene and every character is completely necessary to the plot and the point the author was making. The whole reason I bought this book in the first place was because the premise intrigued me: a female sexual predator. It intrigued me because I wondered at the time (rather ignorantly) if female predators even exist. Well, this book more than convinced me. In that way I actually found it to be somewhat of a feminist novel if feminism is the idea that a woman can do anything a man can do. That must also mean that a woman can be just as horrible as a man, as well. I felt the message of this book was that when a woman does something like this, perhaps we should look at her the way we look at a man who does this. And when this happens to an underaged boy, perhaps we should look at him the same way as an underaged girl who is a victim. The idea of female passivity is so ingrained in our society that it is easy not to take a female predator seriously, to sympathize with her or even go so far as to blame her victim. This book addresses all those things and shows us how devastating an error that can be.

[@recynd77]

When I read this book, my son was about the same age as the victim. I didn’t love the book or think it was a work of genius, but I read the whole damn thing, and I couldn’t put it down. But it was no Hogg, which is easily the most disturbing book I’ve ever read (and I didn’t think “Let’s Go Play at the Adam’s House” could be topped).

[@user-tn5lo4wf9f]

I haven't read this one yet, but Hogg, didn't you find that it just got boring?

[@recynd77]

@@user-tn5lo4wf9f I’d say it got tedious rather than boring; the smutty details lost its impact after awhile. Still, I found the material more disturbing than anything else I’ve read, including “Tampa”, or even “Notice” or “House Rules”. The most disturbing part to me is the critics who lauded “Hogg” as a contemporary masterpiece of modern literature. The edition I have has a fawning foreword and includes praise from several critics/academics and argues passionately for the book’s vast literary value, praise for the message and the author’s courage for producing it. That’s disturbing af. [Edited for slight addition/relevancy]

[@chocomelo454]

Can someone remind me what let's go play at the Adam's house is? Is that the one where the kids torture the babysitter? Or am I thinking of something entirely different?

[@recynd77]

@@chocomelo454That’s the one.

[@squid4104]

It's definitely not trash! Beautifully written...funny,shocking,subversive...probably my fave read from last year.

[@Mostly_Horror]

I found this book to be compelling, more uncomfortable than disturbing. Not that I think it was a literary masterpiece but it definitely brings about conversation about how as a society we view “monsters” and the real “threat”. I’m sure that there are other books that explore that idea, but I haven’t read any so for me it did its job at provoking thought and conversation well after I read the book.

[@petero.7487]

That's the thing: Most monsters don't look like monsters.

[@RyanLisbon]

So happy to see my home town in a novel. Florida attracts all types for sure.

[@carolyneguimaraes4662]

I remember the author talking about wanting the atmosphere to be "porny"and for the narrator to be as trashy-sexy as possible, with the intent to lure the reader into the narrotor's trap, like the victims and the people who dismissed her crimes as being positive for the victims (because "omg she´s so hot. What a lucky boy"). And i felt that while reading. I felt attracted to her EVEN THOUGH she was clearly a monster. I felt attracted to HER, not to what she did. Because she knows how to be charismatic, sexy, funny and magnetic. You catch yourself falling for her bullshit, while still wanting her to rot in hell. I kept think: "no no no no she´s not sexy, she is a fucking monster. ooh Alissa, you´re so clever.!" In resume, i thought the book was clever and brilliantly executed. Love it.

[@eriebeverly]

I've never read but I did see a reading by the author of sections of the book and it was hilarious. Very much self-aware and satirical.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Interesting!

[@squashchefan]

I got this in my local poundland and I had no idea what I was buying. Don't think they knew what they were selling either. Certainly makes you talk if you manage to finish it

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Wow, it really does seem a strange book to stumble across in Poundland!

[@LauraFreyReadinginBed]

Loved this book. Literature for sure! She was such a creep, so deluded, and it was rendered perfectly.

[@rightcheer5096]

Trashature. A second cousin to Malcolm Lowry’s Liquorature. Next qvestion.

[@peteypickles3262]

I reas Tampa about 2 years ago. I'm sort of ashamed of myself for doing so. But I was living in the Bay area at the time as well when these crimes and the subsequent trial occurred. I'm glad I read it overall. I did feel disturbed by it, but mostly grossed out! I lean towards it being literature, it's society's attitudes towards this type of crime that makes it feel trashy.

[@stephennootens916]

While I have seen the book and heard it mentioned by other booktubers I had no clue what it was in fact about. It sounds almost like a reverse Lolita were instead of male predator you have a female one which is sort of new I guess.

[@Rorosky]

Great review! I picked this up in order to wrap my head around this horrible subject matter. I wanted to get inside the mind of a woman who has done this. Why you ask? A few months ago, my kids school had this very thing happen. Did we know and love the teacher? YES! Did she influence my kids? YES! Did the victim go to school with my kids and they had no idea this sort of thing was happening to their friend and classmate? AGAIN, YES! More than just my kids, I have a niece who was influenced so much by this teacher, she has a tattoo designed by this teacher. She taught Drama and had access to children day and night. I need some sort of resolution to push through this. What really bothers me more, my kids do not talk about it and seem aloof. Does that bother me? YES

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Oh wow I can’t imagine what that must be like to go through.

[@dudeatmenangle]

Hmm good book review Ollie, I have downloaded Tampa to my Kindle. Now I need to agree with myself that I want to read it.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah it's not one to go into lightly!

[@elisabethw.9465]

You're so right about feeling complicit in the narrator's actions while reading. It's why I didn't like this book. It makes me feel like I'm the one doing something wrong.

[@M-J]

Never wanted to read it and probably never will. 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@slnd666]

definitely a satirical book, and worth noting that the author lives in florida and actually went to high school with the woman the book is based on, and was inspired to write the book after recognizing her on the news.

[@tommonk7651]

I remember the LeTourneau case when it happened. Not my cup of tea.

[@paulnickless5633]

Looking forward to reading it. Would you compare it to My Dark Vanessa, reverse roles?

[@cgsathome]

I read both of these and I would say not the same vibe, really. For me, both maybe give an insight into the mind of a psychopath and/or person exhibiting compulsive behavior? But, Vanessa was really more about Vanessa's journey. I don't want to say/spoil more. I actually found both compelling but for different reasons

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I've not actually read that ine yet, it's on my list though!

[@mercedeshenesybenzotheirme7785]

I bought it and not having read it yet. It was sent the one with a puffy cover with some strange hair on it thought it was cat's.Little eBay.

[@lesliepowell-mccarty7067]

This book made me physically ill. The author had to have felt filthy just putting the words on the page. Is it literature? I don't know.

[@jamesbest9038]

Only book I have noped out of.

[@atompunk5575]

I heard of this book in a disturbing book iceberg among a long list of others, and... after reading this book i can only say, i read it as a warning, it may happen to someone's children, i sure as hell don't want anything bad to happen to my brothers 😤

[@rickcroucher]

Sounds like you would love Lolita by Nabokov.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

I did

[@tyghe_bright]

Just watched a great video that talks about how trashy novels are just as much a part of the American literature legacy as the "classics" from Abby Cox, titled What TikTok Gets Wrong About the History of Publishing Seems like something you may find interesting.

[@pandastrix4082]

This is one of the only books on my DNF list, I just can't stomach this

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Totally get that

[@ghostfields]

i also wasn’t a huge fan. i didn’t know it was about a true story. how awful.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Yeah it’s a horrible case

[@MarilynMayaMendoza]

I enjoyed your review. But I'm not reading it😇 Aloha.

[@CriminOllyBlog]

Thanks Marilyn!

[@AwkwardTruths]

I've heard of the book but have not read it.

[@davidsteece4283]

I disagree so profoundly with your declaration that the book isn't written in a clever way. We read different books. Tampa is a satire on America's obsession with youth. Its one of the funniest books I've ever read. Seeing the world through Celeste's eyes is hilarious. I've never met a character so self-obsessed, vain, and delusional. Nutting's use of analogy too is absolutely hilarious. In her constant quest for self fulfillment and the actualization of her desire (otherwise known as The American Dream,) she focuses on the tiniest details. She literally misses the forest for the trees. Did you miss her constant harping on the aging process and her feeling that molesting young boys might save her youth? Anyway. I thought it was one of the most clever books I've read this year. Very surprised. I find a lot of male reviewers can't see past the shocking content of this book. A woman recommended it to me and couched it not as disturbing, but funny, and I think that's the appropriate mindset with which to approach this stomach churning material. Insert obligatory reference to Jonathan Swift here

[@DDB168]

Haven't read it and unlikely to. If it's trash, to what degree is the author/publisher shamelessly cashing in on a horrible crime? (given it's based on a true story). Hmmm 🤔 Also, if the gender of the main characters were reversed (male teacher, teenage girl), I doubt the book would ever be published, let alone be classed as literature. Hmmm 🤔

[@ellagoreyshorrorstories7524]

Stares at you in Lolita...

[@DDB168]

@@ellagoreyshorrorstories7524 Yes it does. Did get banned in a lot of countries though, and probably wouldn't get published today.

[@ellagoreyshorrorstories7524]

​@DDB168 Lolita was rejected by a lot of publishers, and only a little obscure publisher took it. I think it would be published today but have a specific audience.

[@DuncanMcCurdie]

I find it fascinating that Alissa Nutting went to school with Debra LaFave.

[@jamesbest9038]

I actually think that is the point. The main character is a pure sociopath. Calculating, predatory, and dangerous. Yet because she is a conventionally attractive woman who targets teen boys it’s seen as more sexy than evil.