Ripple A Predilection for Tina
Artist Martin DeSerres, 38, was getting by on children's book illustration when a grant he had applied for finally came through, enabling a project he called "The Eroticism of Homeliness." Finding models was at first difficult, but Tina, a teenager, eventually kept her appointment with him. Chubby, bespectacled, pimpled, she seemed overweeningly shy. But she warmed to posing, especially in the nude. And Martin fell for her. Sex ensued, and it was the experienced, even jaded man who felt, perhaps, in love. For Tina, everything was much more casual. She enjoyed pleasing Martin and fulfilling his fantasies, but when he tried to fulfill hers, such as she had told him, she recoiled and eventually left. Cooper's chunky, brutal drawing style fairly drains the sexually explicit story of prurient interest without, however, making it repulsive. Indeed, this legend of sexual obsession chimes with the great Japanese novelist Tanizaki's similar stories (see the novelNaomiand several pieces inThe Gourmet Club). Truly and honorably, a graphic novel for adults only.Ray OlsonCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved